National League
Steve Finley sure knows how to break out of a slump.
Finley hit a game-winning two-run homer against St. Louis on Friday, a day after hitting two home runs to end an 0-for-19 skid.
What slump?
"I love being in those situations," Finley said. "That's what being in baseball is all about."
The Dodgers, who are a season-high 24 games over .500, have a six-game lead in the National League West.
Finley was 3 for 3 and hit his game-winning home run in the seventh. He wasn't the only Dodger to homer. Shawn Green and Jayson Werth hit consecutive home runs in the second inning for a 2-1 Dodgers lead, which didn't last long. Adrian Beltre hit a three-run homer, his 45th home run of the season, in the third inning off Jason Marquis for a 5-4 Dodger lead.
They've been chanting MVP at Dodger Stadium for the last two homestands, but never like they did while Beltre was rounding the bases on Friday.
Perhaps it was because another MVP candidate, St. Louis third baseman Scott Rolen, was in the house. Or, perhaps, it's because this could be a playoff preview.
Beltre's homer gave him his 106th RBI, second-most by a third baseman in club history. Ron Cey had 110 RBI in 1977.
There were post-game fireworks, but there were plenty of fireworks during the game, too.
Eric Gagne got the final five outs to record his 39th save, but it wasn't without a bit of controversy. Gagne threw a foul ball he didn't like back into the Dodgers' dugout and got a new ball during pinch hitter Marlon Anderson's at-bat in the eighth inning.
Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa came on to the field to talk with first-base umpire Charlie Reliford. Gagne said he thought it was because he wanted to check the baseball, so after the last out, he flipped the ball into the Cardinals dugout.
Someone in the St. Louis dugout threw it over to the Dodger dugout. Milton Bradley threw it back over to the St. Louis dugout.
"I had a legitimate question," La Russa said. "I get to manage my club. I thought that was a (expletive) response [from the Dodgers]."
Asked why he rolled the ball toward the St. Louis dugout, Gagne said: "He thought it needed to get checked out."
The Cardinals tied it at 5 in the bottom of the fifth against reliever Wilson Alvarez. Hector Luna, in the game for Rolen, who left the game with a left knee injury, drew a leadoff walk, Edgar Renteria flew out to center and Jim Edmonds singled to right. Reggie Sanders hit a pop fly to shallow left field, which Cesar Izturis caught and Luna scored on. Izturis made a good throw home, just a bit wide but catcher Brent Mayne couldn't tag Sanders, who slid and touched the bag with his left hand.
Starter Kazuhisa Ishii had little control again, and Tracy had little patience for it. After Ishii loaded the bases and allowed a three-run double to Rolen with one out in the third, he was yanked in favor of Alvarez.
Rolen had a big game -- he was 2 for 2 with four RBI -- but he left the game after the third inning. Rolen fouled off a ball off his left shin and then hit a three-run double in that at-bat to give the Cardinals a 4-2 lead at the time.
"We showed we can beat the best team in baseball and that's a good sign," Alvarez said. "It's a good test for us. We find out we can beat anybody. We feel better and more confident. There's two more games. We'll see what happens."
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