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LOS ANGELES -- One year ago today, Guggenheim Baseball Management completed its purchase of the Los Angeles Dodgers, ending the dreary Frank McCourt era and suggesting better things were in the offing.

In 12 months, the new owners delivered on their promises, spending lavishly to improve the major league team, updating glorious but faded Dodger Stadium and plucking experienced scouts from other teams’ payrolls to help rebuild a minor league system McCourt had let fester.

The work isn’t done, but it’s off to a flying start. In the coming months, according to team president Stan Kasten, the Dodgers hope to polish off a humming -- and free -- wireless service in their stadium and to continue trying to coax MLB into awarding them an All-Star Game at some date after the 2016 game in Cincinnati.

Practically the only thing the Dodgers haven’t done -- and, it sounds like, they don’t plan on doing any time soon -- is to show everybody how delighted they are with the leadership they’re getting in the dugout.

While they say they are happy with manager Don Mattingly’s performance, he continues to work in the final year of his deal with a 2014 option.

Just down the freeway, Mike Scioscia -- whose Los Angeles Angels are off to a far drearier start than the Dodgers are -- is locked up for another five years. The Dodgers' arch rivals, the San Francisco Giants, just extended manager Bruce Bochy through 2016.

So, why won’t a team that gave a pitcher who is currently injured, Zack Greinke, a six-year commitment lock up its manager and end all doubt about its primary baseball voice for coming seasons?

According to Kasten, it’s the wrong way of looking at it.

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LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Dodgers are having trouble getting on a roll and the culprit, surprisingly, has been herky-jerky starting pitching.

Clayton Kershaw dominated Sunday. Ted Lilly stunk up the place Monday. Hyun-Jin Ryu dealt Tuesday. Josh Beckett looked like he didn't want to throw the ball Wednesday evening, setting a discordant tone in the Dodgers' 7-3 loss to the Colorado Rockies.

Beckett seemed frozen in amber for the early innings, launching the game on a glacial pace and putting Dodgers' defenders on their heels. The team showed some fight, but never really recovered.

The first three innings were drawn out over nearly two hours, much of that time Beckett simply staring in at catcher A.J. Ellis' mitt. He spotted Colorado a 3-0 lead when he allowed the first four batters of the game to reach base (one of them on a routine grounder that clanked off Hanley Ramirez’s glove for an error).

Beckett lasted only four innings, allowing five runs on five hits and three walks.

One month into the season, Beckett (0-4, 5.24 ERA) still is looking for his first win. He has had some good starts, notably that April 14 masterpiece in Arizona, but he has also failed to get through six innings in four of his six starts. The Dodgers are 1-5 when he pitches.

His short outing put some more weight on the Dodgers’ bullpen, which had to soak up six innings in a 12-2 loss Monday and had to mop up for Beckett two days later.

Ramirez was a little slow at times, too, such as when he stood at home plate admiring his opposite-field "home run" in the bottom of the first inning. It wasn’t a home run. The ball landed on the warning track and Ramirez had to kick it into gear to pull into second base standing up.

One encouraging trend has been the rapid return of Ramirez’s hitting. After missing nearly six weeks recovering from thumb surgery, Ramirez has two doubles and a home run and is 5-for-9 in two starts. In the team's other 25 games, all other Dodgers shortstops combined have two extra-base hits.

LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Dodgers have taken this decision about as far as they can go.

It has been five days since Mark Ellis left a game because of a strained right quadriceps and he continues to feel something when he runs. Now that Carl Crawford is also nursing an injury -- a tight right hamstring -- Dodgers manager Don Mattingly says he is increasingly uncomfortable carrying two injured players on the 25-man roster.

It appears Ellis will go on the 15-day disabled list Friday when the Dodgers activate pitcher Clayton Kershaw from the bereavement list to pitch that night in San Francisco. Kershaw has been in Dallas to be with his family after the death of his father.

Crawford was out of the lineup for a second straight day Wednesday, but Mattingly said his injury doesn't appear serious enough to merit a stint on the DL. Ellis (.342) and Crawford (.308) were two of the hotter Dodgers hitters before the injuries.

To try to spark some action at the top of his lineup, Mattingly inserted Hanley Ramirez in the No. 2 spot. Ninety percent of Ramirez's at-bats last season came in the Nos. 3 through 5 spots in the lineup. Mattingly said he doesn't anticipate leaving Ramirez in the second spot permanently.

