The Valencia baseball team jumped out to a three-run lead and beat Birmingham, 5-2, in a Valley Invitational Baseball League game.

Nick Rivas doubled in AJ Balta and Parker Greenberg drew a bases loaded walk to help Valencia build a 3-0 lead in the first inning.

Valencia won its second game in a row and its fourth in its last five games.

Balta was 3-for-3 with a walk and scored two runs. Rivas was 2-for-4 with a double and triple and scored two runs. Brian Mundell was 2-for-4 with a double and drove in a run.

Jake Roberge pitched a complete game, giving up two runs on seven hits and striking out six.

In other Valley Invitational Baseball League games, West Ranch lost to Notre Dame, 5-3, and dropped to 10-2 in the league standings.

Josh Heinz was 2-for-3 with a double and drove in a run for West Ranch, the leader in the summer baseball league standings.

Canyon scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and beat St. Francis, 5-4.

Golden Valley lost to Sylmar, 5-3. Nick Tejada was 2-for-2 with a double, a walk and scored a run for Golden Valley. Tanner Swire was 1-for-2 with two walks, an RBI and scored a run.

The Clippers have a new coach. Vinny Del Negro takes over for interim coach Kim Hughes, who took over for Mike Dunleavy at midseason.

The Clippers have three rookies on its roster, including Blake Griffin, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft. Griffin missed the entire 2009-10 season recovering from a knee injury.

Del Negro coached the Chicago Bulls to two straight NBA playoff appearances. He was 82-82 as coach of the Bulls.

The Dodgers scored four runs in the second inning and cruised to a 7-3 win over the visiting Florida Marlins. Matt Kemp and Casey Blake each homered. Rafael Furcal drove in three runs, including two with a single in the second inning.

The Dodgers have won three of their last four games. They wrap up their series with the Marlins tonight at Dodger Stadium. It will be Hiroki Kuroda for the Dodgers against Marlins ace Josh Johnson. Pregame starts at 6:30 on AM 1220, KHTS.