Pirates walk plank in 9th, survive Dodgers rally

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Jim Tracy swears he harbors no ill will toward the Los Angeles Dodgers. That being said, he made no attempt to hide the joy he felt after beating his former team for a second straight game.

Elias Says

Torres Salomon Torres made it exciting, but he finally extinguished a ninth-inning rally to earn his 10th save of the month as Pittsburgh beat the Dodgers. Torres set a Pirates franchise record with 10 saves during September, breaking the mark set by Jim Gott in 1988. Torres is the second pitcher ever to record at least 10 saves in a season in which he had none through the end of August. Dale Murray saved 10 games for the 1974 Expos, all during September. • For more Elias Says, click here

NL batting leader Freddy Sanchez matched a career high with four hits, Shawn Chacon outpitched Greg Maddux, and the Pittsburgh Pirates played the spoiler's role again Wednesday night with a 6-4 victory over the Dodgers.

"That was a game with obviously a lot at stake for the Dodgers. And I say that only because it's also great for us," Tracy said. "For our young players to be exposed to this type of atmosphere, with what is at stake and to be able to play in an environment like this, it's just a tremendous arena for our kids to be in at this time of the year."

Tracy managed the Dodgers for five years before parting ways with them following last season.

NL Wild Card Standings
	W	L	Pct.	GB
Dodgers	79	73	.520	--
Phillies	79	73	.520	--
Giants	75	76	.497	3½
Marlins	75	77	.493	4
Complete standings

"I'm sure it brings back a lot of memories for him when he comes back into town," said Jose Bautista, whose solo homer in the third put the Pirates ahead for good. "He used to manage here and they won a lot of games when he was here, so it's got to be a good feeling for him."

Los Angeles lost for the 11th time in 17 games and fell into a tie with Philadelphia for the NL wild-card lead. The Dodgers remained one-half game behind the NL West-leading San Diego Padres, who lost to Arizona 8-2.

"We know the situation we're in. We're fully aware of what's happening elsewhere," Dodgers manager Grady Little said. "We've got to take care of business ourselves."

The loss was the second straight for the Dodgers since their dramatic 11-10, 10-inning victory over the Padres, when they hit four consecutive solo homers in the ninth to tie the game and won on a two-run shot by Nomar Garciaparra in the 10th.

"That game made history. Right now, it is history," Little said. "We've got to get all parts of our game working again."

Sanchez had two doubles and two singles in five at-bats in Pittsburgh's fifth consecutive win and 15th in the last 21 games.

"He's got that magic wand right now," Little said.

The four-hit game was the fourth for Sanchez, who raised his average to .346. Jack Wilson had three singles and scored three runs for the Pirates.

Sept. 21 Baseball Today
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Chacon (2-3), who allowed 10 homers and 20 earned runs in his previous 29 innings, limited the Dodgers to six hits and four runs, two earned, in 6 2/3 innings.

Salomon Torres, pitching in his 90th game this season, got four outs for his 10th save in 12 chances. With runners on second and third and one out in the ninth, Torres struck out pinch-hitter Matt Kemp, walked Garciaparra and went to a full count on Jeff Kent before striking him out on a 3-2 splitter.

Maddux, who has 331 career victories, allowed seven hits and three runs in five innings while walking one, striking out five and throwing 87 pitches. The 40-year-old right-hander is 2-0 with a 1.76 ERA in six starts at Dodger Stadium this season -- one with the Cubs, and five since being traded to the Dodgers.

"I just got beat, really, threw some pitches you expect to get outs with and you don't, threw a couple they just hit," Maddux said. "It just didn't work."

The Pirates took a 2-0 lead off Maddux (13-14) in the third on Bautista's 15th homer, a two-out single by Wilson and an RBI-double by Sanchez. They got another run in the fifth on two-out singles by Wilson, Sanchez and Jason Bay.

The Dodgers drew within one in their half of the fifth, getting two unearned runs thanks to an error by third baseman Sanchez on pinch-hitter Wilson Betemit's run-scoring infield out, which was followed by Rafael Furcal's RBI triple.

The Pirates scored their final three runs against Aaron Sele in the seventh on an RBI single by Wilson, catcher Russell Martin's throwing error when Wilson and Sanchez pulled off a double steal, and a ground-rule double by Xavier Nady.

Pinch hitter J.D. Drew hit a two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the inning to complete the scoring. Furcal followed with a single to chase Chacon, and John Grabow walked pinch-hitter Olmedo Saenz before Matt Capps retired Garciaparra on a pop up to end the inning.

Game notes
Russell Martin Sr., father of the Dodgers' catcher, performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" on his saxophone. ... The Pirates have a major league-best 14-3 record in one-run games since the All-Star break. They had a 30-60 record entering the break, but are 35-27 since. ... Drew, who struck out in each of his four at-bats Tuesday night, wasn't in the starting lineup. He leads the Dodgers with 90 RBI and 81 walks. ... Torres became the fourth pitcher to appear in 90 games in a season, joining Kent Tekulve, who did it three times, Mike Marshall, who did it twice, and Wayne Granger. ... The Dodgers have seven pinch-hit homers this season.