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Kuroda, Ardoin help Dodgers end slide

Jun 7, 2008 - 6:38 AM LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- A pair of unlikely candidates helped the Los Angeles Dodgers get back on track.

Seldom-used catcher Danny Ardoin drove in two runs and Hiroki Kuroda recorded his first career shutout as the Dodgers snapped a three-game losing streak with a 3-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Friday night.

Ardoin, who was recalled from Class AAA Las Vegas on May 21 after backup Gary Bennett was placed on the disabled list, entered the game with just 31 RBI in 144 career games.

"The runs aren't coming in as much as we like, so we're going to use every opportunity we can to score," Ardoin said. "We were very efficient manufacturing runs. It's something we have to do."

The 33-year-old provided a spark for Los Angeles, which scored more than two runs just twice over its previous seven games.

Ardoin's pair of RBI were his first since the 2006 season, when he drove in three during 40 games with the Baltimore Orioles and Colorado Rockies.

"We want to grind out our at-bats," he said. "When there's guys on base, we just want to do whatever it takes to put the ball in play. Good things happened tonight once we did that."

After Jeff Kent gave the Dodgers an early lead with an RBI double off Cubs starter Sean Gallagher (3-2) in the first inning, Ardoin doubled the advantage by plating James Loney with a groundout in the fourth.

Gallagher allowed two runs and three hits in five innings, suffering the loss after notching the win in each of his previous two starts.

"(Gallagher) threw the ball fine. He needs to continue to work on his breaking ball," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "He went out and gave us five innings and a chance to win the game."

Ardoin drove in his second run in the sixth against rookie reliever Kevin Hart, executing a squeeze play to extend Los Angeles' advantage to 3-0.

"I anticipated the squeeze going up there, got the sign and wanted to make sure I got the ball in play," Ardoin said.

That proved to be more than enough for Kuroda (3-5), who allowed just four hits - all singles - while striking out 11 en route to just his second win in his last five starts.

"Since we're losing a lot of games lately, I just wanted the team to win," Kuroda said through an interpreter. "I didn't care about my personal record, I had (closer Takashi) Saito behind me, but I'm glad I went all nine innings."

"(Kuroda) was as close to perfect without being perfect as you can be," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. "He was totally in control and he was just dominant."

After allowing six runs in his previous outing, the 33-year-old Japanese import bounced back Friday, needing just 112 pitches to blank the Cubs. He surrendered just one hit over his final four innings.

"Between this game and last outing, I had a talk with (pitching coach Rick) Honeycutt to fix some problems," Kuroda said. "I changed my grip on my slider and it gave me better movement, and I'm glad it worked out."