Postgame: Dodgers 8, Mariners 2

The Dodgers defeated the Seattle Mariners 8-2 tonight at Dodger Stadium. For a full recap and boxscore click here

The bare essentials:

Andre Ethier blasted three long home runs deep to right field and finished with a career-high six RBIs. It was the fifth multi home run game for Ethier, the most for the Dodgers since Adrian Beltre had seven in 2004. Ethier now has 14 home runs and 49 RBIs. The last Dodger to hit three home runs in a game was Hee-Seop Choi June 12 2005.

The Dodgers pounded out 14 hits against three Mariner pitchers, with Juan Pierre (2),Casey Blake (2), Matt Kemp (3) and Ethier (3) leading the way.

Clayton Kershaw finally gave up a run after tossing 15.2 scoreless innings, but it was another impressive outing for the 21-year old left-hander, who struck out eight while giving up two earned runs on five hits. Just as importantly, he walked just one batter.
Guillermo Mota and Ronald Belisario tossed three scoreless innings in relief.

Etc…etc.

Who says the Dodgers can’t hit home runs without Manny? They pounded out four thanks to Ethier’s three blasts and a solo shot by Casey Blake, who is quietly putting together a solid year with 11 home runs and 48 RBIs.

The Dodgers remain the only team in baseball to not lose three games in a row. They came in on a two-game losing streak after dropping a pair to the White Sox. The 2009 Dodgers have now gone longer into the season than any other Dodger club in modern franchise history without a three-game losing streak. The 2001 Mariners hold the all-time record for going the longest in a season without dropping three straight as they did not fall three times in a row until games 147, 148, and 149.

The Dodgers are now 13-9 in June and need one more win over the final four games this month to secure their first winning June since 2003.

L.A. is 33-7 when scoring five or more runs.

Mota has now tossed shutout baseball in 13 of his last 14 appearances (1 ER/17.0 IP), for a 0.52 ERA over that time. Mota owns a 2.32 ERA (5 ER/19.1 IP) in 17 games at Dodger Stadium and has seen his overall ERA drop from 9.00 to 4.50 since May 17.

Game ball goes to:

Andre Ethier. Who else?

On deck:

The Dodgers host the Mariners in the second game of a three-game series, sending LHP Eric Milton (2-0, 2.89) against Felix Hernandez (7-3, 2.74) at 7:10 p.m.