Ramon Troncoso

MLB: LA Dodgers 7, Washington 6

Washington, Sept. 24: Rafael Furcal hit a go-ahead homer in the eighth Thursday and the Los Angeles Dodgers, despite blowing a four-run lead, downed Washington 7-6.

The Dodgers, who began the night with a five-game lead over Colorado atop the National League West, got an RBI single from Manny Ramirez and a three-run homer from Matt Kemp in the first inning.

They spent the rest of the game trying to fight off the Nationals, who could not avoid losing for the 100th time this season.

Washington forged a 6-6 tie in the sixth on RBI singles by Cristian Guzman and Willie Harris and the score remained deadlocked until Furcal's blast in the eighth.

MLB: San Francisco 8, LA Dodgers 4

Los Angeles, Sept. 19: RBI doubles by Fred Lewis and Eugenio Velez put San Francisco in front in the sixth inning Friday, boosting the Giants past the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-4.

San Francisco inched within 2 1/2 games of Colorado for the lead in the National League wild-card race. The Dodgers maintained a five-game cushion over Colorado in the NL West.

The Giants let an early 4-1 lead get away, but moved back in front in the sixth on a series of extra-base hits against reliever Ramon Troncoso (4-4).

Travis Ishikawa produced a one-out double to center and Lewis then came through with a two-out double to left that drove in Ishikawa and made it 5-4. Velez took a strike from Troncoso before hitting a double to left that brought in Lewis.

MLB: Arizona 4, Los Angeles Dodgers 3

Phoenix, Sept. 10: Ramon Troncoso made an error in the ninth Wednesday and then walked Mark Reynolds with the bases loaded to give Arizona a 4-3 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The unearned run in the ninth halted the Los Angeles winning streak at two games and allowed Colorado to creep within 2 1/2 games of the first-place Dodgers in the National League West.

Troncoso (4-3), usually called on in middle relief, was sent out in the ninth to try to get the game into extra innings. He put himself in instant trouble, however, when he threw wildly to first after fielding a grounder off the bat of Gerardo Parra.

MLB: Los Angeles Dodgers 4, Houston 3

Los Angeles, July 19: Matt Kemp's solo homer Sunday lifted the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 4-3 win over Houston, averting a three-game sweep.

The homer, Kemp's 12th of the season, broke a 3-3 tie with two outs in the bottom of the eighth. Kemp finished with three hits and scored four runs, while Brad Ausmus had two hits and two RBI for the Dodgers, who scored just twice in the previous two games against the Astros.

Ramon Troncoso (4-0) got the win in relief. Dodgers' starter Hiroki Kuroda went five innings, allowing three runs on seven hits with two walks and one strikeout.

Closer Jonathan Broxton earned his 22nd save.

MLB: LA Dodgers 3, Oakland 2

Los Angeles, June 19: Orlando Hudson hit a solo homer and Mark Loretta had a key pinch-hit RBI Thursday in the Los Angeles Dodgers' 3-2 inter-league win over Oakland.

Hudson's homer, his fifth of the season, came with two out in the third inning and tied the score at 1-1. Loretta's RBI single in the seventh put the Dodgers ahead 3-2 and LA held on to win.

Juan Pierre had an RBI and James Loney and Russell Martin each scored a run for the Dodgers, who have won four of their lqst five games.

LA starter Randy Wolf went six innings, allowing one run on five hits with four walks and three strikeouts, but he did not figure in the decision. Brent Leach got the win pitching 2/3 of an inning in relief, and Ramon Troncoso got his fourth save.

MLB: LA Dodgers 1, Arizona 0

Los Angeles -- Chad Billingsley teamed with three relievers on a seven-hit shutout Wednesday, allowing the Los Angeles Dodgers to edge Arizona 1-0.

Billingsley (7-3) opened the season with five straight victories before dropping two out of three.

He got back in the groove against the Diamondbacks by holding them to four hits and striking out nine over six innings.

Ronald Belisario gave up a two-out single in the seventh and Ramon Troncoso escaped trouble in the eighth when Miguel Montero grounded into an inning-ending double play with runners on first and third.

Jonathan Broxton worked a perfect ninth for his 13th save.

Los Angeles won its second in a row and improved to 25-9 against opponents from its own division.

MLB: Los Angeles Dodgers 2, Chicago Cubs 1

Chicago -- Ramon Troncoso struck out the last two batters with the bases loaded Thursday, preserving the Los Angeles Dodgers' 2-1 win over the Chicago Cubs.

The Dodgers, owners of the best record in the majors, won their fourth straight and expanded their lead over San Diego to nine games in the National League West.

Los Angeles scratched out two runs over the first three innings and then relied on the pitching of starter Randy Wolf and reliever Troncoso to halt the Cubs' two-game winning streak.

Wolf (3-1) threw seven shutout innings before giving up a leadoff homer to Bobby Scales in the eighth. That brought on Troncoso, who recorded the last six outs for his third save. The ninth inning, however, was an adventure for the rookie.