Dodgers 9, Marlins 1

The boys salvaged one before the break, and on a day when Arizona lost, no less. Chad Billingsley went seven spectacular innings, striking out a career-high 13 and holding the Fish to five hits, all while throwing just 106 pitches and without walking a batter. The Dodgers, who played 28 games during the first half in which they scored zero runs or one run, had one of their occasional breakouts. Although they scored their nine runs on only eight hits, the encouraging thing was that they drew seven walks from Andrew Miller and Mark Hendrickson, who combined to throw 139 pitches over the first seven innings. If the Dodgers can carry that over, they might be OK -- especially if they win two of three or even sweep the Diamondbacks beginning on Friday in PHX. Dodgers improve to 46-49 and stay one game back. BTW, this has to be one of the latest All-Star breaks on record in terms of number of games played before (95 in the Dodgers' case) vs. number of games played after (67). That means that when play resumes, there is a strong sense of urgency right from the get-go. ... Jason Schmidt got lit up for five runs (four earned) on five hits over 2 1/3 innings, with three walks and two strikeouts, in his rehab start for Las Vegas against Tacoma. But these things aren't about results. They're about progress, and there were no report of Schmidt's arm falling off. ... Ivan De Jesus Jr. went 2 for 3 with a walk and a double in the Futures Game at Yankee Stadium. He played 2B.