Star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki was back in Colorado's lineup after missing two games following a hand injury from an awkward headfirst slide into home plate in Sunday's game.

Here are the rest of Wednesday's lineups:

Colorado
1. Eric Young RF
2. Dexter Fowler CF
3. Carlos Gonzalez LF
4. Troy Tulowitzki SS
5. Michael Cuddyer 1B
6. Wilin Rosario C
7. Nolan Arenado 3B
8. Josh Rutledge 2B
9. Juan Nicasio RHP

Dodgers
1. Nick Punto 2B
2. Hanley Ramirez SS
3. Adrian Gonzalez 1B
4. Matt Kemp CF
5. Andre Ethier RF
6. A.J. Ellis C
7. Skip Schumaker LF
8. Juan Uribe 3B
9. Josh Beckett RHP

LOS ANGELES -- After the Los Angeles Dodgers' 6-2 win over the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night, Dodgers employees ushered pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu back onto the field, where he traded memorabilia and posed for photo ops with global YouTube sensation Psy, known in the two mens' native South Korea as Park Jae-Sang.

Afterward, Psy -- his hair lacquered down, dark sunglasses over his eyes -- burst into the Dodgers' clubhouse with "Gangnam Style" blaring, prompting an uproar from Dodgers players. It was a bit of a circus. Imagine if the Dodgers had lost.

"I'm just really thankful that the game turned out the way it did. It would have been a really different situation if it had gone the other way," Ryu said through an interpreter afterward.

Everybody was in the mood for a little bouncy Korean pop music because of Ryu. He zapped the hangover from Monday's miserable 12-2 loss and buzzed through a tired and befuddled Rockies lineup, piling up 12 strikeouts.

Some people thought Ryu would struggle with the transition to a tougher league and a different culture. If anything, he's taking it to major league hitters, not the other way around.

Ryu touched 93 mph a couple of times early in the game, setting a tone that allowed him to use changeups and curveballs to greater effect later. The Dodgers have been impressed -- not so much with his raw stuff, but with his craftiness.

He often works backward. He can use breaking balls to get back in counts. He's hard to predict. For a 26 year old who was basically the Randy Johnson of the Korean Baseball Organization, he has shown surprising finesse.

"Especially if you get a younger guy who doesn't understand how the guy yo-yo's you a little bit, it's going to be trouble for you," manager Don Mattingly, seeing it from a hitter's perspective, said.

Ryu signed with the Dodgers just four months ago. He has made six major league starts, going 3-1 with a 3.41 ERA and 46 strikeouts in them. He might not feel entirely acclimated yet, but he's showing no signs of culture shock.

"I realize I'm in America every time I start. Every time I take the mound, I see how big these parks are and how many people come out," Ryu said. "But everything's been going well, and I'm really happy."

LOS ANGELES -- When Ted Lilly started feeling some tightness in his back the day after his April 24 start in New York, he kept it to himself. The first time he mentioned it to Los ANgeles Dodgers manager Don Mattingly or the team's training staff was when the pain came back during Monday night's start.

That didn't sit well with Mattingly the next day.

Lilly lasted just three innings in the Dodgers' 12-2 loss to the Colorado Rockies. His short outing left the Dodgers' bullpen depleted enough that the team had to use utility man Skip Schumaker to pitch the ninth inning, then call up long reliever Javy Guerra from Triple-A Albuquerque the next day.

"If we would have known about that, we could have made plans to have a guy here who was extended and not had to take a chance of having it, in a sense, affect tonight's game," Mattingly said. "Let us make some plans and give us a chance to win. That part's a little frustrating."

Lilly, 37, was examined Tuesday and could still be headed for the 15-day disabled list. Even if he's not, the Dodgers might go with rookie Matt Magill to pitch Saturday's game in San Francisco. To make room on the roster for Guerra, the Dodgers optioned Josh Wall to Albuquerque. Wall gave up seven earned runs in two innings after Lilly left the game, his ERA ballooning to 18.00.

