The Game of Baseball

Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Nomar Garciaparra, at long last, is finally getting his offensive game together; he slammed his first home run of the season, leading Los Angeles to an easy 9-3 win over the Cincinnati Reds. Los Angeles' offensive attack was led by Russell Martin and Andre Ethier with 3 hits each - with Martin hitting a double; Rafael Furcal, Garciaparra and Matt Kemp added 2 hits apiece, with Furcal and Garciaparra hitting a HR each. Winning pitcher Brad Penny (3-2) pitched 6 innings, allowing 6 hits, an earned run, walking 2 while striking out 4; Chan Ho Park notched his 1st save while pitching the final 3 innings, allowing 3 hits, 2 earned runs, walking 2 while giving up 2 HRs. Cincinnati was led by Edwin Encarnacion as he went 2-for-4 with a HR, 2 runs scored and an RBI while rookie Joey Votto added a HR, as well. The loss went to Matt Belisle (0-1) who pitched 4 innings, allowing a whopping 12 hits, 5 earned runs, walking 1 while striking out 3. Los Angeles (8-11) plays again on Tuesday as they face Cincinnati (8-12); Hong Chih-Kuo (0-0) takes the mound for Los Angeles while Edinson Volquez (2-0) gets the start for Cincinnati.