DIAMONDBACKS Brenly's miscommunication pays off in Arizona's victory

He meant to take Quinton McCracken out of the lineup, but didn't.
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Arizona manager Bob Brenly made a mistake that paid off for the Diamondbacks.
Quinton McCracken hit a two-run single in the 10th inning and Arizona defeated Los Angeles 3-1 Friday night, sending the Dodgers to their season-high seventh straight loss.
Brenly originally planned to replace McCracken in right field with David Dellucci in a double switch.
When the time came, Dellucci ran out to right field, but was told by McCracken that he was still in the game.
"I was told to get ready for a double switch and then I was told to go to right field," Dellucci said. "It happened so fast, but it worked out for the better."
The miscommunication proved fortuitous for the Diamondbacks, who remained five games behind first-place San Francisco in the NL West and opened a 11/2-game lead over the third-place Dodgers.
Best screw-up ever
"It was just a screw-up on my part and it was the best screw-up I've ever had," Brenly said.
Matt Kata homered for Arizona, which won for the 14th time in 16 games.
"I guess it was kind of divine intervention for me to still be in the game," McCracken said.
Both teams had numerous chances to score. Arizona left 11 runners on base and Los Angeles stranded eight.
"It was one of those games where nobody could come up with a big hit," Arizona's Luis Gonzalez said.
The Diamondbacks loaded the bases in the 10th for the fourth time in the game. Tom Martin (0-2) opened the inning by giving up consecutive singles to Alex Cintron and Gonzalez before Guillermo Mota allowed a single to Shea Hillenbrand.
Robby Hammock bounced into a force play at the plate, and McCracken grounded a 1-0 pitch into right field for a single that scored Gonzalez and Hillenbrand, who avoided the tag of Paul Lo Duca after a one-bounce throw from Shawn Green.
Oscar Villarreal (6-4) pitched the ninth, striking out the side in order.
Matt Mantei got three outs for his eighth save in 10 chances.
Batista pitches well
Arizona starter Miguel Batista gave up one run on six hits in seven-plus innings, struck out seven and walked one.
"It was a little frustrating to end up with a no-decision, but we're winning and that's all we want to do," Batista said. "We have closed the gap in our division and we're going to keep on pushing until we get in first place."
Batista held the Dodgers hitless through five innings before giving up consecutive bloop singles to Cesar Izturis and Larry Barnes to start the sixth.
Alex Cora then hit a bloop single to center field that dropped in front of Steve Finley. Izturis went back to third base to tag in case Finley caught it and he was thrown out at the plate when the charging Finley made a strong throw to Rod Barajas.
A walk to Green loaded the bases, but Lo Duca struck out.
"The luck is not happening for us right now," Barnes said. "We need a win."
Kata homered off Paul Shuey to give Arizona a 1-0 lead in the seventh.
Los Angeles tied it in the bottom half when Mike Kinkade led off with a bunt single and scored on a fielder's choice grounder by Jolbert Cabrera.
The Dodgers loaded the bases again in the eighth, but Jose Valverde retired Kinkade on a line drive to third and struck out Chad Hermansen.
"We had way too many opportunities to cash in, put the game away and to bring [Eric] Gagne in with the lead and we couldn't do it," Dodgers manager Jim Tracy said. "We did everything but get the hit that was necessary to win the game."
The Diamondbacks squandered bases-loaded opportunities in the first, third and sixth innings against Kazuhisa Ishii, who gave up five hits in six innings, struck out nine and walked six.
Notes
The Dodgers fell to 3-7 in extra-inning games this season. ...
Barnes' hit in the sixth was his first of the season, first as a Dodger and first in the majors since June 24, 2001, with Anaheim.
Hermansen's single in the seventh was his first hit as a Dodger.
Attracted by postgame fireworks, the sellout of 55,038 fans was the third-largest regular-season crowd in Dodger Stadium history and the most since July 28, 1973, when San Francisco visited.
The Diamondbacks are 6-0 on the Fourth of July; Los Angeles is 21-25.
Green went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.