LATE FRIDAY Pirates win fourth straight

Kenny Lofton's throws helped the Bucs defeat Los Angeles 5-3.
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A muddy mound didn't bother Salomon Torres for the first three innings.
But with a little help from Kenny Lofton in the fourth, Torres and the Pittsburgh Pirates went on to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-3 Friday night for their fourth straight victory.
Torres allowed five straight hits with none out in the fourth inning, but the Dodgers scored just two runs.
Lofton helped cut the rally short by throwing out Shawn Green trying to go from first to third on a single.
Lofton also doubled up Brian Jordan at first base with another perfect throw in the sixth.
Rain hampers pitching mound
Once the rain intensified in the fourth, the umpires had the grounds crew dump some fresh dirt in front of the pitching rubber so that Torres could land properly. But it didn't help, as Jordan doubled home the Dodgers' first run.
More dirt was dumped on the mound and home plate area before Torres bounced a wild pitch that sent Jordan to third. Todd Hundley singled home the tying run and Adrian Beltre followed with a double.
But Jordan was tagged out halfway down the third base line after an aborted squeeze play with Cesar Izturis flailing at a high outside pitch.
"I thought Torres lost his concentration a little bit and was worried about his footing," Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon said. "He got some balls up in the zone, but seemed to settle down and got us out of the inning without any further damage."
Torres allowed two runs and seven hits in five innings while making his second start for Josh Fogg, who is on the 15-day disabled list because of a strained side. Torres is expected to get two more starts before Fogg is activated.
"He threw the ball extremely well coming out of spring training and really competed well for the fifth spot in the rotation.
But we just decided to go with Jeff D'Amico and tried to keep Salomon sharp in the bullpen as possible," McClendon said. "He's done a nice job. He's really stepped in and given us a big lift with some quality innings."
Few rainouts at Chavez
There have been only 17 rainouts at Dodger Stadium since the ballpark opened in April 1962 -- and just two since April 21, 1988. The Pirates have never been rained out at Chavez Ravine.
"In 23 years in baseball I've never seen it rain in L.A. at a baseball game," McClendon said. "It really got to a point where you started getting afraid for the health of the players because of all the slick spots on the field. But both teams made it through without injuries, and the Buccos won a game. So it was well worth it."
The Dodgers, who had allowed just two unearned runs through their first 29 games, handled the baseball like it was a bar of wet soap.
"It was brutal," said first baseman Fred McGriff, who missed Lofton's leadoff grounder in the seventh. Lofton scored from third on Jack Wilson's single off Izturis' glove for a 3-2 lead.
Wilson scored when second baseman Alex Cora tried to complete a double play on Aramis Ramirez's grounder to shortstop and threw the ball away for an error. Craig Wilson followed an intentional walk to Randall Simon with an RBI single that made it 5-2.
"It wasn't that good out there, but we had to finish the game," Izturis said. "Once we started in the rain, I didn't think we were going to stop."
Joe Beimel (1-0) pitched a scoreless sixth inning for the victory. The Dodgers scored a run in the seventh off Julian Tavarez on Cora's RBI single, but Mike Williams got three outs for his eighth save in nine chances.
Dodgers starter Kazuhisa Ishii allowed two runs -- one earned -- and three hits while striking out seven and walking six. He stranded three runners at third base.
Notes
The first pitch was delayed by 16 minutes because of the rain.
Ishii, whose 106 walks last season were the most in the majors, walked five of his first 12 batters -- including Torres. The Pirates had drawn an NL-low 82 walks prior to facing Ishii.