Lowe pitches 1st-place Dodgers past Pirates 6-2

[September 17, 2008]  PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Derek Lowe held Pittsburgh to five singles over seven effective innings to remain unbeaten in his career against the Pirates, and the Los Angeles Dodgers edged closer to the NL West title with a 6-2 victory Tuesday night.

Casey Blake homered and tripled his first two times up after sitting out the Dodgers' 8-2 win Monday night with lower back stiffness. Manny Ramirez had three hits for the second successive night, including an RBI double in a four-run second inning.

The Dodgers won their 14th in 16 games and lead Arizona by 4 1/2 in the NL West with 11 to play. The Diamondbacks won later Tuesday at home against San Francisco.

A questionable call aided the Dodgers' second -- Lowe, lumbering down the line, appeared to be out by a step on his sacrifice bunt. Pirates pitcher Jeff Karstens nearly threw it away, but TV replays showed second baseman Freddy Sanchez, covering first, managed to scoop up the ball before the runner arrived. Umpire Tim Timmons called Lowe safe.

The Dodgers already had a run in on Blake's 10th homer, then scored three more times following the one-out call at first. Russell Martin hit a sacrifice fly, Andre Ethier singled in a run after sitting out three games and Ramirez doubled in the fourth run.

Blake tripled and scored on Blake DeWitt's sacrifice fly an inning later. Blake finished a double short of the cycle, hitting into a force play and grounding out in his other two at-bats.

Lowe (14-11) didn't need much run support, though he rarely does against the Pirates -- he is 6-0 in six career starts against them. He struck out three, walked none and was in trouble only in the fourth when the Pirates, down 4-0, scored on consecutive singles by Sanchez, Nate McLouth and Ryan Doumit to start the inning. Lowe recovered to get Brandon Moss to ground into a double play and retired 11 of his final 12 batters.

Lowe has won his last four starts, allowing two runs and 14 hits in 26 1-3 innings -- a 0.68 ERA -- with the Dodgers winning each game by a margin of at least four runs.

The Pirates wish they could win at PNC Park the way Lowe and the Dodgers do. Los Angeles is 22-6 in Pittsburgh since the ballpark opened in 2001 and has never lost a series there. The Dodgers are guaranteed at least a split in this four-game series. Lowe is 5-0 in Pittsburgh.

With Karstens (2-6) losing his sixth consecutive decision since he pitched 7 2-3 perfect innings against the Diamondbacks on Aug. 6, the Pirates dropped their eighth in 11 games and 19th in 25 games. They are 13-30 since trading top run-producer Jason Bay to Boston on July 31, part of the three-team deal that sent Ramirez to the Dodgers.

Ramirez, facing the Pirates for the first time since that trade, is 6-for-9 in the series. He is hitting .402 for the Dodgers with 14 homers and 44 RBIs in 43 games.

Notes: Ethier returned after attending the birth of his first child. ... Dodgers manager Joe Torre said RHP Brad Penny (shoulder) isn't ready to resume starting yet, especially with so few games left. ... With a run in and one runner on in the ninth, Torre used closer Jonathan Broxton to get the final out.

[Associated Press; By ALAN ROBINSON]

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