A nice sunny day game and a victory—that’s all the Dodgers needed before the long road trip before the All-Star Break. It also made the Dodgers the first team to 50 wins this season, with the second place Giants trailing by 6.5 games in the National League west division.
Wednesday's victory started with Rafael Furcal's pinch-hit RBI single in the eighth inning, which led to the Dodgers beating the Colorado Rockies, 1-0, in the final game of Manny Ramirez's 50-game drug suspension.
The Dodgers had a strong record during Ramirez's absence, as they went were 29-21. Manny, a 12-time All-Star, needs three home runs to tie Mickey Mantle for 15th place on the career list at 536. Ramirez is expected to return to the lineup Friday night for the start of a three-game series at San Diego.
Catcher Brad Ausmus led off the eighth with a single against Rockies starter Jason Hammel (5-4) and advanced on second baseman Juan Castro's sacrifice. Russell Martin ran for Ausmus and scored when Furcal stroked a single to right field on the right-hander's 100th pitch while batting for reliever Ramon Troncoso (2-0) to edge out the Rockies and win the series, 2-1.
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