Dodgers beat Dbacks 5-4 on balk by Vasquez

A balk by Esmerling Vasquez allowed Casey Blake to score the winning run in the bottom of the ninth, giving the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over the last-place Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday night.

The inning began with a walk to James Loney and a broken-bat single by Blake. Loney made a break for third base with Augie Ojeda charging in for a possible bunt, but was tagged out in a rundown after Ojeda retreated back toward the bag.

Russell Martin worked the count to 2-2 before second base umpire Tim Tschida signaled balk after some frantic gyrations by Blake and Dodgers third base coach Larry Bowa. Blake removed his helmet and jogged home.

Jonathan Broxton (3-0) pitched the ninth to earn the victory. Vasquez (0-1) took the loss. The Diamondbacks lost their season-high eighth in a row.

The last time a game was won on a balk was Sept. 9, 2008, when Taylor Buccholz of Colorado balked in Kelly Johnson of Atlanta in the 10th inning, according to Stats LLC. Johnson is now with the Dbacks.

Rodrigo Lopez took a four-hitter and a 4-2 lead into the eighth, when the Dodgers tied the game on two errors by Johnson. He booted a grounder by Andre Ethier in the hole and then overthrew it to first base, allowing Rafael Furcal, who singled, and Matt Kemp, who doubled, to score.

Ethier returned to the Dodgers after missing the previous 15 games because of a broken right pinky finger. He went 0 for 4 playing with a splint on the finger and a foam pad on his bat for cushioning.

The Diamondbacks got the go-ahead run on second in the ninth with one out against Broxton, but he struck out Adam LaRoche and Chris Young to end the inning.

Justin Upton's two-run homer off Chad Billingsley gave Arizona a 2-0 lead in the first. The ball hit the top of the right field wall and went over.

Arizona added two runs in the second on solo homers by Young and Chris Snyder, with both going into left field.

Manny Ramirez led off the fourth with his 550th career homer, leaving the Dodgers trailing 4-1. It was his second homer in as many nights and just his second since April 15. The Dodgers' second run came on Kemp's RBI single in the third.

Lopez allowed six hits and four runs in eight innings, while striking out four and walking one.

Billingsley gave up four runs and six hits in eight innings. He struck out a season-high 11 and walked none. The right-hander was erratic while facing his first 13 batters, a stretch in which he gave up a double and three homers and struck out seven.

NOTES: Ramirez's homer was his 1,813th RBI, moving him past Frank Robinson and into sole possession of 18th place on the career list. ... The Diamondbacks didn't allow any runs in the first inning for the first time since May 26, ending a five-game streak.