LAst Night's Action: Closing In

Casey Blake was the big bat for the Dodgers coming up just short of the cycle. | AP Photo by Keith Srakocic

Casey Blake does serious damage while Derek Lowe cruised to make Dodger's magic number 8. Angels going through the motions in Oakland as Lackey shows he might have had a little too much rest.

LA Dodgers defeat Pittsburgh Pirates 6-2: Derek Lowe continued his recent dominant streak with a seven inning five hit (all singles) performance over the done since May Pittsburgh Pirates. Lowe has been hot down the stretch winning his last four starts and giving up only two runs in over 26 innings for a 0.68 ERA. The Dodgers have now won 14 of their last 16 and have scored at least five runs in each of those wins. Casey Blake added to the great hitting by going 3-5 scoring twice and getting two RBIs while coming up a double short of the cycle.

LA Angels lose to the Oakland Athletics 8-1: The Angels are fully focused on a deep October run. John Lackey, usually automatic against the A's, dropped his fourth loss of the season and only his fourth loss of his career against Oakland. The A's won their third in a row for the first time since June and ended the AL West Champions' five-game winning streak. Lackey was coming off nine days rest in preparation for the playoffs and managed to go only 5 1/3 innings giving up nine hits and four earned runs. The bullpen didn't fare any better also giving up four runs and letting the A's bat around in the seventh.

Tonight's Action

LA Dodgers at Pittsburgh Pirates. Chad Billingsley (15-10 3.02 ERA) hopes to continue the strong pitching against Zach Duke (5-14 4.84 ERA). 4:05 pm TV: KCAL | RADIO: KABC 790, KHJ 930

LA Angels at Oakland A's. Jared Weaver (11-10 4.25 ERA) looks to start another winning streak against Greg Smith (7-15 4.25 ERA) as the Angels close out the regular season.
7:05 pm TV: FSN | RADIO: KLAA 830, KWKW 1330