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Furcal makes run at 82-year old mark in rubber game

May 16, 2007 - 2:58 PM St. Louis (16-21) at LA Dodgers (24-16) 10:10 pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- In both of his seasons as a Los Angeles Dodger, Rafael Furcal appeared lost at the plate in April. Just like last year, the shortstop is making up for his early struggles.

Furcal looks to continue his offensive resurgence as the Dodgers close their three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday.

Much like last season when he batted .198 in the season's first month, Furcal hit just .203 in April as he was plagued by an ankle injury. The Dodgers' leadoff hitter finished last season at .300 and he is rapidly approaching that mark midway through May as he is on a 14-for-16 (.875) tear over his last three-plus games.

Since sitting at .218 after Friday's game against the Reds, Furcal has boosted his average 79 points to .297. On Tuesday, he became the first Dodger to record four hits in three straight games, going 4-for-5 with three RBI and two runs to lead Los Angeles (24-16) to a 9-7 win.

The last major leaguer to have four hits in three consecutive games was Marcus Giles in 2003, when he was a teammate of Furcal's in Atlanta. Brett Butler, Mike Benjamin and Tim Salmon are the only other players to have accomplished the feat in the last 55 years. Meanwhile, only one player has had four hits in four straight games - Brooklyn's Milt Stock in 1925.

Furcal's performance on Tuesday helped the Dodgers snap a 10-game losing streak to the Cardinals. As a team, Los Angeles is batting .339 and averaging over six runs in winning four of its last five games.

Los Angeles has not won consecutive games against St. Louis since September 10-11, 2004.

The Dodgers will send Randy Wolf (4-3, 3.94 ERA) to the mound, hoping for a repeat performance of his last start. The lefthander held Cincinnati to four hits and struck out 11 in seven innings of a 2-0 victory on Friday, his first win in his last four outings.

Wolf has not pitched against St. Louis since 2004 and is 2-3 with a 3.67 ERA in six career starts against the Cardinals.

Kip Wells (1-7, 6.51) will start for St. Louis in hopes of snapping a six-game losing streak, the longest of his career. Wells was 1-1 with a 1.38 ERA through two starts, but has posted an 8.47 ERA during his skid.

Wells allowed four runs in six frames on Friday in a 7-0 defeat to the San Diego Padres on Friday and is 0-2 with a 5.40 ERA in three career starts against the Dodgers.

Even though St. Louis ranks 29th in the majors with just 125 runs scored, the team's offense appears to be coming around as it has totaled 15 runs and 25 hits in splitting two games against the Dodgers. They had managed only five runs - getting shut out twice - and 13 hits in their previous three games.