By JR Radcliffe
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer
MILWAUKEE (Ticker) -- Third baseman Blake DeWitt never got in the
game Thursday, but his balky back had a lot to do with the Los
Angeles Dodgers' 7-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers.
DeWitt was scratched just before game time, leading to a lineup
juggle that inserted backup catcher Gary Bennett into the mix.
Bennett responded with four RBI, including a three-run homer in
the seventh that helped turn a scoreless pitcher's duel into a
one-sided affair.
Los Angeles exploded for six runs in the seventh against
Milwaukee starter Ben Sheets, and righthander Chad Billingsley
dazzled to give the Dodgers their second straight victory after
losing five straight.
"(Third base coach) Larry Bowa (made the) suggestion," Dodgers
manager Joe Torre said of the lineup switch. "Initially, I just
put (Chin-lung) Hu in the lineup, and then Bo suggested Benny.
It was a great suggestion for more than one reason, that you
could give Russell (Martin) a day off."
With DeWitt experiencing lower back pain during pregame
stretching, Martin moved to third base and Bennett nestled in
behind the plate. The reserve backstop's first home run of the
year capped a three-homer inning for the Dodgers, in which
Andruw Jones and Jeff Kent also went deep.
"Even when you're not playing, you still stretch, go out and
throw, hit off a tee and take batting practice," Bennett said.
"It's not like you're just sitting on the couch and doing
nothing, for a situation just like that. A foul tip in the
first inning or a pulled hammy (hamstring), anything can happen.
I just try to stay as ready as I can."
Bennett added an RBI double in the ninth, recording four runs
driven in for the first time since August 27, 2006, when he was
a member of the St. Louis Cardinals.
"'Sheeter' is definitely not an easy task," the former Brewers
catcher said of Sheets. "Fortunately today, he got some balls up
in the zone. I was just trying to find something up in the
zone, hit it in the air and get a sac fly. Just trying to get
the barrel on the ball and hit it to the outfield."
"Runs are like gold when you're talking about Ben Sheets,
because he was pitching so well and so was 'Bills,'" Torre said.
It was the first loss of the season for Sheets (4-1), and an
abrupt turnaround from the first six innings, when the two
pitchers combined to allow only three baserunners to reach
second base. Billingsley (3-5) lost a no-hit bid with two outs
in the fifth when Sheets - a career .076 hitter - lined a single
to center field.
Jones connected on his second home run leading off the seventh,
and Kent followed with his fourth two batters later. Martin's
RBI single was the third of five straight hits for the Dodgers,
and Luis Maza's first career base hit set the table for Bennett.
"I'm better than that," Sheets said. "That was a lot of runs to
give up in one inning. I made worse pitches in that inning. I
would say that's probably my worse inning ever, personally. I
don't know statistically if it is, but it wasn't a good inning."
Billingsley did the rest, only allowing one run and three hits
in seven innings. The young righthander also allowed four walks
and struck out five.
"I didn't really have a whole lot offspeed," Billingsley said.
"I had real good command with the fastball and just threw it
where I wanted to and keeping it down in the zone. I don't
really look at who's pitching across from me."
The lone run against Billingsley came on a double play induced
in the eighth by reliever Jonathan Broxton, who also gave up a
solo home run to Ryan Braun later in the frame.
It was the 10th home run of the year for Braun, who signed an
eight-year, $45 million contract extension announced before the
game, and the fifth home run in his last five games.
"It's a tough series to lose," Braun said. "I thought
(Billingsley) had really good stuff. I think he was consistent
with his command tonight, he was ahead ... he's one of those
guys that has really good stuff and tonight his command was on.
When you combine those two things, you're not going to have too
many opportunities."
Jones finished 1-for-4 and remained south of a .200 batting
average, but his second home run of the year seemed to open the
floodgates.
"Right in that inning, he started throwing a lot of balls up in
the zone, and we took advantage of them," Jones said of Sheets.
"He was pitching a pretty good game. We had a great game
yesterday coming back and today we were facing a tough pitcher.
He kept us shut out until he started making mistakes."
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