D-Backs now 55 games under .500

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Steve Finley ended an 0-for-19 slump in the

seventh inning. The hit he'll remember, though, came in the bottom

of the ninth against his old team.

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Finley doubled in the winning run, giving the Los Angeles

Dodgers a 6-5 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday night.

It was the Dodgers' 19th victory in their last at-bat this season.

"We need wins. We'll take them any way we can get them," said

Finley, who was acquired from Arizona on July 31. "I'm just trying

to see the ball and not do too much. I've been guilty of that

lately."

Finley's hit off Mike Koplove (3-4) bounced off the right-field

wall, scoring Cesar Izturis from first with one out.

"It was a changeup. I left it up in the zone a little bit,"

Koplove said. "He's a smart hitter. I got him out on it the last

time and he made an adjustment on it this time. I should have known

better."

Eric Gagne (6-3) retired the side in the ninth for the victory,

which tied his career high.

Koplove gave up one run on four hits in 1 1/3 innings and struck

out one.

The last-place Diamondbacks lost their sixth in a row, dropping

them 55 games below .500 for the first time in franchise history.

The first-place Dodgers remained 4½ games ahead of San Francisco

in the NL West, thanks to timely hitting by their bench.

"I don't know how many times they've come through this year,

but if you start adding it up, I think the number is starting to

get fairly significant," Los Angeles manager Jim Tracy said.

The Dodgers tied it at 5 in the bottom of the sixth on a

bases-loaded, fielder's choice by pinch-hitter Robin Ventura that

scored Milton Bradley, who led off with a single.

Shea Hillenbrand hit a two-run homer in the top of the sixth off

Elmer Dessens to give Arizona a 5-4 lead.

Pinch-hitter Olmedo Saenz hit a grand slam in the fifth, putting

the Dodgers in front 4-3. Tuesday night, Ventura had a pinch-hit

grand slam against Arizona -- Los Angeles' first since 1993.

Saenz, batting for starter Odalis Perez with the bases loaded,

sent an 0-1 pitch from Casey Fossum into the left-field pavilion

for his first career slam.

"I was looking to get a base hit so we can come back," Saenz

said. "He hung up a breaking ball. It's one of the best feelings

in baseball and we got the win."

Shawn Green's leadoff single knocked Fossum to the mound as it

whizzed past him into center field. Jose Hernandez singled to left

and Jayson Werth walked to load the bases. After David Ross popped

to right field, Saenz gave the Dodgers their first lead of the

game.

"One bad pitch. That sums it up," Fossum said.

Initially, Perez wasn't happy about getting yanked.

"I felt bad," he said. "I don't want to be there only five

innings. It worked out. It was the perfect decision by the manager,

even if I felt mad."

Trailing 3-0 with the bases loaded, Tracy knew he had to remove

Perez.

"Nothing was wrong with his performance, except for the fact

that he couldn't figure out Snyder," he said. "He didn't do a bad

job, we just had to move him in that situation when we have an

opportunity to score some runs and get back in the game."

Chris Snyder homered twice to give the Diamondbacks an early 3-0

lead.

Three of Snyder's four homers this season have been against the

Dodgers, including one last Thursday, when the Diamondbacks

defeated Los Angeles 3-1 before their skid began.

Snyder gave Arizona a 2-0 lead in the second inning when he

homered to left field off Perez. Alex Cintron, who singled, also

scored.

Snyder made it 3-0 in the fifth when he led off with a solo shot

to left on a 3-1 count from Perez.Game notes
The Dodgers' 15 wins against the Diamondbacks are the most

they've had against a team since beating San Diego 16 times in

1974. ... Gagne also won six games in 2001. ... Arizona RF Danny

Bautista was ejected in the eighth inning for arguing a called

third strike by plate umpire Andy Fletcher. ... It was Snyder's

first multihomer game. ... Saenz's grand slam was his third

pinch-hit homer of the season, and seventh of his career. It was

the Dodgers' eighth slam this season. ... Fossum has allowed 29

homers this season, tying him for third in the NL.