Blake gets bases-loaded single in 9th, Dodgers beat Marlins 4-3

Dodgers win on Blake’s bases-loaded hit in 9th

LOS ANGELES — Casey Blake blooped a bases-loaded single with two outs in the ninth inning, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Florida Marlins 4-3 on Saturday night for their sixth win in seven games.

James Loney and Russell Martin tied it in the sixth with run-scoring singles for the Dodgers, who improved the majors’ best record to 62-35 while snapping the Marlins’ four-game winning streak on their West Coast road trip.

After Rafael Furcal’s one-out bunt single in the ninth, Orlando Hudson singled to left off Dan Meyer (2-1). Luis Ayala then struck out Manny Ramirez, but walked Andre Ethier to load the bases before Blake dropped his hit into shallow right-center, finishing Los Angeles’ 27th comeback victory of the season.

Blake had been in a 7-for-43 slump before his winner, including a 5-for-31 drought during the Dodgers’ eight home games since the All-Star break — but the veteran third baseman got just enough of Ayala’s last pitch to end it.

Jonathan Broxton (7-0) pitched a perfect ninth for the Dodgers, who have lost back-to-back games just once in July. They still haven’t lost three straight all season.

One night after pounding the Dodgers’ bullpen, Florida managed just six hits, none after the sixth inning.

Ramirez’s seventh-inning single was his first hit since his pinch-hit grand slam Wednesday. He also was awkward on two early plays in the field, but made a nice running catch on Dan Uggla’s drive to the gap in the ninth inning.

Rick VandenHurk labored through five effective innings in his second start of the season for Florida, yielding five hits and three walks, but just one run.

Hiroki Kuroda matched his season high with nine strikeouts and allowed just one extra-base hit in six innings of six-hit ball, but the Marlins manufactured three runs against the Japanese right-hander by stealing bases and exploiting the Dodgers’ fielding imperfections. Hanley Ramirez stole second before scoring on Jeremy Hermida’s sixth-inning single to put the Marlins up 3-1.

After VandenHurk left in the sixth, Los Angeles swiftly tied it against Florida’s usually reliable bullpen. After Ethier’s leadoff single and Blake’s walk from Renyel Pinto, Loney and Martin hit back-to-back RBI singles.

NOTES: Guillermo Mota pitched two hitless innings of relief for Los Angeles on his 36th birthday. He has thrown 19 consecutive scoreless innings in his last 15 appearances since June 24. … Kuroda got his first hit of the season in the fifth inning. … During the 51st annual Hollywood Stars celebrity softball game, actor Rob Lowe charged the mound and tackled pitcher Dave Annable, his co-star on “Brothers & Sisters.” No actors were harmed in the ensuing bench-clearing brawl. Sugar Shane Mosley and Tom Arnold were co-MVPs.