Dodgers' big bats lead to victory over Phillies

Dodgers 5, Phillies 4

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- No one exemplifies the Dodgers' successful mix of young and old better than Andre Ethier and Luis Gonzalez.

The 25-year-old Ethier hit a three-run homer and the 39-year-old Gonzalez added a tiebreaking solo shot in the sixth inning to help Los Angeles rally for a 5-4 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday.

The NL West-leading Dodgers have won five of six since the All-Star break.

"It's a big stew here and we're trying to get the best recipe we can," Ethier said. "Hopefully, I stay a piece of it and make this the best-tasting stew we can get."

Gonzalez continues to be impressed by Ethier, who has eight homers this season.

"He's still developing and learning, which is what makes it so nice about the mix that we have on our club," Gonzalez said. "We have great young players that are able to mix in with some older guys. These guys are being thrown in a winning mix. This team is built to win right now."

Rudy Seanez (6-1) got the victory by throwing one perfect inning of relief and striking out one. Starter Chad Billingsley allowed four runs and seven hits in five innings, struck out four and walked four before turning it over to the bullpen, which gave up one hit in four scoreless innings.

Seanez, Joe Beimel and Jonathan Broxton all tossed perfect innings before Takashi Saito pitched the ninth for his 25th save in 28 chances.

"It certainly looked like they recovered today but we all know that this is one bad start from going in the other direction," Dodgers manager Grady Little said. "These kinds of situations are dictated by your starting pitching or it's only a matter of time until you start taxing the kids in the bullpen."

Phillies rookie Kyle Kendrick (4-1) gave up five runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings, struck out three and walked none.

"I felt like I had pretty good stuff, but I left a couple of pitches up and they didn't miss them," he said. "The pitch to Ethier was a fastball that was supposed to be in, and he got a little too much of the plate. The one to Gonzalez was a slider that hung a little bit. He's a veteran hitter and he put a good swing on it."

Ryan Howard homered and scored three runs for the Phillies, who had 26 hits in a 15-3 victory Tuesday but just eight Wednesday.

"Unfortunately, we lost two out of three, but I think that we can play with anybody in this league and I think everybody in here believes that," he said.

Howard's 25th homer leading off the second tied it at 1 before Carlos Ruiz's RBI double to left made it 2-1. Gonzalez turned his back to attempt an over-the-shoulder catch on Ruiz's ball and it bounced off his glove near the warning track.

The Phillies extended their lead to 3-1 in the third on Aaron Rowand's RBI double.

Ethier gave the Dodgers a 4-3 lead in the fourth, sending a 1-2 pitch from Kendrick into the right-field pavilion.

"The three-run homer was a big blow for him," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "They did that the first night [twice] and they did it again today."

Pat Burrell's two-out RBI single in the fifth tied it at 4 but Kendrick also gave up a homer to Gonzalez, his 11th, on a 2-1 pitch in the sixth that put the Dodgers back in front.

Game notes
Russell Martin's 17th stolen base in the first made him the first Dodgers catcher since Lew Ritter in 1904 with that many. He's one off tying the franchise record for catchers set by Con Daily in 1892. ... The Phillies were held under their average of 6.8 runs this month. ... Dodgers CF Juan Pierre extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a first-inning single.