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GAME LOG
LOS ANGELES (AP) – The Los Angeles Dodgers kept pecking away at Todd Ritchie with a patchwork lineup that won't confuse anyone with Murderers' Row. Kevin Brown was just grateful for the offensive support. "When you are as banged up as we are, it's nice to be able to field a team with depth and the desire that they have," said Brown, who scattered four hits over seven innings and beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-3 Thursday night for his third straight victory. "It was pretty much a team effort. The guys came through tonight and played great defense. We were fortunate to get some big hits in the sixth." Brown was locked in a 1-1 duel with Ritchie (0-3) after five innings before the Dodgers broke it open with five RBI singles. Jeff Reboulet, Hiram Bocachica, Marquis Grissom, Chad Kreuter and Alex Cora all drove in the runs. The five players – four of whom started because of injuries to other Dodgers – entered with a combined total of four RBI in 168 at-bats this season. "We've got a good bench," said Bocachica, a rookie who started at third base because of Chris Donnels' stiff neck – which forced him to be scratched from manager Jim Tracy's original lineup. "We're just glad to be able to do our job and replace those guys in a good way," he said. "I don't know how long those guys are going to be out, but we're going to be ready to do our best and try to win games," Bocachica said. Brown (3-1) struck out seven and walked one after coming out of his previous start with stiffness in his lower back. "When I started, I felt all right. But it started to get stiffer as the night went on," he said. Brown has not allowed more than one earned run in any of his four starts. The only run off the right-hander, who picked off two baserunners, came on Brian Giles' game-tying RBI single in the fourth. The five-time All-Star caught Abraham Nunez leaning too far off first base in the third inning, likewise Emil Brown for the third out in the sixth. The pickoffs were the first this season by a Dodgers pitcher. Brown drive in Pittsburgh's second run with a leadoff homer in the ninth off Jeff Shaw, and Giles added an RBI groundout to make it 6-3. Ritchie allowed six runs and seven hits in 5 2-3 innings. Two of the three batters he walked eventually scored. The right-hander, who beat Brown 11-1 on June 15, 1999, at Dodger Stadium for his first major league complete game, has surrendered 12 earned runs and 16 hits over eight innings in his last two starts against Los Angeles. "The walks killed me," Ritchie said. "It's not a good thing when you walk guys against Kevin Brown. It seems like every time I walk somebody, they score." Reboulet, starting at second for the first time as a Dodger because of Mark Grudzielanek's sprained right thumb, drew a one-out walk in the first and scored on Shawn Green's double. Reboulet, who has played every position in the majors except pitcher, helped Brown in the fifth by racing behind second base for Enrique Wilson's slow grounder and retiring him with a long off-balance throw. "Reboulet is a veteran and he's used to that role," Grudzielanek said. "You saw the way he played tonight. He got a last-minute nod to get in there and play, and he was ready for it." Pittsburgh's Jason Kendall, who led off the fourth with a double and scored on Giles' single, has reached base safely in each of his last 16 games. Game notesDodgers 3B Dave Hansen, who fractured the middle finger on his left hand in the Dodgers' first spring training game, will be activated Friday. INF Phil Hiatt will be optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas. ... Third-base coach Glenn Hoffman accidentally struck bench coach Jim Riggleman with a fungoe bat about 2 1/2 hours before gametime, breaking his nose. Riggleman had surgery and was to remain hospitalized overnight. ... Grissom started in left for Gary Sheffield, who couldn't grip a bat because of a sprained index finger on his left hand. ... Grudzielanek, injured Wednesday night on a headfirst slide into third, isn't expected to play again until next Tuesday at the earliest. ... No Dodgers outfielder recorded a putout until CF Tom Goodwin raced to the fence to haul in a drive by Giles in the seventh.  Send this story to a friend
| RECAPS Kansas City 6 Tampa Bay 0
Los Angeles 6
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