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Furcal continues torrid stretch in blowout win

May 16, 2007 - 7:14 AM LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Sooner or later, the Los Angeles Dodgers were bound to break out in a big way against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Rafael Furcal tallied four hits and had three RBI and Russell Martin added two RBI as the Dodgers posted a 9-7 victory over the Cardinals on Tuesday.

Furcal, who is on a .875 (14-for-16) tear over the last three-plus games, recorded four hits for the third consecutive game, becoming the first Dodger in Los Angeles history to accomplish the feat. The major league record is four straight games, established by Milt Stock of the Brooklyn Dodgers on July 3, 1925.

"It's unbelievable," Furcal said. "It's more special to me because we won the game.

"I'm not doing anything different, I'm just hitting more before the games. I was struggling early but I wasn't worried because I know that it's a long season and I won't struggle for 162 games."

Martin had an RBI in both innings in which the Dodgers scored to help Los Angeles end their 10-game skid against St. Louis, during which they were outscored 59-21.

"It's good to finally beat those guys," Martin said. "I hope we can come back here tomorrow and win so we can win the series."

Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright (3-3) did not appear sharp from the start. He loaded the bases in the first by allowing a leadoff single to to Furcal and two walks before hitting Martin, which allowed Furcal to score.

Andre Either followed Martin with a two-run single to center to give the Dodgers a quick 3-0 advantage.

"I really don't know what to say, I'm just embarrassed, I can say that," Wainwright said. "I worried about things today that I usually don't worry about."

The Cardinals responded with a four-run third as Albert Pujols plated Adam Kennedy for just his third RBI in his last 10 games, reducing the deficit to 3-1.

"We got a lead after that inning but we just couldn't keep them from scoring," Pujols said.

After a walk to cleanup hitter Jim Edmonds by Dodger starter Derek Lowe (4-4), Scott Rolen plated Pujols with an RBI double and Ryan Ludwick hit a two-run single to push across Edmond and Rolen for a 4-3 lead.

"We did our best tonight to hang in there with those guys but it was one of those games where it seemed no matter how many runs we got, that they were going to come back," Ludwick said.

Lowe yielded four runs and eight hits with two walks and two strikeouts to get his first regular-season win over the Cardinals in four starts.

"It was an offensive game," Lowe said. "They have a tough lineup and it's strange to look at the scoreboard and see their low averages," Lowe said. "I just didn't want them to start hitting against me tonight because it's just a matter of time until they break out of it."

However, the Dodgers plated six runs in the bottom of the inning, matching a season high, to knock out Wainwright after 2 2/3 innings. He surrendered eight hits and seven runs with four walks.

"That was a big inning for us tonight," Dodgers manager Grady Little said. "It was good that we got all those runs that inning because they didn't give up but (it is a) good thing we had enough to hold them off."

Martin capped off three consecutive hits to open the frame with a run-scoring single to tie the game at 4-4.

Following two infield popouts sandwiched around a walk to rookie Andy LaRoche, Furcal roped a bases-clearing triple to deep center, forcing Wainwright from the game and extending the Dodgers' lead to 7-4. The outing was the converted reliever's shortest as a member of the Cardinals' rotation.

"Every time I go to the plate, I just try to get a base hit and that's it," Furcal said. "I feel comfortable and I'm swinging at good pitches but anything can happen because this game is crazy."

Kelvin Jiminez relieved Wainwright and promptly gave up back-to-back RBI hits to Juan Pierre and Nomar Garciaparra before getting Jeff Kent to ground out to end the inning. The Dodgers batted around in the first and third innings.

Los Angeles reliever Hong-Chih Kuo made things interesting in the seventh in his first outing since being recalled from the minors. He surrendered run-scoring hits to Pujols, Ludwick and Yadier Molina to narrow the Cardinals lead to 9-7.

With a runner on third and the tying run at the plate, the Dodgers called on reliever Jonathan Broxton and he struck out the next two hitters to end the threat.

"We made a heck of an effort tonight and we gave ourselves a chance to win," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "Broxton did a great job coming in and shutting us down."

The fifth reliever of the night, Dodgers closer Takashi Saito, followed Broxton and notched his 12th save in as many chances.

"He (Saito) was facing a tough part of the lineup and he did good keeping those guys down in the count," Martin said.

Pujols had two hits with two RBI and Ludwick had two hits with three RBI for the Cardinals, who have alternated wins and losses over the last six contests.