Here are lineups for Tuesday's game:

Colorado
1. Dexter Fowler CF
2. Josh Rutledge 2B
3. Carlos Gonzalez LF
4. Michael Cuddyer RF
5. Jordan Pacheco 1B
6. Nolan Arenado 3B
7. Yorvit Torrealba C
8. Jonathan Herrera SS
9. Jorge De La Rosa LHP

Dodgers
1. Jerry Hairston Jr. LF
2. Nick Punto 2B
3. Matt Kemp CF
4. Adrian Gonzalez 1B
5. Hanley Ramirez SS
6. Andre Ethier RF
7. A.J. Ellis C
8. Juan Uribe 3B
9. Hyun-Jin Ryu LHP

LOS ANGELES -- Maybe the Colorado Rockies are due to come tumbling painfully back to earth. And maybe the Los Angeles Dodgers aren't doomed to stay in this one-step-forward, one-step-back waltz with mediocrity all season.

But for one game in late April, the gap between the division's first place team and its fourth place team wasn't hard to spot.

The Dodgers had their worst pitching performance since last June in a 12-2 loss to the Rockies at Dodger Stadium on Monday night. Colorado stacked up 19 hits, or 13 more than the Dodgers could manage.

The snapshot of the Dodgers' night was utility man Skip Schumaker pitching the ninth inning (a scoreless one). He became the first Dodgers position player to pitch in a game since Mark Loretta in July 2009.

A tiny throng of fans left in the stadium chanted, "Let's go Skip!"

Ted Lilly, making his second start since coming off the disabled list, needed 71 pitches to get through three innings ... and he barely made it that far. The first four batters he faced had sharp hits, two of them home runs. Things got even messier, believe it or not, in the third, when Lilly walked in a run among other forgettable deeds.

Lilly, 37, had pitched well for five innings in the first start upon his return, last week in New York. He entered the season awkwardly, put on the 15-day disabled list against his wishes. Now, the Dodgers could be tempted to use rookie Matt Magill in Lilly's place next rotation turn. Magill pitched into the seventh inning in his major league debut Saturday.

Reliever Josh Wall couldn't live up to the standard that Lilly had set earlier. The Rockies scored seven times off Wall in two innings. Rockies pitcher Tyler Chatwood was 3-for-3 with two RBIs on three sharp singles in his first three plate appearances.

A Dodgers trainer visited both pitchers at some point in their outings, but neither pitcher left the mound due to injury.

As bad as things were, they could have been worse. Matt Kemp had a 92 mph fastball headed straight for his head in the fourth inning. He ducked out of the way and it appeared to carom off his shoulder and glance off his nose.

The few thousand fans that remained in the seventh inning were rewarded with a couple of little treats: Jerry Hairston Jr. homered to snap the shutout and Hanley Ramirez made his return to the field, taking a called third strike. Ramirez had thumb surgery March 22 and was activated from the DL on Monday afternoon.

LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said he believes NBA player Jason Collins' decision to announce that he is gay will have similar ramifications to Jackie Robinson breaking baseball's color barrier with the Dodgers 66 years ago.

Mattingly also said he thinks an openly gay player could be accepted in a major league clubhouse, saying, "I don't know why not."

"I think it'd be OK. It's the first time it's happened. It's just kind of uncharted waters," Mattingly said. "A lot like Jackie, he would make it easier for anyone else who would step forward."

Mattingly accompanied his players to a special screening of the movie "42," based on Robinson's story, this spring in Arizona.

UPDATE (6:25 p.m.): The Dodgers activated Hanley Ramirez from the 15-day disabled list and placed Clayton Kershaw on the bereavement list for an undisclosed personal matter. Ramirez was not in the starting lineup.

LOS ANGELES -- After two rehab games in Class A Rancho Cucamonga, Hanley Ramirez returned to Los Angeles and joined his teammates in the Dodgers' clubhouse Monday.

He was not expected to join them on the field at game time, however. Ramirez could be taken off the 15-day disabled list on Tuesday (his bobblehead night), or he could still play in more minor league games, manager Don Mattingly said. Ramirez made his wishes fairly clear before Monday's series opener vs. the Colorado Rockies.

"I just want to be in there," Ramirez said. "I don't want to wait any longer. I'm a gamer. I just want to be in there and I think I can play."

Ramirez went 3-for-6 without an error in his two games playing shortstop in Rancho Cucamonga. He said throwing with a newly fitted splint is a bit awkward, but workable.

