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Kent leads Dodgers past Pirates

Apr 16, 2008 - 6:23 AM By John Reger PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

LOS ANGELES (Ticker) - The Los Angeles Dodgers used stolen bases and a three-run home run by Jeff Kent to claim an 11-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night.

The Dodgers successfully stole second base twice, with both runners eventually scoring. The Dodgers attempted a total of four steals against Pirates catcher Ronny Paulino.

Los Angeles also used power hitting to score as Kent hit his third home run of the season in the bottom of the fifth to highlight a five-run inning.

Kent's blast was the 348th homer of his career, tying him with teammate Andruw Jones for 64th place on the all-time list.

Phil Dumatrait surrendered the homer to Kent - who declined comment after the game - after replacing starter Matt Morris (0-2), who surrendered six runs and seven hits in 4 2/3 innings.

Hong-Chih Kuo pitched four solid innings, allowing only one run and two hits while striking out six. He was the first lefthander to start for the Dodgers since Eric Stults pitched the final game of the 2007 season.

"We were going to have him go to 80 (pitches)," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said about Kuo. "Once he finished the inning at 75, that was enough. The first inning was what knocked him out of the box. But he is intriguing, there is no question about it."

Kuo struggled with his control in the first inning, walking three straight batters after Freddy Sanchez reached on a fielder's choice as the Pirates took an early 1-0 lead. But the Japanese lefty settled down, facing just 10 batters over the next three innings.

"I tried to throw perfect pitches in the first inning," Kuo said. "After that I felt better. Maybe a little nervous, but I felt good."

Los Angeles began this campaign with five righthanders in the rotation, but Torre moved Esteban Loaiza to the bullpen after an 0-2 start.

However, Loaiza (1-2) broke out of his funk in this one with five strong innings of relief, giving up just one run and three hits while striking out two.

"I just want to do the best job possible to win games," Loaiza said. "Kuo threw good, too bad he had too many pitches, but that was my opportunity to go out there and throw strikes and get guys out."

Despite his strong showing, Loaiza isn't concerned about whether he won his starting job back.

"That's a manager's decision," he said. "I am here to do anything for my teammates and win games, that's what's most important. I was really happy (with this performance) after a whole week sitting in the bullpen."

The Dodgers erased a 1-0 deficit in the fourth inning, taking the lead for good by scoring three runs on four hits.

Rafael Furcal led off the inning with a ground-rule double and advanced to third on Matt Kemp's single before Andre Ethier plated both with a two-base hit.

Ethier, who finished with two hits and and a pair of RBI, scored on James Loney's single to right field as the Dodgers grabbed a 3-1 advantage.