Hudson's HR helps Dodgers beat A's 3-2

[June 19, 2009]  LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Orlando Hudson homered, pinch-hitter Mark Loretta drove in the go-ahead run and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Oakland Athletics 3-2 on Thursday night to take the rubber game of their interleague series.

Randy Wolf pitched six solid innings as Dodgers manager Joe Torre earned his 2,195th regular-season victory, passing Sparky Anderson for fifth on the career list.

Brad Ziegler (1-3) relieved Oakland starter Vin Mazzaro after six innings, giving up a one-out double in the seventh to James Loney and a walk to Russell Martin. Loretta, hitless in his previous 14 at-bats as a pinch hitter, singled to left field to snap a 2-2 tie.

Wolf allowed a run and five hits. Rookie Brent Leach (2-0) got the victory, getting Adam Kennedy to ground into an inning-ending double play in the seventh after Cory Wade gave up the tying run.

Wolf has 10 no-decisions in 15 starts this season. He allowed two hits over five innings in his previous start at Texas, but a power failure led to a 1-hour, 41-minute delay and the hard-luck left-hander did not return to the mound. The Dodgers scored all of their runs after the game resumed, and won 3-1.

With closer Jonathan Broxton sitting out his second straight game after getting a cortisone shot to treat a sore toe on his right foot, Ramon Troncoso got the final two outs for his fourth save in five attempts after 1 1-3 scoreless innings by Ronald Belisario.

Juan Pierre singled in Russell Martin in the fifth to give the Dodgers a 2-1 lead. Martin led off with an infield hit and advanced on Wolf's sacrifice.

Pierre is batting .323 with 19 RBIs in 38 games since left fielder Manny Ramirez was suspended on May 7 for violating Major League Baseball's substance abuse policy.

In the seventh, Pierre made a costly split-second decision to relay the ball to second on a pinch single by Nomar Garciaparra with one out and the speedy Rajai Davis on first base. Davis looked over his shoulder at Pierre while rounding third and continued home with the tying run. Garciaparra was not credited with an RBI.

Kurt Suzuki hit a two-out RBI double in the third but the Dodgers tied it at 1 in the bottom half. Hudson drove a 1-0 pitch to center field with two out for his fifth homer and the only one allowed by Mazzaro in 25 2-3 innings spanning his first four big league starts.

Mazzaro allowed two runs and five hits in six innings and struck out five. The right-hander set up Oakland's first run with a sacrifice, and got another one his next time up.

Mazzaro also had two in his previous start last Friday at San Francisco, which made him the first A's pitcher with two sacrifices in one game since Ken Holtzman on Aug. 27, 1972 -- the year before the American League adopted the designated hitter rule.

Notes: The A's activated OF Ryan Sweeney from the 15-day disabled list and optioned OF Chris Denorfia to Triple-A Sacramento. Sweeney had been sidelined since June 3 because of a sprained left knee. ... The A's begin another three-game interleague set Friday night at San Diego. ... The Dodgers and Angels begin a three-game series down the freeway in Anaheim. The Angels did them a favor this week by sweeping a three-game set at San Francisco.

[Associated Press]

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