It had been almost a year since a New York Mets starter pitched more than eight innings. John Maine ended that drought and his teammates made it easy for him with their second-best offensive output of the season. Maine took a shutout into the ninth and the Mets routed the Los Angeles Dodgers and Brad Penny, 12-1 on Wednesday.

In a span of about 24 hours, Blake DeWitt hit his first two home runs in the big leagues. He had to hustle a lot more to get the second one. DeWitt hit a drive in the fifth inning that right fielder Ryan Church just missed catching at the top of the right field fence. The ball stayed in play, and the two-run inside-the-park homer gave the Los Angeles Dodgers a lead they would not relinquish in a 5-4...

Matt Kemp celebrated his first NL player of the week award the best way possible -- with a home run. Rafael Furcal and Blake DeWitt also connected against beleaguered Oliver Perez, and the surging Los Angeles Dodgers beat the New York Mets 5-1 on Monday night. Furcal hit his 23rd career leadoff homer and DeWitt hit his first in the major leagues, helping the Dodgers win for the ninth time in 10...

Aaron Cook doesn't consider himself a stopper, but he's certainly pitching like one. Cook gave the Rockies the strong outing they needed, Matt Holliday had two hits and two RBIs and the Colorado Rockies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-2 on Sunday to end a four-game losing streak. It was the fifth time Cook (5-1) stopped a Rockies' losing streak, and for the third straight start he ended a four-game...

James Loney came to bat in the eighth with a chance for a record-setting night. He had to settle for a stellar night instead. Loney homered and drove in six runs and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Colorado Rockies 12-7 on Saturday night to extend their winning streak to eight. He had a chance to break his single-game record of nine RBIs when he came to the plate with the bases loaded in the...

Rafael Furcal can't remember having a better stretch at the plate. The Los Angeles shortstop had three hits, including a three-run homer in a seven-run sixth inning, and the Dodgers beat the Colorado Rockies 11-6 Friday night for their seventh straight win. "This is the best of my career," Furcal said.

Buzzie Bavasi's prime years as a general manager were before free agency, before most players had agents, before virtually every fan and talk show host was a mock executive. Bavasi, who died Thursday at age 92 in the La Jolla area of San Diego, used that power like few others, building Dodger teams that won four World Series titles in Brooklyn and Los Angeles.

If the Los Angeles Dodgers keep sweeping series, they might find themselves atop the tough NL West in another week or two. Matt Kemp drove in the tiebreaking run with a ninth-inning single Thursday, and the Dodgers completed their second consecutive series sweep by beating the Florida Marlins 5-3. The Dodgers have won six games in a row, their longest winning streak since taking seven straight to...

Working out on the carpet in the Los Angeles Dodgers' clubhouse, first baseman James Loney observed the postgame throng around Chad Billingsley. "What did he do?" Loney asked, feigning bewilderment. "I got my first win of the year," Billingsley answered with a mixture of pride and relief. The right-hander struck out eight in seven innings to help the Dodgers extend their winning streak to five games...

When Florida Marlins catcher Mike Rabelo spiked the ball to punctuate an inning-ending play in the eighth inning, the Los Angeles Dodgers took note. "Excitement from a kid, and he'll probably learn from it," Los Angeles second baseman Jeff Kent said. An inning later, it was the Dodgers doing the celebrating.

Perhaps a three-game sweep of the NL champion Colorado Rockies will help spark the Los Angeles Dodgers after they spun their wheels for the first four weeks of the season. James Loney singled home the winning run in the 10th inning and the Dodgers beat the Rockies 3-2 on Sunday, sending Colorado to its seventh loss in eight games.

Umpire Kerwin Danley was released from a hospital early Sunday morning, about 5 hours after he took a 96 mph fastball to the right side of his jaw -- briefly losing consciousness when the pitch from Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Brad Penny slammed into his face mask. Danley, a native of Los Angeles, was resting comfortably Sunday afternoon at the home of his mother, who attended Saturday...

Brad Penny had just stepped out of the shower area in the clubhouse when a replay of his 96-mph fastball crashing into umpire Kerwin Danley's mask with a sickening thud was showing on the wide-screen TV. Catcher Russell Martin followed Penny out of the showers and also watched again as Danley lay nearly motionless on the field before being placed into an ambulance and driven through the...