Hanley Ramirez Andre Ethier each hit solo home runs to back the strong pitching of Josh Beckett, leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 2-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday night at Dodger Stadium.
Beckett pitched 6 2/3 innings in his home Dodger Stadium debut, and allowed just one run on six hits.The run came courtesy of Justin Upton, who launched a ball over the Dodgers bullpen in left field to tie the game at 1-1. But Beckett struck out nine on Saturday, tying a season high that he set on May 15 while pitching at home for the Boston Red Sox against the Seattle Mariners.
Ramirez homered in the second inning, his ninth home run in 36 games with the Dodgers, and his 23rd of the season. Ethier broke the tie in the sixth inning with a solo home run off Matt Albers, who took the loss despite striking out the other three batters he faced in his inning of relief.
With closer Kenley Jansen out indefinitely with a recurring heart condition and Ronald Belisario having pitched two innings the night before, manager Don Mattingly turned to Brandon League to close out the game in the ninth inning. After allowing a leadoff single, League retired the next three batters, including two by strikeout. It was the first save for League as a Dodger and his 10th of the season.
The Dodgers snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Diamondbacks with the victory. They go for a series split on Sunday afternoon, with Chris Capuano on the mound facing Wade Miley.
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