LaRoche's 2 HRs drive Bucs
PITTSBURGH — The Los Angeles Dodgers looked like the Pittsburgh Pirates and vice versa. The Dodgers can only hope this unexpected role reversal lasts only one long and ugly night.
Adam LaRoche hit a grand slam among his two homers and the Pirates stalled the Dodgers' late-season surge with an eight-run seventh inning rally that keyed a 15-8 victory Wednesday night.
Ryan Doumit, who drove in four runs, hit a go-ahead, two-run homer as nine consecutive batters reached base in the seventh after reliever Scott Proctor retired the first two batters, only to be lifted. Los Angeles had bounced back to tie it in the top of the inning after once trailing 7-4.
"It was fun to break out in a game like that, especially against a team like that," Doumit said. "To finally have a game like this is fun."
It wasn't much fun for the NL West leaders.
The nightmarish seventh inning was one of the Dodgers' few blips during a late-season run in which they won 14 of 16, enabling them to gain nine games in the division standings in 19 days and open a 4Z\x-game lead over Arizona. The Diamondbacks cut it to 3Z\x games with a 7-6 victory over San Francisco on Wednesday night.
"It's a loss you have to put behind you," manager Joe Torre said. "We came back to tie it, and it looked good at that point (in the seventh), but we couldn't get to the eighth inning."
Doumit's 14th homer came off rookie left-hander Scott Elbert (0-1), who didn't retire any of the four batters he faced, and Andy LaRoche's two-run single — only his fourth hit in 35 at-bats — made it 11-7. Andy LaRoche, Adam's brother, was traded by the Dodgers during the three-team deal July 31 that sent Manny Ramirez to Los Angeles.
"He battled right there and smoked a ball and got a couple of RBI, and that was pretty exciting for me," Adam LaRoche said. "He's trying and wanting to do something against his old buddies."
Pinch-hitters Doug Mientkiewicz and Jason Michaels also had run-scoring hits against Jason Johnson, and first baseman James Loney's two-run throwing error finished off Pittsburgh's biggest inning this season. The Pirates, losers of 30 of their previous 43, had scored eight runs or more in a game — much less an inning — only twice in 46 games.
The Pirates, already assured of a record-tying 16th consecutive losing season, were coming off one of their worst games of a bad season, a 6-2 defeat Tuesday in which they look lethargic and eager to end the season.
"We came back today and had some big hits and we kept pouring it on, and this was good," Adam LaRoche said. "It's something to build off and hopefully finish off with some wins."
