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Dodgers score four in the eighth to edge Cubs

May 26, 2007 - 7:25 AM LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- The Chicago Cubs' bullpen once again failed to close the door.

Jeff Kent drove in four runs and Juan Pierre added a go-ahead sacrifice fly as the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied for four runs in the eighth inning for a 9-8 victory over the Cubs on Friday night.

Los Angeles trailed, 8-5, in the eighth before turning things around. Russell Martin, Luis Gonzalez and rookie Tony Abreu all singled to load the bases and chase Cubs reliever Bob Howry.

Abreu stroked his first major league hit in the sixth inning.

"Tony did get a couple of big hits," Los Angeles manager Grady Little said. "He'll probably play second base (Saturday) in the game. He's a good offensive player."

Pinch hitter Olmedo Saenz singled up the middle against Will Ohman (0-2), who was then replaced by Angel Guzman. Saenz fought off several pitches prior to his hit.

"I got him into a 2-2 count, then he held off a pretty good fastball," Ohman said. "I went back to it again and he got it. He gets paid to hit, and he got me. I get paid to get outs and I didn't."

"We know we have a good offense," Little said. "The pinch-hit performance by Olmedo was amazing. That was a professional at bat."

But Guzman was not the answer either for Chicago manager Lou Piniella as Gonzalez scored on the righthander's wild pitch and walked Andy LaRoche to load the bases again.

"With the bases juiced, they kept putting the pressure on us," Chicago catcher Michael Barrett said. "I kept hoping that Rich Donnelly (Dodgers third base coach) would send them home and we'd get an out, but they just kept the pressure on."

Rafael Furcal extended his hitting streak to 11 games with an RBI single and Pierre capped the four-run uprising with a sacrifice fly to center.

On May 17, the Cubs' bullpen surrendered five runs in the ninth frame to fall 6-5 to the New York Mets.

Rudy Seanez (2-0) struck out two in a scoreless eighth for the win and closer Takashi Saito did not allow anyone aboard in the ninth to record his 15th save for Los Angeles, which has won three straight games.

Dodgers starter Derek Lowe was impressive through six-plus innings, allowing one run and four hits with five strikeouts before watching his teammates squander a 5-1 advantage.

"It was good to see our offense pick up the victory," Lowe said. "Hopefully, we'll go out (Saturday) and do the same thing. Bottom line is we won and everybody should be happy that we came out there with the victory."

"He gave us everything he had, it's a shame we're not able to get him a win," Little.

Lowe became the fourth active pitcher with 200 starts and 200 relief appearances, joining John Smoltz (Atlanta), Kenny Rogers (Detroit) and Tom Gordon (Philadelphia).

Alfonso Soriano, Mark DeRosa and Derrek Lee all delivered run-scoring doubles during a commanding seven-run seventh to take an 8-5 advantage into the eighth.

"We did a great job of putting up seven runs as a team," Barrett said. "We pieced together some runs. It seemed to be the ticket for both clubs. Then we gave it away. Tough loss."

Cubs starter Ted Lilly was tagged for five runs and six hits with four walks in just 4 1/3 frames.