Cora's 9th-inning double beats Bucs

The Pirates have lost five straight games.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Alex Cora hit a tiebreaking double in the ninth inning Saturday and the Los Angeles Dodgers sent the Pittsburgh Pirates to their season-high fifth straight loss, 4-3.
Adrian Beltre led off the ninth with a single off Salomon Torres (1-1) that extended his hitting streak to 12 games. After a one-out walk to Jose Hernandez, Cora doubled down the right-field line.
Guillermo Mota (2-0) pitched a perfect eighth as Los Angeles won for the fourth time in five games. Eric Gagne extended his record for consecutive save chances converted to 73 with his 10th this season.
Jack Wilson's solo homer on Hideo Nomo's first pitch of the sixth inning tied the game 3-3. Nomo allowed seven hits in six innings.
Early deficit
Los Angeles took a 3-0 lead in the first inning off Ryan Vogelsong when Shawn Green hit a three-run homer following singles by Paul Lo Duca and Milton Bradley. It was Lo Duca's seventh this season.
Vogelsong, who has allowed 10 first-inning runs in six starts this season, gave up only two hits in the next six innings and retired his final 10 batters.
Tike Redman, dropped from the leadoff spot to eighth in manager Lloyd McClendon's lineup, hit his first home run of the season in the third inning. The solo shot by Redman, who entered the game in a 6-for-48 slump, stopped a 20-inning scoreless streak at home for the Pirates.
Vogelsong drove in the first run of his major league career with a sacrifice fly in the fifth. His one-out bloop behind first base was caught in foul territory by a diving Cora, but Lo Duca lost the ball trying to tag Chris Stynes, who had doubled.
Notes
Pirates 1B Randall Simon, on the 15-day disabled list since April 25 with a strained left hamstring, began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Nashville in Saturday night.
Former Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela will be honored Tuesday by Los Angeles City Council for his community work.
Jackie Robinson's daughter, Sharon Robinson, and Branch Rickey's grandson, Branch Rickey III, will be commencement speakers today at Ohio Wesleyan. Their appearance will mark the 100th anniversary of the elder Rickey's graduation.
The Pirates are 2-11 against Los Angeles at home since PNC Park opened in 2001.
LOS ANGELESPITTSBURGH
abrhbiabrhbi
Izturis ss5000Kendall c4020
L Duca c4120JWilsn ss4111
Brdley cf4110CWilsn 1b4000
ShGren 1b4113Mckwk rf4010
Beltre 3b4110Bay lf4020
JEcrcn rf4020Castillo 2b3000
JHrndz lf3000Stynes 3b3120
Cora 2b3011ANunez ph1000
Nomo p2010TRdmn cf3111
Thrston ph1000Vglsng p1001
Drifort p0000Hill ph1000
Mota p0000STorres p0000
Vntura ph0000Grabow p0000
Saenz ph0000
Gagne p0000
Totals34494Totals32393
Los Angeles300000001--4
Pittsburgh001011000--3
DP--Los Angeles 1. LOB--Los Angeles 6, Pittsburgh 5. 2B--JEncarnacion 2 (6), Cora (2), Mackowiak (3), Stynes (5). HR--ShGreen (7), JWilson (4), TRedman (1). CS--Lo Duca (1), JHernandez (1). S--Castillo, TRedman. SF--Vogelsong.
IPHRERBBSO
Los Angeles
Nomo673303
Dreifort110002
Mota W,2-0100002
Gagne S,10110001
Pittsburgh
Vogelsong763314
STorres L,1-11 1-331111
Grabow2-300010
Umpires--Home, Mark Wegner; First, Larry Young; Second, Angel Hernandez; Third, Mike Everitt. T--2:39. A--26,610.
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