Talk » 15. He did pinch hit twice in-between.LOOKING

PHILADELPHIA -- The key to Maikel Francos success is not trying to do too much.Franco hit a go-ahead two-run home run in the seventh inning and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-4 on Thursday night.I just go try to put the ball in play, put good contact on it, Franco said. When you try to do too much, youre not being someone you have to be.Ryan Howard also homered for Philadelphia, which avoided a three-game series sweep.After all the home runs they hit against us, we finally beat them with a home run, Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. That was huge.Justin Turner and Yasmani Grandal went deep for the Dodgers, who began play 1 1/2 games in front of the San Francisco Giants in the NL West.Thats a game that leaves a sour taste, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. Its a win we had late. We had a lead late.Michael Mariot (1-0) pitched a scoreless seventh inning in relief of Jerad Eickhoff to earn the victory.Freddy Galvis led off the bottom of the seventh with a single and Franco followed with his 22nd homer, to deep center off Grant Dayton (0-1) to give the Phillies a 5-4 lead.It was a fastball right down the middle and I put good contact on it -- nothing else, Franco said.Jeanmar Gomez pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his 32nd save in 35 opportunities.Eickhoff gave up four runs and seven hits in six innings with eight strikeouts and two walks. The right-hander snapped an eight-game streak in which Philadelphia starters pitched fewer than six innings -- one game short of matching the club record.Hes got a bulldog mentality, Mackanin said. He means business when he goes out there. Tonight it wasnt the greatest, and he got burned, but he threw an awful lot of good curveballs.The Dodgers jumped on Eickhoff quickly as the first three batters of the game scored to put Los Angeles ahead. Chase Utley and Corey Seager singled and Turner connected on his 23rd homer.Utleys throwing error in the second led to an unearned run as Aaron Altherrs RBI single brought Philadelphia to 3-1.Grandals one-out solo homer, his 20th, off the scoreboard in right in the fourth inning made it 4-1.Howard led off the bottom of the inning with his 19th homer of the season, a booming shot to center, to move into a tie with Carlton Fisk for 75th all-time with his 376th career home run.Howard has 11 homers in his last 28 starts and is batting .357 since the All-Star break.Hes been swinging the bat as well as Ive seen him in a long time, Mackanin said.And Philadelphia closed to 4-3 on Featherstons double to left-center.Featherston started at second base in place of Cesar Hernandez, who was a late scratch due to a sore foot.Dodgers starter Ross Stripling gave up three runs -- two earned -- and six hits in five innings. Stripling, making his 11th start, struck out five and walked two.STREAKING GONZALEZDodgers Adrian Gonzalez extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a sixth-inning double. Gonzalez is batting .432 with six doubles, three homers and 11 RBI during the streak.HOMER HAPPYThe Dodgers finished with 16 homers in their six games against Philadelphia this season.Philadelphia has homered in 12 straight games for the first time since 2013.EMPTY SEATSThe Philies moved all fans with tickets in sections 104 and 105 in right field because of an issue with the scoreboard that overhangs those sections. There also were no fans in the first three rows in the sections directly above the scoreboard. In a statement, the Phillies said the scoreboard wasnt a threat to fall but fans were moved for precautionary measures. The problem with a bracket supporting protective netting in front of the scoreboard was to be corrected after the game, the team said.TRAINERS ROOMDodgers: RHP Bud Norris, sidelined since Aug. 1 due to a back strain, will be activated from the DL and start the weekend series opener at Cincinnati.Phillies: Hernandez said he will be in the lineup on Friday.UP NEXTDodgers: Norris (6-9, 4.26) will make his first start since July 31 in the opener of the four-game series, facing Reds RHP Tim Adleman (1-1, 3.73).Phillies: LHP Adam Morgan (1-7, 6.62) starts on Friday night when the Phillies host the Cardinals for the first of three games. RHP Adam Wainwright (9-7, 4.72) starts for St. Louis.Jose Quijada Jersey . Just not the game. Kyle Palmieri scored two straight goals in the third period to rally the Anaheim Ducks past the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 on Tuesday night. Jay Powell Jersey . Bryant, who signed a five-year, $34 million contract as a free agent with Cleveland in March, reported symptoms on Monday morning, a team spokesman said. https://www.cheapmarlinsjerseys.us/511r-cliff-floyd-jersey-marlins.html . Walcott is available for Saturdays home match against Southampton as Arsenal looks to extend its two-point lead at the top of the Premier League. The Gunners are currently the second highest scorers in the league but Wenger insists Walcott will add something extra to his team. Drew Steckenrider Jersey . PETERSBURG, Fla. Austin Dean Jersey .com) - Manchester City midfielder David Silva is expected to miss the next four weeks because of a calf problem.ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- With the complicated math of baseball in the wild-card era, players in the Boston clubhouse were unaware the Red Sox are playoff bound.Dustin Pedroia hit his fourth career grand slam to help Rick Porcello get his major league-leading 22nd win, and the Red Sox clinched a playoff berth by beating the Tampa Bay Rays 6-4 Saturday night for their 10th consecutive win.Boston maintained a 5 1/2-game lead over Toronto for the division title and ensured no worse than the ALs second wild card. While the Red Sox technically have a magic number of one, the Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles play each other three times in the seasons final week -- meaning only one of them can win match Bostons 91 wins.Among the other wild-card contenders, only Detroit can reach 91 victories.I havent heard it, Red Sox manager John Farrell said moments after the game.Porcello was informed of the news by a reporter.Obviously, its big, Porcello said. Its the position that we wanted to be in coming into this last week of September. We definitely want the division going forward.Boston is on its longest September winning streak since an 11-game run in 1949.Pedroia stopped an 0-for-17 skid with a single in the sixth and gave Boston a 6-3 lead with a seventh-inning drive off Danny Farquhar.Everybody is obviously grinding, Pedroia said.Pedroia hit several foul balls, including one off his toe before going deep.You can see why hes as good as he is because he fought off some good pitches and got his pitch (a changeup) and crushed it, Farquhar said.Porcello (22-4) gave up three runs, eight hits and struck out nine over 6 1/3 innings. He just missed getting his 12th consecutive start of seven or more innings and three runs or fewer, which would have moved him past Cy Young (1904) and Pedro Martinez (2000) for the longest stretch during the same season in franchise history.Porcello is first Boston pitcher to have 22 wins since Martinez had 23 in his AL Cy Young Award wwinning season in 1999.dddddddddddd.Craig Kimbrel, the fifth Boston reliever, reached 30 saves for the sixth straight season despite allowing Logan Forsythes solo homer in the ninth.Brad Miller hit a two-run double in a three-run second that put Tampa Bay up 3-1 and gave him 80 RBI.Tampa Bay threatened in the second but failed to score due to two nice defensive plays. Pedroia made a throw from just in front of the outfield grass at second base on Mikie Mahtooks grounder to get Corey Dickerson at the plate. Third baseman Brock Holt made a solid play along the line on Alexei Ramirezs grounder and threw him out at first to end the inning.We made a couple of really nifty plays, Farrell said. Petey with a heads-up play and then Brock made a beautiful backhand play to finish the inning.TRAINERS ROOMRed Sox: Farrell didnt rule out 3B Pablo Sandoval (left shoulder) from coming back this year if an injury replacement is required in the postseason. . Knuckleballer Steven Wright (right shoulder) threw at 120 feet on level ground for the second straight day but is not ready to throw off a mound.RAYS: DH Nick Franklin (left hamstring) was in the lineup for the first time since Sept. 15. He did pinch hit twice in-between.LOOKING AHEADFarrell said LHP David Price will start Tuesday and Sunday, which lines him up for Game 2 of the AL Division Series.HONORING BIG PAPIThe Rays will honor Red Sox DH David Ortiz in a pregame ceremony Sunday before his final game at Tropicana Field. He will be just the fourth visiting player to be honored, joining Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and Cal Ripken Jr. Whenever somebody takes their time to honor my career I always appreciate it, Ortiz said. Everybody has shown a lot of respect and love.UP NEXTRed Sox LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (3-7) will go against Rays RHP Jake Odorizzi (9-6) in Sundays series finale. ' ' '