"It's not 100 percent, but I can defend myself on the field," Ramirez said.

The Dodgers have not made up their minds on whether to put Mark Ellis on the DL. He left Friday night's game with a strained right quadriceps and has been making steady progress since.

Also, pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who struck out 12 Milwaukee Brewers in eight shutout innings Sunday, was not with the Dodgers Monday. He was attending to an undisclosed personal matter, Mattingly said. The manager said he doesn't anticipate Kershaw missing his next scheduled start on Friday night in San Francisco.

Here are lineups for Monday:

Colorado
1. Dexter Fowler CF
2. Jordan Pacheco 1B
3. Carlos Gonzalez LF
4. Wilin Rosario C
5. Michael Cuddyer RF
6. Nolan Arenado 3B
7. Josh Rutledge 2B
8. Jonathan Herrera SS
9. Tyler Chatwood RHP

Dodgers
1. Carl Crawford LF
2. A.J. Ellis C
3. Adrian Gonzalez 1B
4. Matt Kemp CF
5. Andre Ethier RF
6. Skip Schumaker 2B
7. Luis Cruz 3B
8. Justin Sellers SS
9. Ted Lilly LHP

LOS ANGELES -- Clayton Kershaw called himself “awful,” and said, “the team won in spite of me,” the last time he pitched.

Three starts into spring training and three weeks before Opening Day, he was seething with frustration after the San Diego Padres got some hits and scored some runs off him, saying, “I’m definitely looking to have a good start one of these days.”

So, while Kershaw’s two-game “slump” might have been the high point of some pitchers’ major league careers -- he got through the fifth inning and held the opponent to three runs or fewer both times -- you can assume Kershaw wasn’t basking in his awesomeness coming into Sunday.

“Every time he struggles, he’s going to be particularly focused that next outing,” Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said.

The Milwaukee Brewers happened to stumble into Kershaw after two mediocre outings and they found his focus laser-like. Kershaw struck out 12 Brewers Sunday, hitters flailing at an assortment of mid-90s fastballs, breaking balls and changeups. It was a more complete arsenal than Kershaw had shown in recent weeks. He adjusts his approach to the team he is facing -- in this case, a lineup stacked with right-handed batters -- and is thus more likely to be on top of his fastball.

“It’s good to see Kershaw back to himself,” Carl Crawford said.

Kershaw, who picked up his first win since April 6, left Dodger Stadium shortly after Sunday's start without speaking to reporters. A team spokesman said he had a personal matter to attend to. His numbers did a good job speaking for him. Since the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles 55 years ago, according to ESPN Stats & Info, only six pitchers have struck out 12 batters without allowing a run or walking anybody in a start. The man Kershaw is relentlessly compared to, Sandy Koufax, did it four times. Nobody else has done it twice.

The next time Kershaw describes himself as “awful,” pity the team he’s about to face.

LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Dodgers continue to wait for their best player to emerge from a month-long slump, but their best starting pitcher looks like he's back.

Clayton Kershaw struck out 12 Milwaukee Brewers in eight innings Sunday in a 2-0 Dodgers win. It was Kershaw's first win since April 6.

Matt Kemp, meanwhile, came off a nice road trip to go 2-for-9 in this three-game series while misplaying at least two balls in center field. Kemp, who is batting .261 with one home run after 88 at-bats, seems to be hitting a lot of slow rollers to shortstop.

Kershaw (3-2) was coming off two mediocre starts, but he was nearly as dazzling Sunday as he was on Opening Day. Sunday was the fifth time he has struck out as many as 12 batters, the first since June 9 of last year.

Kershaw had failed to get out of the sixth inning against the San Diego Padres and New York Mets in his two previous starts. The Brewers had action in the first two innings, but after that, they couldn't touch Kershaw.

Jonathan Lucroy hit into an inning-ending double play to wipe out a two-on threat in the first inning, and Jean Segura led off the second with sinking liner that was misplayed into a double by Kemp.

Kershaw retired the next 18 batters before Carlos Gomez lined a double to left-center field leading off the eighth. Kemp seemed to get a late read on the ball, which short-hopped the wall. Kershaw helped erase that threat by snaring Martin Maldonado's sharp grounder and getting Gomez in a rundown.

