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Ethier's blast helps Dodgers rally past Cubs

Sep 6, 2007 - 11:02 PM CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Andre Ethier blasted the Los Angeles Dodgers a little closer to the lead in the National League West Division.

Ethier belted a pinch-hit three-run homer in the ninth inning as the Dodgers rallied to defeat the Chicago Cubs, 7-4, on Thursday afternoon.

James Loney went 3-for-4 with a homer and two RBI and Matt Kemp also homered for Los Angeles (74-66), which narrowed its deficit in the tight NL West standings.

"The way we came back was great," Loney said. "It's nice to have a three-hit game, but it's more important that it comes in a win."

After taking three of four in this series against the Cubs, the Dodgers cut their margin to 3 1/2 games behind the division-leading Arizona Diamondbacks (78-63). Los Angeles also climbed within 2 1/2 games of the wild card-leading San Diego Padres (76-63).

"We put together two or three big wins lately," Dodgers manager Grady Little said. "The way we're playing now, I think we have a chance to win a few more like this as the season winds down."

Los Angeles will get a chance to hack away at those deficits further, as it plays Arizona six more times this season and San Diego on three more occasions.

Meanwhile, Chicago (71-68) dropped into a first-place tie with the idle Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central. Chicago also saw its lead over the third-place St. Louis Cardinals shrink to 1 1/2 games. St. Louis plays the Pittsburgh Pirates later on Thursday. "We're going to have to get hot one time," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "I don't know when, but one (more) time. (We need) one more streak."

With the Dodgers trailing, 4-3, in the ninth, Russell Martin and Loney both singled off Cubs closer Ryan Dempster (2-5).

That set the stage for before Ethier, who drilled an 0-1 pitch into the left field seats to give Los Angeles a 6-4 lead.

"You're looking for a pitch you can get up in the air," Ethier said. "Luckily for me, Dempster hung one up there for me. I was fortunate to hit it out."

"I got ahead of (Ethier), made a good pitch, but I left the ball over the plate a bit too much," Dempster said. "I think it (stunk) because there were two men on base."

It was the 11th homer of the season for Ethier, who was batting for rookie Andy LaRoche.

It was Dempster's third blown save of the season and his first since June 10 vs. the Atlanta Braves.

"I didn't execute pitches today when I got ahead," Dempster added. "I got ahead of everyone. 0-2, 0-1, 1-2, I didn't put guys away. I left some pitches up."

The erratic righthander had successfully converted his previous 13 save opportunities.

The Dodgers added an insurance run later in the ninth when Rafael Furcal scored on a wild pitch by reliever Michael Wuertz to make it 7-4.

Joe Beimel (4-1) earned the victory for the Dodgers, hurling 1 2/3 innings of hitless relief. Closer Takashi Saito pitched the ninth to record his 37th save in 40 opportunities.

After Alfonso Soriano led off the bottom of the first with a homer off Derek Lowe to give the Cubs an early 1-0 lead, Loney evened things in the fifth.

Chicago starter Jason Marquis had retired the first 14 Dodgers before Loney drilled a 2-0 offering over the wall in right field to forge a 1-1 tie.

Loney came through again in the seventh when, after Martin singled, the Dodgers first baseman hammered a run-scoring double into the right-center field gap to give Los Angeles a 2-1 lead.

However, it looked as if Soriano would be the hero in this one.

With runners on first and second in the bottom of the seventh, Soriano hit 3-1 fastball off Jonathan Broxton over the wall in left-center to give Chicago a 4-2 advantage. It was Soriano's 18th multi-homer game of his career - including three in 2007.

"I feel very comfortable at home plate," Soriano said. "I think I have my hands and swing back, so I'm very excited because I think I can help the team."

Kemp homered in the top of the eighth to cut Los Angeles' deficit to 4-3.

Lowe allowed a run, five hits and a season-high tying five walks in six innings.

"Bottom line is that we won today," Lowe said. "It doesn't really matter how I pitched. This was a team that was in first place. We came in and took three out of four. That was tremendous."

Marquis yielded two runs, four hits and a walk in seven innings.

The leadoff homer by Soriano was his seventh of the season, making him the only player in major league history to have four seasons with seven or more leadoff blasts.