• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Fukudome leads Cubs over Dodgers

Jun 6, 2008 - 7:06 AM LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Japanese import Kosuke Fukudome continues to impress in his first season in the major leagues.

Fukudome homered and drove in the go-ahead run in the ninth inning as the Chicago Cubs claimed a 5-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday night.

Fukudome, who signed a four-year deal with the Cubs in the offseason, plated Ryan Theriot with a one-out single through the right side of the infield off Dodgers' closer Takashi Saito (3-2) to give Chicago a one-run lead in the decisive frame.

"He's (Fukudome) definitely helped us win a lot of ball games this year," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "Tonight was one of those games where he just picked us up in big situations."

The 31-year-old, who raised his average to .305 with a pair of hits, has 24 RBI this season.

"(He) always seems to come up big in those types of situations," Theriot said of Fukudome. "He's a great player and we wouldn't be where we are without him."

Closer Kerry Wood surrendered a leadoff double by James Loney in the bottom of the ninth before striking out rookie Blake DeWitt. After Chin-lung Hu flied out to center, Wood hit pinch hitter Terry Tiffee before walking Juan Pierre to load the bases.

"Kerry has been great all year," Piniella said. "He didn't have his best stuff but he got the job done, and that's what counts."

But after falling behind in the count, 2-0, Wood struck out Matt Kemp to notch his National League-leading 17th save of the season and preserve the win for the Cubs - their 10th in the last 11 games.

"We had a great chance to tie the game up, but just didn't come up with that big hit," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. "(We) did a good job coming back after being down four runs and giving us a chance to win the game."

Bobby Howry (2-2) picked up the win despite giving up a solo home run by Jeff Kent in the eighth inning. The blast was Kent's second of the game and tied the contest at 4-4.

Fukudome opened the scoring in the second inning with his fourth homer of the campaign off Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley, who yielded four runs and seven hits in five frames.

The Cubs added another run in the third on an RBI groundout by Aramis Ramirez, and Mark DeRosa pushed the advantage to 3-0 with his seventh home run of the season an inning later.

"They have a good lineup and can put pressure on any pitcher," Billingsley said. "I felt fine, I just missed with some pitches and they hit them hard."

Chicago starter Ryan Dempster doubled to center field after DeRosa's blast and scored two batters later on a single by Theriot as Chicago opened a 4-0 bulge.

"I felt strong early in the game with good command of my pitches," said Dempster, who allowed three runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings. "Just started falling behind and getting deep into counts against them later."

Hu and Mark Sweeney each drove in a run in the fifth inning, narrowing the deficit to 4-2 before Kent's first homer of the night in the sixth pulled the Dodgers within a run.