The Dodgers didn't do much against Milwaukee starter Kyle Lohse, but Carl Crawford continued to put on a show at Dodger Stadium. The speedy leadoff hitter hit two home runs. Crawford is batting .391 in home games.

LOS ANGELES -- A couple of days ago, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said a Monday return for All-Star shortstop Hanley Ramirez would be "a little optimistic." Then, Saturday happened.

Playing in a game at Class-A Rancho Cucamonga, Ramirez went 1-for-3 with a sacrifice fly, fielded eight grounders and turned three double plays, with no issues making throws from shortstop while wearing a splint on his surgically repaired right thumb. After watching film of the performance, Mattingly said Sunday Ramirez could return from the disabled list before Monday's series opener against the first-place Colorado Rockies.

"I think anything's possible with the way he looked last night," Mattingly said.

Rancho Cucamonga is off Monday, so Ramirez would have to travel to Albuquerque to continue his minor league rehabilitation assignment, or travel to Stockton to stay with the Quakes. If Ramirez is activated Monday, he will have beaten the original prognosis by two weeks.

Ramirez played winter ball all the way through the Caribbean Series, then played in the World Baseball Classic before injuring his thumb in the finals on March 19. Mattingly thinks those competitive at-bats have speeded his return, allowing him to regain his timing faster than he otherwise would have.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers continue to wait on second baseman Mark Ellis, who left Friday night's game with a strained right quadriceps. They could place Ellis on the 15-day disabled list while activating Ramirez Monday or Tuesday.

"I don't want to ever miss any time," Ellis said. "At the same time, you never want to handcuff a manager or your team."

LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Dodgers got a nice pick-me-up for a depleted rotation when Matt Magill pitched into the seventh inning in his major league debut Saturday night.

But the feel-good story had an unhappy ending: Reliever Matt Guerrier allowed a pair of home runs in a 6-4 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.

Magill had arrived at the Dodger Stadium clubhouse for the first time in his 23 years at about 3 p.m., having traveled the day before from Round Rock, Texas, where the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate was playing.

Magill was an emergency replacement for pitcher Stephen Fife, who was scratched from Saturday’s start and put on the 15-day disabled list with shoulder bursitis.

Magill got into a jam in the third inning -- his own wide throw to second fueling a two-run Brewers’ inning -- but he was otherwise in command, striking out seven batters while allowing just four hits. The outing could be a one-and-done situation for Magill, as the Dodgers won’t need a fifth starter again, due to days off, before veteran Chris Capuano is ready to come off the DL.

Still, it will give the Dodgers some added confidence in their pitching depth. They have used nine starters in 23 games due to a long string of injuries.

Guerrier hung a breaking ball to Carlos Gomez and Martin Maldonado hit a fastball. Both two-run home runs traveled deep into the night, clearing the left-field fence.

Manager Don Mattingly had pulled Magill with two outs and nobody on in the seventh inning in favor of lefty Paco Rodriguez, who allowed an infield hit to Norichika Aoki. Three Guerrier pitches later and the Dodgers were trailing.

The Dodgers brought the winning run to the plate, and got the tying run to second, in the ninth after a walk and a Yuniesky Betancourt error. But shortstop Alex Gonzalez made a spinning, off-balance throw to get A.J. Ellis for the final out.

The Dodgers will play with only four position players on the bench Saturday night with second baseman Mark Ellis unavailable due to a strained right quadriceps. They will decide Sunday whether to put Ellis on the 15-day disabled list, manager Don Mattingly said.

Ellis left Friday's game in the fifth inning. Skip Schumaker, a converted outfielder, will get the first chance at replacing Ellis at second base.

"I feel like it's good news, because it's not like one of those where he walks in today and we've got to put him on the list," Mattingly said. "It's really good today and we'll see what it looks like tomorrow and make a better decision."

Matt Magill will make his first major-league start Saturday night, but could have a short stay in Los Angeles. The Dodgers won't need a fifth starter in the next rotation turn and, by the time they do, Chris Capuano will be eligible to come off the DL. Capuano threw a simulated game Saturday and will make a rehab start for Triple-A Albuquerque Wednesday.

