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DeWitt's walk-off single powers Dodgers past Reds

May 20, 2008 - 7:13 AM LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Even though Adam Dunn continued his home run rampage, the Cincinnati Reds met their match for the first time in over a week.

Rookie Blake DeWitt hit a two-out, walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth Monday, propelling the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 6-5 comeback win over the Reds, halting Cincinnati's six-game winning streak.

After Dunn became just the fourth player in team history to homer in five straight games with his two-run blast in the third, Los Angeles began the long road back from a 5-2 deficit when it put together a three-run fifth, capped off by an RBI single from DeWitt.

"We know with the offense we have that we can come back and put runs on the board," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. "This was a good win for us after a tough weekend."

The game remained tied until the ninth when Russell Martin led off the inning with a single and was awarded second when shortstop Paul Janish sailed his throw well over fellow rookie first baseman Joey Votto.

"It's part of the learning process up here," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "The ball just seems to find guys like him in tough situations but he will bounce back and be ready again."

Jeff Kent followed with a sacrifice grounder to move Martin to third before Cincinnati elected to intentionally walk the next two hitters to load the bases for DeWitt, who lined a fastball from David Weathers (1-3) into shallow left to plate Martin.

Although it was the first walk-off hit in his career, the 22-year-old DeWitt is quickly building a reputation as a player the Dodgers want up in the clutch. Including the ninth-inning single in this game, he is 6-for-6 with 12 RBI with the bases loaded.

"I like coming up in tough situations and I think every player does," DeWitt said. "It's just a great feeling being able to help the team comeback and get a win."

The comeback spoiled the Reds' major league-high six-game winning streak as well as Dunn's three-RBI effort and Brandon Phillips' four-hit performance.

Dunn's fourth-inning home run was particularly noteworthy, allowing him to join Johnny Bench, Ted Kluszewski and Ken Griffey Jr. as the only Reds ever to homer in five consecutive contests.

His home run streak is the longest of his eight-year career and is three behind the major league record shared by Dale Long, Don Mattingly and Griffey.

"I will take not hitting a home run if it means we win the game," Dunn said. "It's good that I'm finding my stroke and helping the team win games, but it just wasn't enough tonight."

Matt Kemp went 4-for-4 for the first time in his career, posting four hits in a game for the third time in his career.

"It was just one of those games where I was getting my pitch to hit," Kemp said. "It just seems like we find a way to get back in games when we get down early and we put up some runs against a hot team."

Takashi Saito (2-1) worked a perfect ninth for the win.