Rally gives Dodgers their sixth straight win
DODGERS 5, FLORIDA 3
L.A. scores two in the ninth to grab a 5-3 victory and finish a three-game sweep of the Florida Marlins. Matt Kemp delivers the game-winning hit.
MIAMI -- The Dodgers rallied for two runs in the ninth inning to complete their sweep of the Florida Marlins today, taking a 5-3 victory at Dolphin Stadium that extended their winning streak to six games.
Matt Kemp drove in Rafael Furcal from second for the go-ahead run on a single to right and later scored on a throwing error by Marlins second baseman Dan Uggla. Takashi Saito picked up his second save of the three-game series.
The Dodgers, who start a three-game series in Colorado on Friday, moved to within five games of NL West leader Arizona.
Juan Pierre reached base three times against his former team, going two for three with two runs batted in. Pierre's sacrifice bunt in the ninth moved Furcal into scoring position.
Pierre, who started in left field for the first time in five days, scored the Dodgers' first run in the fourth, when he reached base by being hit by a pitch. He stole second and scored on a single to center by Andre Ethier, tying the score at 1-1.
Pierre put the Dodgers ahead, 3-1, in the fifth, as his double to right-center drove in Chin-lung Hu and Furcal.
But the lead didn't last, as Dodgers starter Hiroki Kuroda served up a two-run home run in the bottom half of the inning to Cody Ross.
Kuroda pitched seven innings, giving up three runs and five hits. He struck out four.
James Loney pinch-hit for Kuroda in the eighth with two out and the bases loaded, but grounded into a force out.
Marlins starter Burke Badenhop lasted six innings and was charged with three runs and five hits. He struck out six, including four in the first two innings.
dylan.hernandez@latimes.com