Here are lineups for Saturday:
Milwaukee
1. Norichika Aoki RF
2. Jean Segura SS
3. Ryan Braun LF
4. Yuniesky Betancourt 3B
5. Rickie Weeks 2B
6. Carlos Gomez CF
7. Martin Maldonado C
8. Alex Gonzalez 1B
9. Wily Peralta RHP

Dodgers
1. Carl Crawford LF
2. A.J. Ellis C
3. Adrian Gonzalez 1B
4. Matt Kemp CF
5. Andre Ethier RF
6. Skip Schumaker 2B
7. Luis Cruz SS
8. Juan Uribe 3B
9. Matt Magill RHP

LOS ANGELES -- You can't judge a player's value by one good month. You can't say the Los Angeles Dodgers got the better of their trade last August with the Boston Red Sox, because Boston is 16-7 and in first place in the AL East, while the Dodgers have just pulled back to .500.

But for all the flak the Dodgers have taken for their lack of pop from a record payroll, you also can't pin any of the blame so far on that trade. Maybe it was the rare transaction that works out well for both teams, the Red Sox getting a much-needed reboot and the Dodgers buying a new $250 million engine for their sputtering offense.

So far, it certainly looks that way.

Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez have looked rejuvenated with a change of scenery. Crawford got back to swinging a dynamic bat in the leadoff spot Friday and Gonzalez continued to drive everybody in during the Dodgers' 7-5 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night at Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers had the 29th-ranked offense coming into Friday. Imagine where they'd be without these two. Crawford has scored 18 runs. The next-closest Dodger, Mark Ellis, has scored 10 and might be done scoring for a while, as he left Friday's game with what looked like a pretty nasty strained quadriceps.

Gonzalez has driven in 17 runs. The next-closest Dodger, Matt Kemp, has pushed across 10.

"I've seen both those guys play enough to where that's what I'm accustomed to them doing," Josh Beckett said. "Carl Crawford hands down is one of the toughest guys I ever competed against, and I've told you guys that. I think he's just getting back to the things he does well."

The other two guys from that trade, Beckett and Nick Punto, are also adding some value. Beckett has pitched well at times, though he's five starts into his 2013 season and he has yet to win a game. Punto is hitting .346 and has played skillful defense wherever the Dodgers have played him. If Ellis goes on the disabled list, Punto could be in for a larger share of playing time.

Friday, Crawford and Gonzalez brought an AL East kind of look to Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers applied relentless offensive pressure for one of the few times this season.

Crawford crushed a couple of balls on the Dodgers' last homestand, but they both died at the warning track in the cool, damp, breezy conditions that prevail at Dodger Stadium at night. He finally got one over the fence here with his fifth-inning home run to center field.

"I heard how the ball really doesn't travel here too much at night, but golly, I hit a couple of those balls hard and thought they had a chance," Crawford said. "It was nice to see one get out tonight."

LOS ANGELES -- For one of the few times this season, the Los Angeles Dodgers' hitters picked up the rest of the team.

The fielding got a little loose late in the game and Josh Beckett started wobbling as he pitched into the middle innings. Closer Brandon League barely got through another ninth inning with a lead intact. But Dodgers hitters applied relentless pressure throughout a 7-5 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night at Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers entered Friday with the 29th highest-scoring offense out of 30 major-league teams.

The joy of the win was dented by what appeared to be a significant injury to starting second baseman Mark Ellis, who pulled up while straining his right quadriceps running to first in the fifth inning. Ellis is batting .342 and is one of the steadiest second basemen in baseball, so losing him would be a bigger blow than it might at first seem.

Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford, the keystones of an August trade with the Boston Red Sox, have been the driving forces for most of the Dodgers' offense and that didn't change Friday. Gonzalez drove in three runs, and Crawford two. Crawford had a third-inning home run to center field and Gonzalez cranked a two-run double off the glove of Carlos Gomez in the seventh.

Beckett looked crisp in the early innings but ran into trouble in the fourth and fifth. He needed 97 pitches to get one out in the sixth inning and allowed home runs to Ryan Braun and Yuniesky Betancourt.

The Dodgers' defense started sputtering a few innings later. Matt Kemp overran a line-drive RBI single by Norichika Aoki in the seventh inning, allowing Aoki to take two extra bases. Then, Jerry Hairston Jr. made two errors while playing third base in the eighth. League committed the Dodgers' fourth error in three innings by throwing one away on Jean Segura's hit off League's leg in the ninth. None of the errors led directly to runs.