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Wolf homers, pitches into eighth for Dodgers

Aug 17, 2009 - 12:38 AM PHOENIX(AP) -- Randy Wolf almost single-handedly lifted the Dodgers out of their funk.

Wolf finished a triple finished a triple short of the cycle and pitched neatly into the eighth inning, leading Los Angeles to a 9-3 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday that snapped a three-game losing streak.

Wolf (7-6) struck out 10 in 7 2-3 innings and did not walk a batter while winning consecutive starts for the first time this season. He has 13 no decisions in 26 starts this season.

"What can I say? He did it all," Los Angeles manager Joe Torre said. "The best part about watching what he did today, he just kept them off the fat of the bat. Took a little off. Put a little on. Threw a lot of strikes. Probably got a little tired from being on the bases."

Wolf hit a two-run homer, a run-scoring double and singled to help his cause.

"He's had a lot of no-decisions," Dodgers outfielder Andre Ethier said. "I think his idea was that he was not going to get a no-decision again."

Ethier had a three-run homer 10 pitches into the game off Yusmeiro Petit (2-7) , and Orlando Hudson followed Wolf's two-out, two-run homer in the fourth inning with a two-run homer of his own to make it 7-0.

Ethier, who also doubled in a run in the eighth inning, has a career-high 80 RBIs, three more than he had last season. Wolf also doubled in a run in the eighth.

Wolf retired 20 straight batters after Ryan Roberts singled with one out in the first inning before Arizona rookie second baseman Rusty Ryal broke the shutout with his first major league home run leading off the eighth inning.

"My past few outings, I've been a lot more aggressive, going after guys a lot more and pitching in a lot more," Wolf said. "As long as my fastball feels good and I am able to locate it, I'm going to keep on throwing a lot of those."

Wolf, who left after giving up three runs in the eighth, is 8-3 in his career against Arizona, 6-1 at Chase Field.

Los Angeles (70-48) increased its NL West lead to 5 1/2 games over Colorado, the largest margin in the National League. The Dodgers had lost six of their previous eight games.

"Things have been kind of rough for us, but we've been able to bounce back," Wolf said. "You need that, and these guys can do it."

Matt Kemp had two hits and scored twice for the Dodgers, who begin a seven-game homestand with a three-game series against NL Central-leading St. Louis on Monday.

The Diamondbacks (54-64) have won 11 of their last 17 games. Despite losing Sunday, Arizona has won four of its last five series for the first time this season.

Wolf struck out five in a row in the fourth and fifth innings, fanning the side in the fifth. Mark Reynolds, whose home run in the ninth inning Saturday helped Arizona tie the game before a 10-inning victory, struck out three times to raise his major league-leading total to 161.

"We got beat up pretty good today. They came out swinging the bats early very well. Wolf was very tough," Arizona manager A.J. Hinch said. "There isn't much to say. They came out and beat us."

After Ryal's homer, Chris Snyder and Josh Whitesell had one-out singles off Wolf in the eighth inning before Snyder scored on Augie Ojeda's groundout and Stephen Drew tripled to left to drive in Whitesell. Guillermo Mota entered and got the final out.

Petit gave up nine hits and seven runs in four innings. He has given up 16 home runs in 65 1-3 innings this season.

NOTES: Wolf last had 10 strikeouts on July 22, 2008, while pitching for San Diego against Detroit. The last time he won two straight starts was Sept. 19 and 24 last season, when he was with Houston after being traded by the Padres. Arizona will begin a season-long 10-game road trip with a makeup game in Atlanta on Monday. They were rained out May 17. The Diamondbacks begin a three-game series in Philadelphia on Tuesday. Los Angeles catcher Russell Martin ended an 0-for-15 skid with a fourth-inning single.