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Five-run sixth helps Dodgers to fourth straight win

Jul 5, 2008 - 2:34 AM SAN FRANCISCO (Ticker) -- Once Jonathan Sanchez left the game, the Los Angeles Dodgers took control.

Andre Ethier collected three hits and three RBI as the Dodgers scored five runs in the sixth inning en route to their fourth consecutive win Friday, a 10-7 victory over the San Francisco Giants.

Russell Martin and Nomar Garciaparra - who was activated from the disabled list prior to the game - each drove in a pair of runs for Los Angeles, which roughed up Osiris Matos (0-1) for five unearned runs in the sixth to erase a 5-3 deficit.

The rally made a winner of Derek Lowe (6-8), who notched just his second win in five decisions despite surrendering five runs - four earned - and eight hits in five innings. Hong-Chih Kuo and Jonathan Broxton bridged the gap to Takashi Saito, who tossed a perfect ninth for his 15th save.

"I wouldn't say it was the prettiest game of the season, but it doesn't matter," Lowe said. "They did a good job against me, reaching out over the plate. They were looking away. I'll have to take a look at that and maybe pitch differently the next time. They were looking away the whole time and I didn't make the adjustments."

Aaron Rowand went 3-for-4 with two RBI for the Giants, who have lost three of five.

Entering with six wins in his previous seven starts, Sanchez exited after five innings with a 5-3 advantage. The lefthander, who threw 110 pitches, yielded five hits and three walks while striking out seven.

"I was dropping my arm a little bit on my fastball," Sanchez said. "Sometimes that's going to happen. You're not going to be perfect every day."

"Sanch, he worked hard," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "He could only give us five today, and it caught up with us. Sanch has been throwing so well, just logged a lot of pitches there."

Once Matos came on in the sixth, the Dodgers took advantage of an error and erupted for five runs to surge ahead. San Francisco left fielder Fred Lewis had Garciaparra's leadoff fly ball pop out of his glove and, after a foulout by James Loney, Andy LaRoche walked.

"It's just an error," Lewis said of his miscue. "I just had a bad day today, and I'll come back tomorrow and play hard. Everybody makes mistakes. I mean, it's an error. It cost us the game."

Pinch hitter Delwyn Young followed with an RBI single and Ethier delivered a two-run double two batters later to give Los Angeles a 6-5 edge. Martin and Jeff Kent completed the string of three consecutive two-base hits to cap the uprising.

Neither Bochy nor Sanchez were willing to put the blame on Matos for the big inning.

"I thought Matos was throwing the ball well," Bochy said. "He had some bad luck. We dropped the ball and a seeing-eye base hit, and I think that stuck with him. They hadn't hit the ball hard off him and it didn't work out for us."

"He made one mistake," Sanchez added. "Everybody makes mistakes. That's all you can say. We did everything we can to win the game. We scored a lot of runs."

Sidelined since late April with a calf injury, Garciaparra made it 9-5 with a run-scoring double in the eighth.

"I'm not trying to hold back," Garciaparra said. "I want to do what I can. This is the most innings I've played in two months."

Garciaparra played the game at shortstop, marking the first time he has been at the position since 2005 while with the Chicago Cubs.

"It's not weird, but I haven't been there in a while," he said. "I'm seeing the game from a different angle, but it felt like a familiar place. ... I got to turn a double play. It was nice to get that out of the way."

After the Giants halved the deficit with two runs in the bottom of the inning, LaRoche belted a solo homer in the ninth for the final margin.

"I had to manufacture a run somehow after I dove over the ball the inning before," LaRoche said. "It wasn't a pretty win, but it goes down as a win all the same."

San Francisco scored twice in the first on a throwing error by Lowe and an RBI single by Rowand. But Los Angeles pulled even in the third, when Martin and Garciaparra drew bases-loaded walks from Sanchez, who tossed 40 pitches in the inning.

"It was a bunch of guys working the count," LaRoche said. "We worked his pitch count up. It's always good to get the starting pitcher out of the game and get to the bullpen."

Lewis stole home and Rowand ripped a ground-rule double to plate a run in the bottom half as the Giants restored their two-run advantage. An inning later, Lewis plated Omar Vizquel with a two-out double for a 5-2 bulge.

"It's just one of those plays you get a read (on)," Lewis said of his double steal with Randy Winn in the third. "I saw (Winn) going to second, so I just took off."

Ethier started Los Angeles' comeback in the fifth with a leadoff homer, his 10th of the season and third in as many games.