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Dodgers drop first home game

THE Los Angeles Dodgers lost their first home game in 14 outings on Thursday, going down 9-11 to the lowly Washington Nationals in the wake of a 50-game suspension to slugger Manny Ramirez.

The Dodgers (21-9) blew an early 6-0 lead to end their seven-game winning streak, leaving their coach and players scrambling to downplay the impact of an absent Ramirez, suspended earlier on Thursday after testing positive for a performance enhancing drug.

"It really didn't bother us too much, we knew what we had to do today," Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp said. "We have to stay consistent and keep putting runs on the board. We have the confidence and we're all backing each other up."

After clawing back to 6-4, bottom-ranked Washington (8-18) exploded with six runs in the eighth inning, Austin Kearns and Nick Johnson each belting two-run doubles.

Trailing 11-7 in the ninth, the Dodgers rallied with two late runs but Nationals reliever Kip Wills snuffed out the fightback by forcing Casey Blake to pop out and end the game.

Starter Randy Wolf pitched six innings to leave the Dodgers 6-1 up, while Matt Kemp, who went 3-for-5 with five RBIs, scored a grand slam in the first inning as the Dodgers leaped to an early 6-0 lead.

Elsewhere, the Cincinnatti Reds overcame a flu bug and the Milwaukee Brewers to post a 6-5 win in a clash of National League Central rivals. Pitcher Micah Owings worked through six innings and had a tiebreaking triple with the bat.



 

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