Dodgers top Pirates 4-3, inch closer to West title

Thursday, September 18, 2008

By ALAN ROBINSON, AP Sports Writer

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PITTSBURGH —

James Loney's line-drive single scored the go-ahead run in the 12th inning after Pittsburgh reliever Craig Hansen walked the bases full, and the Los Angeles Dodgers inched closer to winning the NL West by holding off the Pirates 4-3 Thursday.

The Dodgers withstood two Pittsburgh comebacks for their 15th victory in 18 games and opened a four-game lead over Arizona, which played San Francisco on Thursday night. The Dodgers' magic number for winning the division is seven, in any combination of Los Angeles wins and Arizona losses.

Los Angeles, taking three of four in a ballpark where it loses infrequently, hadn't scored since the seventh until Hansen (1-4) _ the seventh of eight Pittsburgh pitchers _ walked Russell Martin, Manny Ramirez intentionally and Casey Blake. Loney, a left-handed batter, then drove a single into left off T.J. Beam.

Scott Proctor (2-0) won it with a scoreless 11th inning and Jonathan Broxton finished for his 14th save in 16 opportunities, stranding the potential tying run at third.

The Dodgers, coming off an ugly 15-8 loss Wednesday night in which they got 18 hits but still lost by seven runs, took a 2-1 lead in the fourth on a walk, Matt Kemp's two-out double _ he has six hits in two games _ and Blake DeWitt's two-run single to center.

Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw was lifted after allowing one run and two hits over five innings, but former closer Takashi Saito couldn't hold the lead in his second appearance since missing 53 games with an injured right elbow. Former Dodgers infielder Andy LaRoche's RBI single tied it at 2.

The Dodgers, 23-7 in PNC Park, retook the lead against Paul Maholm in the seventh on three walks and Andre Ethier's run-scoring infield single. Manny Ramirez flew out to left with two outs and the bases loaded.

Maholm, the Pirates' most reliable starter, allowed only three hits over seven innings but was hurt by wildness, walking six. All but one Dodgers run was scored by a runner who walked.

Pittsburgh tied it again when Nyjer Morgan singled with two out in the seventh, stole second and scored on fellow rookie Luis Cruz's single against Cory Wade. Wade's streak of facing 25 consecutive batters without allowing a hit ended earlier in the inning with pinch-hitter Doug Mientkiewicz's single, but Mientkiewicz was thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a double.

Los Angeles is 5-10 in extra innings and Pittsburgh _ despite being 25 games under .500 _ is 12-5, with two losses in its last three.

Notes:@ Hansen has walked 20 in 15 2-3 innings since being dealt by Boston to Pittsburgh. ... Possibly because of Wednesday night's loss, Dodgers manager Joe Torre decided not to rest Ramirez, as he weighed doing earlier in the week. ... The Dodgers' only appearance in Pittsburgh next season also will be a four-game series in September. ... Maholm gave up more than two earned runs for only the second time in his last eight starts.