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Dodgers dominate Giants in series opener

Sep 29, 2007 - 5:54 AM LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Wilson Valdez drove in two runs and James Loney hit his third home run in the last five games as the Los Angeles Dodgers dominated the San Francisco Giants, 8-3, on Friday night.

Dodgers starter David Wells (9-9) pitched six strong innings, scattering seven hits while allowing just three runs. The veteran lefthander struck out three and walked one.

Wells also contributed offensively, scoring a run and driving in another.

"Just wanted to go out and try to pitch a good game and get a win to end the losing streak we are on," Wells said.

Holding a 5-3 lead, the Dodgers cemented the game in the seventh, scoring two runs to extend their lead to four.

After Randy Messenger relieved Giants starter Kevin Correia, Juan Pierre singled to center with one out in the frame, plating Chad Moeller.

"It felt good to put runs on the board and play good baseball," Pierre said. "I just wanted to look for a good pitch and find a gap."

Mark Sweeney followed with a pinch-hit single before Wilson Valdez contributed a base hit of his own, plating Sweeney, as the Dodgers took a 7-3 lead.

Correia (4-7) lasted six innings, allowing five runs and six hits. The righthander struck out five and walked one, suffering his first loss since joining the rotation on August 25.

"He (Correia) has been pitching good for us lately and just didn't get it done tonight," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said.

The Giants took a lead in the first inning as Rajai Davis singled to lead off the game, advanced to third on a single by Kevin Frandsen and scored when Randy Winn grounded into a double play. The lead didn't last for long as the Dodgers scored two runs in each of the first two innings.

In the bottom of the first, Valdez walked with one out and scored when Matt Kemp doubled to deep left. Two batters later, Andy LaRoche plated Kemp with a double of his own, giving the Dodgers a 2-1 lead.

After the Giants drew even in the top of the second inning on an RBI single by Vizquel, the Dodgers put up two more runs in the bottom of the inning, taking a 4-2 lead.

"We really like him (Valdez)," Dodgers manager Grady Little said. "He can do a lot of the little things that can help us win games in the future."

Moeller led off the frame with a single and advanced to second on a ground out by Hu. Wells plated Moeller with a base hit and scored two batters later when Valdez lifted a sacrifice fly to center field.

Loney extended the Dodgers' lead to 5-2 when he hit his 15th home run of the season, a solo blast, in the third inning off Correia.

"He's (Loney) been swinging a hot bat lately and it's going to be good to see him get a full season under his belt next year," Little said.

The Giants added a run in the fifth when Vizquel scored on a ground ball by Davis before the Dodgers put the game out of reach in the seventh.