Pirates 7, Dodgers 5

LOS ANGELES (AP) _ The Pirates and Dodgers played another error-filled game. This time, it went the Pirates' way. <br/><br/>Adam LaRoche homered and Pittsburgh capitalized on 3-errors by Los Angeles

Sunday, April 22nd 2007, 9:21 pm

By: News On 6

LOS ANGELES (AP) _ The Pirates and Dodgers played another error-filled game. This time, it went the Pirates' way.

Adam LaRoche homered and Pittsburgh capitalized on 3-errors by Los Angeles in a 7-5 victory Sunday that snapped a four-game losing streak.

Chris Duffy had 3 hits, stole 2 bases and scored 2 runs, and Tom Gorzelanny allowed 3 runs in 6 innings for the Pirates. Pittsburgh avoided a three-game sweep a day after failing to capitalize on three wild pitches and a throwing error by the Dodgers in a 7-3, 10-inning loss Saturday.

``That's kind of the way we seem to win and lose,'' Duffy said about a second day of miscues. ``I probably lost a good year off my life in this series.''

NL West-leading Los Angeles lost a series finale for the first time this season and had its three-game winning streak end.

Gorzelanny (3-0) gave up 5 hits, struck out 6 and walked 2. The left-hander retired the first 9 batters on 30 pitches before needing 46 pitches alone to get out of the 4th.

He was miffed about not fielding a grounder by Luis Gonzalez that ricocheted off his glove and went into right field to extend the inning.

``I should've made that play,'' Gorzelanny said. ``I couldn't let myself get down and I had to keep going.''

Salomon Torres pitched the 9th for his sixth save in 8 chances.

``I give him a lot of credit because we haven't made things very easy for him,'' Pirates manager Jim Tracy said of Torres.

Brett Tomko's frustrations continued as he lost for the first time after no-decisions in his first two starts. The right-hander gave up 5 runs and 8 hits in 6 innings, struck out 7 and walked 2, but was betrayed by some sloppy defense early.

``It's not a fun way to lose when things like that happen,'' Tomko said. ``Usually you'll see a freaky thing in each game here and there. It just seemed like it was something different every inning.''

The Pirates scored in the 1st inning for the third consecutive game. Duffy reached on a bunt single, stole 2nd and took 3rd on catcher Russell Martin's throwing error. He scored on Freddy Sanchez's RBI groundout.

Martin also had a throwing error that led to a run Saturday.

``Lately I've been throwing the ball and it's been kind of tailing off,'' he said. ``I've just got to work on my footwork.''

The Pirates made it 3-0 in the 3rd on another messy sequence a day after the teams combined for 5 wild pitches and a passed ball Saturday night. Duffy singled, stole 2nd, took 3rd on Tomko's wild pitch and scored on Jack Wilson's RBI single.

``I tried to make them make plays and put some pressure on them, and it worked out,'' Duffy said. ``I want to get in scoring position. Some pitchers have been doing pretty well holding me and keeping me from running. I didn't care if I got thrown out.''

Wilson advanced to 2nd on the play when 2nd baseman Jeff Kent's throw from a sitting position skipped past Olmedo Saenz at 1st. Wilson scored on a fielding error by center fielder Juan Pierre, who was coming in on Jason Bay's fly ball and dropped it.

``As long as the errors are of an aggressive manner, they're not that big of a concern for us,'' Dodgers manager Grady Little said.

Gorzelanny issued a bases-loaded walk to Brady Clark as the Dodgers scored 2 runs in the 4th to pull within 1.

LaRoche homered on the first pitch from Tomko with 2 outs in the 6th and Nate McClouth's RBI single pushed Pittsburgh's lead to 5-2.

Bay hit a 2-run double off Chad Billingsley that extended the Pirates' lead to 7-3 in the 7th when a light drizzle began.

``For the first time in a while, we had some sustained offense,'' Tracy said. ``That home run by LaRoche was big, the 2-run double that Jason Bay hit was big.''

The Dodgers added 2 runs in the 8th on Martin's bases-loaded sacrifice fly and an RBI single by pinch-hitter Nomar Garciaparra. They had the potential winning run at the plate but pinch-hitter Ramon Martinez grounded out to end the inning. Kent grounded out with the winning run at the plate to end the game.

Saenz hit his first homer of the season for the Dodgers in the 6th.