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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- In his mental scorebook, Jimmy Anderson
credited catcher Jason Kendall for helping the left-hander pitch
his first complete game in 47 major league starts.
|  | | Brian Giles' grand slam in the second was the third of his career and his 32nd homer this season. |
Anderson got plenty of offensive support, with Brian Giles
hitting a grand slam in the second inning and Pat Meares also
homering as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Los Angeles Dodgers
12-1 Monday night.
"My fastball was a little wild. Kendall got me back into the
game by calling for sinkers," said Anderson, who scattered 10 hits
en route to his first victory in six outings since beating the
Dodgers 6-0 on Aug. 1.
Anderson (5-8) also had two hits, including an RBI single that
capped a seven-run sixth inning.
"I was real excited to have a complete game," said Anderson,
who has given up one earned run in 23 2/3 innings against the
Dodgers this season.
Pittsburgh's defense provided Anderson with four double plays on
groundballs.
"He did a good job," Kendall said. "If he keeps his sinker
working, he's going to get a lot of groundballs. He's just keeping
his focus."
The Pirates earned their third four-game winning streak this
season.
"Pittsburgh has always been a scrappy team and teams like that
who are out of it are going to do everything they possibly can to
spoil the postseason for teams," Dodgers catcher Todd Hundley
said.
With two outs in the second, Meares sent the first pitch from
Darren Dreifort (10-8) into the left-field seats for a 1-0 lead.
The ball barely cleared the foul pole.
The Pirates were just warming up. Anderson singled and Adrian
Brown singled to shortstop Alex Cora, whose throw appeared to beat
Brown to the bag, according to replays.
But Brown was called safe by umpire Andy Fletcher, keeping the
inning alive, and Kendall walked to load the bases. Giles
then sliced a 1-0 pitch from Dreifort into the lower seats in the
left-field corner for his 32nd homer and third career slam.
"I got a good swing on it and it went over the fence," Giles
said. "Everybody swung the bat well and came up with some big
hits."
Dreifort, coming off three straight no-decisions after winning
his six previous starts, gave up seven runs and seven hits in 5 1/3
innings. He had his six-game winning streak snapped and lost for
the first time since a 5-4 defeat against San Diego on June 29.
"He was going away with the outside pitches the other times
I've faced him, but if that's the way you're going to get beat,
that's the way you're going to get beat," Dreifort said of Giles.
"I'd rather get beat away than inside. I was going to make Giles
beat me the other way and he did."
Pittsburgh blew the game open in the sixth, taking a 12-1 lead.
Onan Masaoka walked in a run, then gave up a two-run single to
Warren Morris and an RBI double to Alex Hernandez. Matt Herges came
on and surrendered a two-run double to John Wehner and Anderson's
second hit, which gave him his first RBI in 43 at-bats this season.
"Everything went wrong," Hundley said. "It was just one of
those nights."
The Dodgers' run came on Hundley's RBI single in the second.
Moments later, Hundley was thrown out at the plate by Giles as he
tried to score from second on a single to left by Dreifort.
"It was a bad omen the way we started the game," Dodgers
manager Davey Johnson said. "(Gary) Sheffield gets a base hit and
my fastest guy (Tom Goodwin) is on second and we don't score. We
get six hits the first couple of innings and we only get one run."
The Dodgers, who had their season-high six-game home winning
streak snapped, fell eight games behind first-place San Francisco
in the NL West and remained 6½ games back of the New York Mets, who
lead the NL wild-card race.
Game notes
Every Pirates starter had at least one hit and everyone
scored at least one run. ... In 12 previous road starts, Anderson
was 1-3 and reached the seventh inning just once, on Aug. 19 at
Cincinnati. ... The victory clinched Pittsburgh's second winning
road trip of the season. The Pirates are 4-0 on their six-game
trip. ... RHP Luke Prokopec, a native of Australia, made his major
league debut for Los Angeles in the seventh. He pitched three
scoreless innings. ... The Dodgers play 15 of their final 24 games
at home, including the final 22 against West Division opponents.
... The Pirates recalled LHP Brian O'Conner from Triple-A
Nashville, where in five starts he went 2-2 with a 6.84 ERA. ...
Pittsburgh is 8-13 in its last 21 games at Dodger Stadium. ...
Kendall is one stolen base from becoming the first catcher to steal
20 bases in three seasons. He had 22 stolen bases last year and a
career-high 26 in 1998.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Pittsburgh Clubhouse
Los Angeles Clubhouse
RECAPS
Boston 5
Seattle 1
Cleveland 5
Tampa Bay 1
Oakland 10
Toronto 0
Texas 5
Chi. White Sox 4
Baltimore 3
Minnesota 2
Detroit 5
Anaheim 0
NY Yankees 4
Kansas City 3
Cincinnati 6
NY Mets 2
St. Louis 4
Montreal 2
Colorado 6
Chicago Cubs 2
Florida 5
Houston 2
San Francisco 3
Philadelphia 0
Pittsburgh 12
Los Angeles 1
San Diego 4
Milwaukee 3
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