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Furcal, Dodgers squeak past rival Giants

Jul 15, 2007 - 3:14 AM SAN FRANCISCO (Ticker) -- Rafael Furcal snapped a 12th-inning tie with a sacrifice fly as the Los Angeles Dodgers blew a five-run lead but recovered for an 8-7 victory over the rival San Francisco Giants on Saturday afternoon.

Former Giant Jeff Kent knocked in three runs for the Dodgers, who won their third straight contest following a four-game losing streak. Los Angeles remained undefeated at AT&T Park this season and has won 10 in a row overall in San Francisco.

It was a forgettable day for Giants slugger Barry Bonds, who remained at 751 home runs, five shy of Hank Aaron's all-time record. The seven-time National League MVP went 0-for-5, hitting into a double play, striking out twice and grounding out weakly to second twice.

But the veteran slugger sparked a ninth-inning comeback with a leadoff walk against Dodgers closer Takashi Saito.

After Ryan Klesko grounded out to third to move Bonds to second, Bengie Molina flied out to left. That left it up to Pedro Feliz, who grounded a single through the middle to tie the game at 7-7 and cap a five-run comeback.

Furcal, who had two hits and two RBI, knocked in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly to right-center off Patrick Misch (0-1) that scored James Loney, who led off the 12th inning with a double.

"It was a great win," Dodgers starter Derek Lowe said. "You have to give them credit, the way they battled back. A lot of times, you see the team that has the lead and loses it late. It's hard to win those games for the obvious reason that you thought you had it won, but we were able to scrap across that run there."

"I look at the resiliency, the way we fight back," Loney said. "We never give up. You just try and go up there and be ready to win and never take it for granted, no matter what the score is. We played hard today."

It should have been an easier time for the Dodgers, who saw a 7-2 lead shrink to one run in the eighth.

"It's real special, especially when you did it in hostile territory like we're in right here. Anywhere on the road, but especially here in San Francisco," Los Angeles manager Grady Little said of the win. "Those are tough to get when you nearly let one slip away. To come back and get it is big."

Lowe allowed two runs - one earned - and eight hits while striking out six and walking two in six effective innings. But the bullpen let him down.

"Your job as a starting pitcher is to go out there and go as long as you can and keep your team in the game," Lowe said. "The bottom line is the team win. It doesn't matter who gets it, so that's definitely my thinking."

Joe Beimel tossed a scoreless seventh, striking out Bonds and Klesko to end the frame. Chin-hui Tsao got two outs in the eighth but allowed two hits, four runs and a walk before Jonathan Broxton came on to strike out Ray Durham, ending the inning.

Mark Hendrickson (4-4) tossed the 10th and 11th and Rudy Seanez hurled the 12th for his first save of the season.

"I was just focused on making pitches," said Hendrickson, who is scheduled to start for the Dodgers on Tuesday. "When you face good hitters, it's more important to execute your pitches. Sometimes you're going to win, sometimes you're going to lose."

"He had to work for it, but he came out of there with the win late in the game," Little said. "That was big for us. He will be fine for his start on Tuesday."

After Loney led off the fifth with a groundout, Wilson Betemit blasted a solo homer off San Francisco starter Matt Morris to start the scoring. Andre Ethier followed with a single and Lowe sacrificed him to second, setting up Furcal's RBI single to make it 2-0.

Los Angeles continued the onslaught with consecutive singles by Juan Pierre and Russell Martin, whose hit scored Furcal. Kent then smacked a three-run homer to left-center field to make it 6-0 and cap the outburst.

"You have two outs, and all of a sudden, it's 6-0," Morris said. "It ticks me off because I felt like I was throwing the ball where I wanted. That was a bad spot to give up six runs. It's heartbreaking and asking a lot of this team."

After getting the leadoff hitter aboard in each of the first five innings, the Giants finally capitalized with two runs in the fifth. Feliz reached on Furcal's fielding error, advanced to third on a grounder by pinch hitter Mark Sweeney and scored on an RBI single by Dave Roberts.

Randy Winn followed with an RBI single before Lowe got Durham and Bonds to ground out, ending the threat.

The veteran outfielder was not done, belting a grand slam off Tsao in the eighth to cut San Francisco's deficit to 7-6. It was his sixth career grand slam and first with the Giants.

Making it even more memorable, Winn launched the homer on the first pitch after fouling a ball sharply off his right foot. He later left the game with a contusion.

"He was hurting," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "That was the hit we've been looking for. It lifted the whole team. Unfortunately, we couldn't get that last run. To make that comeback and fall short, that's hard for the team, for me and for the fans."

Morris struggled, yielding six runs and eight hits in five innings without walking or striking out a batter for San Francisco, which has lost four of its last six games.