Smarting from consecutive losses to lowly Colorado, Chen Chin-feng (陳金鋒) helped the Los Angeles Dodgers enhance its National League wild card hopes by scoring 13 runs in the first four innings of a 16-3 rout of the Colorado Rockies on Saturday at Coors Field, Denver.
Before Saturday, the Dodgers had lost 6-of-7 contests to fall a game behind the San Francisco Giants in the race for the NL Wild Card spot and second place in the NL West.
Brian Jordan went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer and four RBIs before being lifted for a pinch hitter in the fifth.
The Dodgers are 2-4 on a road trip that was to end yesterday afternoon against the Rockies, but Jordan has sizzled at .470 (8-for-19) during the trip.
Jordan, acquired in an off-season trade from Atlanta precisely for this time of year, has four homers and 16 RBIs since Sept. 1.
Jordan had plenty of help as the Dodgers rebounded after losing to the Rockies 7-1 on Thursday night and 5-4 on Friday night.
Adrian Beltre, benched Friday night in light of a 1-for-34 slump, knocked a two-run homer. Beltre and Eric Karros drove in three runs apiece. Beltre and Paul Lo Duca knocked three hits apiece.
Bobblehead doll
Dodgers pitcher Odalis Perez (14-9) allowed six hits in five innings. Todd Helton celebrated his own bobblehead doll day with a two-run shot off Perez in the fourth, but that was all the Rockies have had to smile about all season against a Perez -- 3-0 against Colorado.
By the sixth, the Dodgers' September call-ups were on display. Los Angeles used six pinch hitters in the inning, which ties a major league record last set by the Braves on Sept. 21, 1993 when they played Montreal.
The Rockies managed to save a little face with a two-run home run by Todd Helton off starter Odalis Perez (14-9, 3.07 ERA) in the fourth and an RBI single by Greg Norton in the eighth.
In the ninth, Rockies manager Clint Hurdle sent infielder Todd Zeile to the mound. Zeile gave up a single to Cesar Izturis then retired the side without incident.
The Dodgers scored five runs, including Beltre's homer, against reliever Randy Flores.
The Dodgers finished with 20 hits, the last by Cesar Izturis off third baseman Todd Zeile, a one-time Dodger who wound up pitching the ninth for Colorado. Zeile worked Chad Kreuter into a double play and struck out Wilkin Ruan.
Johnson pitches in
In major-league action elsewhere on Saturday, Randy Johnson pitched a complete-game three-hit shutout and struck out 17 batters as he led the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 5-0 win over the Milwaukee Brewers.
Johnson (22-5) allowed just three singles and two walks in an awesome display of power pitching as the Diamondbacks continued to close in on another National League West title.
The Big Unit matched his career-best with his 22nd victory and his 17 strikeouts also tied his season-best single-game strikeout performance.
Giants keep rising
In San Francisco, the Giants kept their one game lead on Los Angeles for the NL wild card with a 12-4 win over the San Diego Padres.
Reggie Sanders had three hits and drove in two runs for the Giants while Pedro Felix added three RBI.
Sanders and Felix both hit two-run doubles in a five-run first inning that erased an early 3-0 San Diego lead.
Barry Bonds went 2-for-3 with two RBI for the Giants, making him 6-for-7 in the last two games.
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