LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The Los Angeles Dodgers waved goodbye to shortstop Rafael Furcal, who appeared to be on his way to St. Louis after five-plus seasons in Los Angeles. And Furcal's sudden departure cast an even larger pall in the clubhouse following their loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Justin Upton greeted Matt Guerrier with a go-ahead, three-run double in the sixth inning and Arizona climbed within three games of the NL West lead with a 6-4 victory over the Dodgers on Saturday night.
Dodgers manager Don Mattingly and general manager Ned Colletti were measuring their words carefully before the game when asked about the status of Furcal's impending trade to the Cardinals.
The two-time All-Star shortstop was held out of the lineup Saturday. He participated in batting practice and pregame drills, but he was not in the dugout in the ninth inning when Mattingly used Eugenio Velez to hit for reliever Josh Lindblom.
Furcal cleaned out his locker, but the team made no formal announcement after the game that he was traded.
"Raffy's got a lot of friends here, so we're sad to see him go and we're going to miss him," second baseman Aaron Miles said. "He's been a big part of this team. It's been tough for him to get on the field this year, but he's going to a great team and a great organization. It's a real good opportunity for him and I wish him the best."
Los Angeles starter Chad Billingsley (9-9) was charged with six runs and seven hits over 5 2-3 innings. He struck out four and tied a season high with five walks. One of them was to No. 8 hitter Gerardo Parra with the bases loaded and none out in the sixth. Xavier Nady batted for Micah Owings (5-0) and hit a sacrifice fly, reducing the Dodgers' lead to 4-3.
"Billingsley was pounding the zone earlier, but he just wasn't locating in the sixth and we took advantage of it," Arizona manager Kirk Gibson said. "That's what you have to do. You have to recognize it and just lay off the pitches that are just marginally off the plate. That's what we did."
Another walk to Kelly Johnson on Billingsley's 103rd and final pitch loaded the bases again. Upton then hit a drive to center that skidded on the wet grass and got past Matt Kemp, clearing the bases. The three RBIs increased Upton's team-high total to 65, just four fewer than he had last season in 133 games.
Kemp, who hit a two-run drive in the third for his 26th homer of the season, came up in the seventh representing the potential tying run. But Bryan Shaw struck him out with a runner at third. J.J. Putz, the sixth Arizona pitcher, pitched a hitless ninth for his 23rd save in 27 attempts.
The Diamondbacks also loaded the bases with none out in the second, but all they could get out of it was a sacrifice fly from Willie Bloomquist. Right fielder Andre Ethier prevented two more runs when he robbed Johnson of extra bases with a lunging catch while going full speed toward the warning track.
The Dodgers grabbed a 3-1 lead in the third. Casey Blake, in his first game off the disabled list, hit a sacrifice fly one pitch after a one-out triple by Tony Gwynn Jr. Ethier singled with two outs and Kemp deposited Owings' 2-1 pitch into the pavilion seats in left-center, raising his NL-leading RBI total to 82.
Jamey Carroll's line drive up the middle through a drawn-in infield increased the margin to 4-1 in the fourth.
Notes: Hiroki Kuroda informed Colletti that he decided not to waive the no-trade clause in his contract. He was the subject of considerable trade speculation prior to Sunday's non-waiver trade deadline. "In my heart of hearts, knowing him like I know him, I'm not surprised that is the way he felt," Colletti said. "I would have been more surprised if he had said, 'OK, I'll go somewhere else.' In a way, it's refreshing. He made a commitment to sign here, and he wants to fulfill that commitment. ... Blake missed the Dodgers' previous 21 games because of a cervical strain. The Dodgers placed 3B Juan Uribe on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to July 24, because of a groin strain.
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Source: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/baseball/mlb/07/31/dodgers-furcal.ap/index.html?eref=si_latest
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