Dodgers Extend Big Show Tour

It is only July, the National League West race remains tight and the Dodgers acknowledge they haven’t accomplished anything.

That aside, things are going very well for the major league’s hottest team, which extended its season-high winning streak to eight games Tuesday night in a 7-5 victory over the Houston Astros before 34,154 at Minute Maid Park.

The Dodgers overcame a late deficit while rallying for their fourth come-from-behind win on a 6-0 trip, completing sweeps of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Astros.

Trailing, 4-1, the Dodgers broke through with four runs in the seventh inning Tuesday against the Astros’ ineffective bullpen after journeyman right-hander Pete Munro worked six-plus solid innings.

Paul Lo Duca’s two-run single pulled the Dodgers within a run, and then Adrian Beltre provided another big blow.

The hot cleanup batter delivered again in a breakthrough season, hitting a go-ahead two-run home run -- his team-leading 25th -- off David Weathers (6-5) to give the Dodgers a 5-4 lead. The Dodgers sent 10 batters to the plate in the seventh against Munro and three relievers, and added two insurance runs in the eighth on Beltre’s run-scoring single and Milton Bradley’s groundout.

“We believe we should be playing the way we’re playing right now,” said Beltre, also leading the team with a .326 batting average and 63 runs batted in. “We know we can win, and we have a pretty good chance to run away with this division. That’s what we’re trying to do right now.”

The Dodgers closed the trip with another big show on offense, getting three hits and three RBIs from Beltre, three RBIs from Lo Duca and three hits from Cesar Izturis, who needed a homer for the cycle, as part of a 12-hit attack.

“Beltre, Lo Duca, Izturis,” Manager Jim Tracy said. “Six runs batted in between Beltre and Lo Duca, a great offensive performance again tonight from Cesar Izturis, and a huge home run from Beltre.

“It’s a fantastic road trip. It’s a great way to start the second half of the season and a tremendous momentum builder.”

Jeff Weaver (7-9) benefited from the quick turnaround, beginning when Jason Grabowski doubled while pinch-hitting for the right-hander to start the seventh.

Closer Eric Gagne worked the final 1 1/3 innings for his 27th save in 28 opportunities. Gagne overpowered the Astros, striking out the side, after Carlos Beltran’s leadoff double in the ninth.

The Dodgers (54-38) moved a season-high 16 games over .500 and improved to 17-3 in their last 20 games. They maintained a 2 1/2-game lead over second-place San Francisco and finished 5-1 in the season series against Houston (45-48).

The last time the Dodgers opened the second half at 6-0 was in 1988. Didn’t something special happen that year?

“Numbers don’t lie -- we’re headed to the World Series,” Gagne said, jokingly. “No, you really can’t compare that. The numbers don’t really have any type of significance other than we’re playing really well. It’s hard to beat us because we just go out and keep battling.

“It’s amazing. That clubhouse is just so much fun to be in because we know we’re going to win. There’s no doubt. Every time we walk on the field we expect to win. If we don’t win, for us, we feel like it’s a fluke.

“It’s just confidence. I mean, we know we’re not going to win every game. When we do lose, we just have to remember this feeling. The bottom line is we’re playing great right now.”

No Dodger is performing better than Beltre.

In his last 29 games, Beltre is batting .404 with 10 homers and 24 RBIs.

“What you’re seeing is a young player, a very talented young player, that has come of age,” Tracy said. “He has made the adjustments that are necessary to make him the complete player that he is very capable of being.”

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On a Roll

While compiling a 15-2 record in July, the Dodgers have put together their two longest winning streaks of the season:

8: July 10-20

6: May 6-12

6: July 3-8