Team Fattens Up on Nationals, 13-1

Tom Lasorda was eating well Friday.

The Dodgers’ Hall of Fame manager and now a special advisor to owner Frank McCourt, has been on a hunger strike since Wednesday, vowing not to let food pass his lips until the Dodgers ended a losing streak that had stretched to eight games.

The Dodgers not only broke it Friday night at Dodger Stadium, but broke out with the kind of offensive performance they have been hungering for, smashing the Washington Nationals, 13-1, at Dodger Stadium.

The team had stumbled out of the gate after the All-Star break with 13 losses in 14 games.

All that was forgotten for at least one night as the team pounded out 12 hits, including three home runs and a triple, giving the Dodgers their most runs since a 16-3 pounding of the Angels in May.

J.D. Drew had a grand slam, giving him 10 home runs this season. He also regained the team lead in runs batted in with 58, surpassing Nomar Garciaparra, out because of a strained knee, who has 57.

Andre Ethier added his ninth homer and a triple and Cesar Izturis hit his first home run of the season.

The Dodgers scored four runs in the second inning, two in the third and five in the fourth.

Rookie Chad Billingsley (2-3) got the victory, giving up one run in six innings. But along with five strikeouts, he also walked five.

Tony Armas (7-6) took the loss.

The game matched the last-place team in their respective divisions. The Dodgers improved to 48-55 by beating a Washington club that fell to 46-57. But the Nationals had been playing well, having won eight of their previous 10.

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The Dodgers don’t expect injured first baseman Garciaparra to be back before Tuesday, according to Manager Grady Little.

Garciaparra, out since Monday, is penciled in for the start of a six-game trip Tuesday in Cincinnati.

“I feel [the sprain] when I swing the bat,” Garciaparra said.

Second baseman Jeff Kent, suffering from a bruised left side, will be out an additional “10 days to two weeks,” said Little.

Kent went on the disabled list July 18.

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With the trade of Sandy Alomar Jr. earlier this week, Dodger first base coach Mariano Duncan snatched up Alomar’s No. 25 uniform, Duncan’s old number. Duncan had been wearing No. 29

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While all eyes remain on Alfonso Soriano with the trading deadline three days away, the Nationals made another move Friday, sending 39-year-old left-handed reliever Mike Stanton to the San Francisco Giants for 19-year-old Shairon Martis, a right-hander pitching at the Class A level.

Stanton was 3-5 with a 4.47 earned-run average for Washington in 56 appearances. Martis was 6-4 with a 3.64 ERA for Augusta of the South Atlantic League. The Nationals also purchased the contract of right-hander Travis Hughes from triple-A New Orleans to take Stanton’s place on the roster. Hughes, 28, was 1-5 with four saves and a 2.48 ERA in 46 appearances for New Orleans.