LOS ANGELES -- A welcoming party greeted Burke Badenhop inside the Marlins dugout in the seventh inning Sunday after he was ejected for drilling Orlando Hudson with a pitch.

He was congratulated with high-fives and backslaps.

As teammate Wes Helms said after the Marlins' tempestuous, 8-6 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers: ``I tip my hat to `Hopper.' He did what he thought was right, and we backed him on it. We thought it was right, and he did it.''

Although Badenhop didn't admit it, there was little question that he plunked Hudson in retaliation for Hanley Ramirez being hit by a pitch from Jeff Weaver in the sixth.

``It's all about staying together and protecting your teammates,'' said Ramirez, who drove in two runs with a double in the third inning and another run with a single in the fourth. ``If he did [hit Hudson on purpose], that showed me he took care of his teammate.''

Ramirez had complained in June when the Marlins pitchers didn't retaliate after he was hit by a pitch in Toronto, with Ramirez saying they had an ``obligation'' to do so.

But neither Ramirez nor anyone else on the Marlins was complaining Sunday after defeating the Dodgers and taking the series two games to one -- with a little payback thrown in. The Marlins closed out a successful West Coast trip in which they went 5-1 in San Diego and Los Angeles.

``I'm happy right now because we won,'' Ramirez said. ``We're still in the race.''

TEEING OFF

After losing Saturday night's game to the Dodgers on a bloop single in the bottom of the ninth, the Marlins teed off on Jason Schmidt, who brought a career mark of 8-0 against the Marlins into Sunday's start.

But this is a different Schmidt than the one who once dominated them, a surgically repaired shell of the former ace. He gave up a run in the second, three in the third, and was lifted after he gave up a leadoff home run in the fourth to Dan Uggla.

The Marlins were up 8-0 after four innings.

It was in the sixth when things turned interesting.

When Ramirez strode to the plate with two outs, Weaver threw a high, inside pitch that just missed. Apparently unsatisfied that the pitch didn't find its mark the first time, Weaver's next pitch struck Ramirez on his back, just below his shoulder.

Home-plate umpire Bob Davidson issued warnings to both benches.

What provoked Weaver to take aim at Ramirez?

On Friday, Dodgers star Manny Ramirez was hit by a pitch thrown by Josh Johnson, and he sat out Sunday's game because of a sore wrist caused by a plunking Tuesday when the Dodgers played the Cincinnati Reds.

Some Marlins also wondered whether Weaver was upset at the lopsided score.

``We play the game the right way,'' Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said. ``I understand we've got an eight-run lead, and the whole thing. But we're not stealing bases or anything. We're playing the game the right way, and for him to do that in that situation, it puts everybody in a situation where it's not good baseball the rest of the game.''

Said Helms: ``I think Weaver, it was not the right thing for him to do there. It was obvious he did it. We weren't showing anybody up. We weren't pimping..''

Weaver's explanation: ``I was trying to bury a slider in.''

THE OTHER SIDE

As for Badenhop, he said he merely ``yanked'' a fastball that managed to hit Hudson. Eight players were hit by pitches in the series, including four Sunday. It also was the first time this season that Badenhop has hit anyone with a pitch.

Because a warning had been issued, Badenhop and Gonzalez were ejected when Hudson was plunked.

Said Dodgers manager Joe Torre: ``I can't comment because I'm not sure where it's going to come from -- the criticism, I'm talking about. So I'd rather not comment. As opposed to telling you something you're not going to believe.''

The Marlins pounded out seven doubles Sunday, one shy of a team record.

Chris Volstad got the victory, even though he was not sharp. Volstad maintained his record of having never lost in California (he is 4-0 in the state). But he gave up eight hits, walked four and came apart in the sixth, when he gave up four runs. That cut the Marlins' lead in half.

The Dodgers scored two runs in the ninth off Leo Nuñez, who entered in a nonsave situation. But Nuñez got Matt Kemp on a foul pop to catcher John Baker to end the game.