What a game, what a finish in SD.

San Diego, CA

Petco Park, famously known as an "extreme pitcher's park" saw some post Independence Day fireworks today. 6 HR's were hit beginning with Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley's (1) first such hit of his career, and ending with James Loney's (6) HR in the top of the 13th inning to put the Dodgers ahead (7-6) for good. The game started with a strong advantage for Los Angeles, pushing to an early 6-0 lead by the end of five. The offense came easy early as Manny ramirez enojoed a day off to rest his legs after coming back from a 50 game suspension July 3rd. In the second inning it was an Andre Ethier solo-shot (16), then a Casey Blake three-run bomb to center scoring Furcal and Loney, finally in the top of the fifth, after 154 career at-bats, starter Chad Billingsley cranked his first career HR over the left field wall. Juan Pierre singled deep to center scoring Furcal to cap-off the rally. Just hours after being told he was selected to this years All-Star Game in St. Louis the right hander apparently wanted to show the world he really believed he was an All-Star. 

Billingsley is respected as the Dodgers Ace in the absence of Opening Day starter Huroki Kuroda who has been sidelined the first two months of the season on the disabled list. Chad has posted a .314 ERA, good for 10th in the National League and is fifth in both innings pitched (121.0) and strikeouts (115). Billingsley is also 8th in MLB in the wins category with 9. remember, he won 16 games last year and has only gotten better each season in the bigs.

Big Jonathon Broxton had another way of celebrating his first All-Star Bid. He was nervous, clumsy, and just plain crashed for manager Joe Torree. Broxton allowed a five-run bottom of the fifth to let San Diego get back in it and give the fans four innings of free baseball. He looked tight from the start getting behind 3-0 in the count to three straight batters, and just throwing the ball wildly. i wouldn't put too much stock in Broxton's latest outing however, he is a 6 game winner with a 90% save rate (20-22). He boast a 2.72 ERA and is practically lights out at Dodger Stadium, a perfect 9 for 9 save opportunities, and a mighty .042 ERA at the confines of Chavez Ravine. You just can't ask for much more. And to ice his own cake, he was clocked on the radar at 103 MPH on his fastball over the weekend. This kid throws gas.