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April 23, 2008 - 11:58PM
Dodgers’ singles add up to victory over D-Backs
Comments | RecommendJack Magruder, Tribune
LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Dodgers finally got an extra-base hit in the seventh inning Wednesday, not that it mattered.
D-Backs notebook: Johnson skips road trip
Read Jack Magruder's blog, 'Inside Baseball'
It was the pesky singles — and the lengthy at-bats — that knocked Diamondbacks right-hander Dan Haren out in the fifth inning and propelled the Dodgers to an 8-3 victory at Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers’ biggest little hit came from Chin-lung Hu, whose two-run single as the first batter Juan Cruz faced capped a three-run fifth inning for a 6-1 lead.
Hu, a rookie from Taiwan making his fourth start of the season, tied his career high with two hits and two RBIs in a game.
Haren had his streak of four consecutive quality starts come to an end, and admitted the Dodgers wore him down by making him throw 75 pitches in the first three innings, 29 in the first inning and 26 in the third.
“I didn’t feel tired, but I could tell my stuff wasn’t as crisp,” said Haren, 3-1, who walked two but threw 106 pitches.
“But it felt like I was at three balls to everybody. There were so many battles. It was impossible to go six or seven innings.”
Dodgers pitcher Derek Lowe (2-1) had a 10-pitch at-bat before flying out in the second, Nomar Garciaparra had an eight-pitch at-bat in the second and two Dodgers had seven-pitch at-bats in the third.
In beating the D-Backs for the first time in four games this season, the Dodgers had 13 hits, 12 singles.
They also scored three unearned runs, two when Justin Upton dropped James Loney’s routine fly ball to right center with two outs and the bases loaded in the ninth inning.
The D-Backs, off to a franchise-best 15-6 start, are tied with the Cubs for the best record in the majors and still lead the NL West by six games over Colorado and Los Angeles.
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