Dodgers go swinging in the rain, beat cincinnati, 12-0

Reporting from Cincinnati -- The Dodgers’ rotation was already in a state of uncertainty, with Chad Billingsley headed to the disabled list and two rookies scheduled to make starts over the

next three days. Manager Joe Torre said he had no intention to taking any chances with the health of his most reliable starter Tuesday night, but Hiroki Kuroda made him reconsider, as the

Japanese right-hander talked him into using him on both ends of a two-hour, 24-minute rain delay that fell in the middle of the Dodgers’ 12-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds at Great

American Ball Park. Kuroda acknowledged he was at least in part motivated by his 28-day winless drought. “Of course, I was thinking about that,” he said. “But I was pitching well. If I

didn’t go back out, I felt like the day would have been wasted. I wanted to give everything I had today.” Pitching four shutout innings before the weather-induced interruption and one after,

Kuroda improved to 6-4 and lowered his earned-run average to 3.10. But what about the risk of injury? “At this point in my career, I’m not thinking about that,” said the 35-year-old, who is

in the final season of his three-year deal with the Dodgers. In terms of the run support Kuroda received, this start was about as dissimilar as it could be from his last. Receiving a

no-decision despite pitching seven scoreless innings against the St. Louis Cardinals seven days earlier, Kuroda was backed on this day by a resurgent Dodgers lineup led by Manny Ramirez and

Rafael Furcal. Ramirez was three for four with a home run, four runs batted in and three runs scored. But the night belonged to Furcal, who collected five hits for only the third time in his

career. In addition to his two runs scored and two runs driven in, Furcal made some spectacular plays, particularly in the sixth inning. That was the inning he played a part in all three

outs of Ramon Troncoso’s 1-2-3 inning, the first by making a diving stop to throw out Joey Votto, the second by backhanding a ball by third base and throwing across his body to prevent Scott

Rolen from reaching base and the last by catching a popup by Jonny Gomes along the foul line in shallow left field. “He was the star of the game,” Torre said. “He did everything except sell

tickets.” The Dodgers were ahead, 3-0, at the time of the rain delay, which came shortly after Andre Ethier singled to right to put men on the corners with one out in the fifth inning. When

play resumed, Reds Manager Dusty Baker replaced starter Aaron Harang with rookie Logan Ondrusek, who immediately gave up a run-scoring single to Ramirez. Singles by James Loney and Casey

Blake increased the Dodgers’ lead to 6-0. The offensive outburst only lengthened the time spent on the bench by Kuroda. But Kuroda said he prepared himself well for the fifth inning, warming

up three times in the indoor batting cages and staying in the humid walkway behind the visiting dugout instead of the air conditioned clubhouse. “I wasn’t planning on doing it,” Torre said.

“He wanted it badly, so that was fine. “He’s certainly entitled to it. He put himself in position to win.” [email protected] MORE TO READ