Rainiers slammed by Isotopes, 8-5

Tony Abreu, back from a brief stay in Los Angeles, crushed an RBI triple and a two-out grand slam, driving in five to lead Albuquerque to an 8-6 victory over Tacoma. Chattanooga scored eight in the third inning to smash Jacksonville 10-2. Modesto handed Inland Empire their eighth loss in a row 3-1. Great Lakes topped West Michigan 7-4 and moved into a tie for second in the division standings.

Tony Abreu had a brief cup of coffee in The Show, then was sent back to the Isotopes. The Dodgers’ minor league report is a weekly window into the Dodgers’ minor league system, with updated standings, league leaders, team and individual player stats, and the latest team and player news.

Two streaks ended Tuesday. Inland Empire squeezed by Modesto 3-2, thanks to a game-saving catch by Trayvon Robinson to break an eight game losing streak and Fort Wayne hammered Great Lakes to snap the Loons five game winning streak. Albuquerque led a 3-0 lead slide into a 9-5 Tacoma win. Chattanooga had the day off.

What a cheapskate.

Hiroki Kuroda and Matt Kemp play prominent roles in helping the Dodgers get back on track in San Francisco. Reporting from San Francisco On a night when Chad Billingsley was scratched from his next start, Hiroki Kuroda delivered 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball.

After a slow stretch when he might have been thinking about home runs, Ramirez gets hot against the Giants. Dodgers hitting coach Don Mattingly said he has noticed that Manny Ramirez has fouled off more pitches down the first base line in recent games -- a sign that he's regaining his timing.

Chad Billingsley will miss his next scheduled start with a strained hamstring.

Steven Caseres|1B|A+|22-He has been a pleasant surprise, even if his growth has come in the Cal League. His walk rate has almost doubled (12.5%), his strikeout rate has come down at tad (28.2%), and his power has maintained (.207). Given his projection, I expected more of a power uptick in this league, but i'll gladly take baby steps from a guy who wasn't supposed to be...

Matt Kemp hit a three-run double to back a strong effort from Hiroki Kuroda and help the slumping Los Angeles Dodgers win the opener of their key three-game series against the San Francisco Giants, 4-2 Monday night.

Matt Kemp hit a three-run double to back a strong effort from Hiroki Kuroda and help the slumping Los Angeles Dodgers win the opener of their key three-game series against the San Francisco Giants, 4-2 Monday night.

Eric Stults made his first start since May 30 for the Los Angeles Dodgers on a beaming Sunday afternoon at Dodger Stadium. Despite a decent outing, he couldn’t do enough as the Los Angeles Dodgers (67-45) fell to the Atlanta Braves (58-54) 8-2.The Dodgers have lost four of the last five and 11 of the last 18 games. Stults has been pitching in triple-A Albuquerque since coming...