Wolf in hitter's clothing
LOS ANGELES — Randy Wolf got more kudos from his teammates for his offense than his pitching, and he was awfully impressive on the mound.
Wolf struck out a season-high 10, hit a two-run double that highlighted a six-run third inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 10-2 Friday night to improve on the best record in baseball.
"He can swing the bat," catcher Russell Martin said. "Even in (batting practice), he puts on a show out there."
Wolf got plenty of offensive support from his teammates, too. Luis Gonzalez, Nomar Garciaparra and Andre Ethier had two RBIs each for the NL West-leading Dodgers, who are 12-5, with eight wins in their last 10 games.
Wolf gave up one run and six hits in six innings, walking one, while improving to 3-1 in April for the first time since 2003. Every Dodger scored except Wolf, who added another two-out double down the third-base line in the fifth.
Wolf certainly worked for his third consecutive victory on a damp, 52-degree night that was four degrees colder than the temperature in Pittsburgh. The left-hander tossed 66 of his 104 pitches through the first three innings, with 12 of those fouled away.
Wolf struck out the side in the sixth before manager Grady Little pulled him.
Wolf's double in the third chased Tony Armas (0-2), who allowed eight runs on seven hits in 2X\c innings, walked two and struck out none in his first outing since April 7. The right-hander brought a 7.98 career ERA into Dodger Stadium and saw it balloon to 10.90.
"It's the first time something like this ever happened to me in my career," Armas said. "I felt good, actually. I felt I threw some good pitches. I was just impressed with their hitting. They were hitting some good pitches on 2-0 and I was saying, `Wow.'
Ahead 2-1, the Dodgers batted around in the third. Jeff Kent and Gonzalez got things started with RBI singles and Ethier's sacrifice fly to the warning track in left field made it 5-1. Wilson Betemit's RBI single preceded Wolf's two-out double that extended the lead to 8-1.
"We got the hell beat out of us," said Pirates manager Jim Tracy, making his third trip to Dodger Stadium since his departure in 2005. "We dug another big hole for ourselves and we struck out an awful lot again — too much."
