Major League Baseball

Dodgers 11, Indians 2

Published Mar. 30, 2010 6:57 a.m. ET

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Chad Billingsley's pitching pleased Joe Torre. Andre Ethier's hitting made the Los Angeles Dodgers' manager ready to buy a ticket.

Billingsley pitched five strong innings and Ethier had a double and two-run homer in an 11-2 win over the Cleveland Indians on Monday night.

``Ethier looks really good,'' Torre said. ``It's fun to watch a hitter like him. Tonight, it was one of the prettiest things you'll see on the homer to right and then the rocket to left.''

Cleveland starter Justin Masterson struck out six over 5 2-3 innings, but made a throwing error that led to an unearned run. He was hit in the right upper back by a sharp one-hopper off the bat of Blake DeWitt in the fourth inning. Ethier followed with his homer.

``That ball was glancing, I hardly felt it,'' Masterson said. ``The homer was just a hanging slider, a really bad pitch. Otherwise, I was happy. My fastball control was very good. I'm about ready to go.''

Masterson twice struck out Manny Ramirez, then got the veteran slugger on a weak ground out.

``The first one was a slider on the corner for the called strikeout,'' Masterson said. ``Then I got him to swing and miss on a good fastball. I was happy because he's still such a great hitter.''

Rafael Perez gave up run-scoring singles to Matt Kemp and Casey Blake after replacing Masterson in the sixth. Masterson was charged with four hits and three earned runs.

Billingsley gave up three hits and three walks but only one run - Travis Hafner's RBI single in the first.

``Chad threw a lot of pitches in the first,'' Torre said, ``but he was fine. He threw some good changeups. The change is a big pitch for him.''

Jeff Weaver followed with two scoreless innings and remains in the mix for a roster spot.

``It's like those guys with the (NCAA) brackets,'' Torre said. ``We're mixing, matching. We'll have 11 pitchers. We're still trying to put the 11 names together.''

Weaver also was hit in the back of the ribs by a hard shot but stayed in the game.

J.D. Closser had a two-run single in a three-run eighth against Tony Sipp, who gave up five hits, one walk and hit a batter.

Christian Lara a two-run double in a three-run ninth off Chris Perez, now the Indians' closer with Kerry Wood sidelined by a sore back. Perez walked three.

NOTES: Hafner, Asdrubal Cabrera and Luis Valbuena all had two hits apiece for Cleveland. ... Ethier is hitting .298 with a team-leading four homers and 12 RBIs. ... Kemp and Blake also had two hits for Los Angeles. ... Dodgers C Russell Martin caught seven innings in a minor-league game in the afternoon. Martin sustained a strained groin March 6 but is on track to start the opener. ... RHP Hiroki Kuroda struck out seven and gave up one run over seven innings to the minor-leaguers. ... Dodgers coaches voted minor-league RHP Josh Lindblom the top rookie in camp. ... Indians 1B Russell Branyan, sidelined all spring by a sore back, is set to DH in a minor-league game Tuesday.

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