Dodgers score twice in 10th to down Rockies, 7-5

The lineup told Clayton Kershaw, “best of luck.” Go on, try and win with this thing of beauty.

The Dodgers supported Kershaw with a lineup that screamed Camelback Ranch. Out of the lineup were Matt Kemp and Hanley Ramirez (disabled list), A.J. Ellis (strained oblique) and Carl Crawford (sore from his Thursday wall collision, and 1 for 18 in his career vs. Rockies starter Jon Garland).

So Mark Ellis, 35, was the leadoff hitter for the first time this season. Andre Ethier batted second. Ramon Hernandez and his .167 batting average hit cleanup. There was still no true center fielder to replace Kemp, so Skip Schumaker took a turn. Rookie Scott Van Slyke hit fifth.

“It’s not what we thought going into spring training,” Mattingly told reporters in Denver.

Still, the Dodgers cobbled together a 7-5 victory in 10 innings, surviving Todd Helton’s game-tying two-run homer in the ninth off struggling closer Brandon League.

The Dodgers’ 50th lineup in 53 games put across three runs in the third and two more in the fourth, and then tried to hang on, which Helton made difficult.

Still, the Dodgers scored twice in the 10th after Hernandez, the former Rockie, led off with a basehit. Crawford pinch ran for him and took third on a Schumaker single. Luis Cruz then drilled a comebacker off reliever Rafael Betancourt that allowed Crawford to score the winning run. Juan Uribe added an insurance run with an RBI single.

That’s right, their winning runs were driven in by Cruz and Uribe. Just how they had planned. Ronald Belisario pitched a perfect 10th to earn his first save of the season.

Cruz had started things in the third when Garland hit him on the hand with a pitch. Uribe doubled him home. A Kershaw bunt sacrificed Uribe to third and an Ellis single drove him in.

After Ellis stole second base, Andre Ethier walked. Adrian Gonzalez punched a run-scoring single into right and the Dodgers were up 3-0.

The Dodgers added two more in the fourth after Van Slyke led off with a double and took third when Schumaker bounced out to second. Garland intentionally walked Uribe with two outs to get to Kershaw, which turned into a bad idea when he doubled in both runners.

They were the first runs Kershaw had driven in since his solo home run in the season opener.

On the mound, Kershaw was not at his most dominant, but was good enough to leave the game with the lead. He went seven-plus innings, allowing three runs on eight hits and a pair of walks. He struck out five.

In an 11-pitch at-bat, League gave up the pinch-hit homer to Helton. Despite that, he actually picked up the victory when the Dodgers rallied in the 10th.