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Guzman's cycle leads Nationals to sweep of Dodgers

Fri 29th, August 2008

Washington, DC (Sports Network) - Cristian Guzman hit for the cycle, and Elijah Dukes smacked two home runs to lead the Washington Nationals to an 11-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers and a sweep of the three-game set.

Guzman became the second player in Nationals history to accomplish the feat -- Brad Wilkerson did it on April 6, 2005. Guzman also drove in three, while Dukes finished with four RBI for the Nationals, who won their third straight game for the first time since August 4.

Manny Ramirez belted a two-run home run for the slumping Dodgers, who dropped their seventh straight outing. Despite their recent futility, the Dodgers remain just 3 1/2 games behind Arizona, which has lost four in a row, for first place in the NL West. Los Angeles will visit the Diamondbacks for three crucial contests beginning on Friday.

John Lannan (8-12) won for just the third time at home in 11 opportunities. The 23-year-old yielded two runs, four hits and three walks, while striking out two in six innings.

Clayton Kershaw (2-5) suffered his second straight loss after being tagged for five runs on five hits and three walks in only 2 1/3 innings. The 20-year-old picked up two strikeouts in the losing effort.

It was a rough start for the Nationals after getting down 2-0 before they even came to the plate, as Ramirez's homer in the first inning gave Los Angeles the lead.

But Washington posted five runs in the bottom of the first inning and led the rest of the way. Guzman got it going with a solo home run and Ryan Zimmerman followed with a double to right. After a walk to Lastings Milledge, Ronnie Belliard drove in Zimmerman on a base hit to left. Dukes then cleared the bases with a three-run homer to right with one out to bring around Milledge and Belliard.

The Nationals pushed their edge to 7-2 with a pair of runs in the fifth courtesy of a two-run single by Willie Harris.

In the sixth, Guzman doubled in Anderson Hernandez to make it an 8-2 affair, and the Nats added a run with a solo homer by Dukes in the seventh.

Washington capped off the scoring with two runs in the eighth. Aaron Boone led off with a walk and two batters later scored on a Guzman triple, which completed his cycle. Guzman then came around on a one-out double by Zimmerman.

Game Notes

Before the game, the Dodgers activated pitcher Cory Wade from the 15-day disabled list and designated pitcher Tanyon Sturtze for assignment...The Nats out-hit the Dodgers, 13-5...The Nationals have only two cycles in team history, but in Expos/Nationals franchise history, there have been eight cycles. Wilkerson had two of them.

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