DeWitt lifts Dodgers over Reds with game-winning RBI single in 9th

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The Los Angeles Dodgers had the right hitter up with the bases loaded in the ninth inning.

Blake DeWitt's second RBI single of the game lifted the Dodgers to a 6-5 comeback win over Cincinnati on Monday night, snapping the Reds' six-game winning streak. The rookie is 6-for-6 with 12 RBIs in bases-loaded situations.

"With the bases loaded, you're just looking to have a good at-bat, stay out of the double play, make something happen," DeWitt said. "You know the pitcher's got to come to you because he's not going to walk you. So if you're patient, you're going to get a good pitch to hit. It's a good situation to be in. I figured he'd throw a two-seamer away, just because they needed a double play."

Russell Martin led off the ninth with an infield hit up the middle and continued to second when shortstop Paul Janish threw the ball over the head of first baseman Joey Votto and into the dugout. Martin advanced on Jeff Kent's groundout, and David Weathers (1-3) intentionally walked James Loney and Matt Kemp (4-for-4) before DeWitt stroked his opposite-field hit to left.

Takashi Saito (2-1) pitched a perfect ninth for the victory after the Dodgers recovered from a 4-0 deficit -- the largest they have overcome to win a game this season.

Adam Dunn tied a Cincinnati club record by homering in his fifth straight game and Brandon Phillips was 4-for-5 with an RBI single.

With shortstop Jeff Keppinger on the disabled list because of a broken left knee cap, utilityman Jerry Hairston Jr. started at short for the Reds and committed a two-base throwing error on Martin's routine grounder -- allowing two runs to score and trimming Cincinnati's lead to 4-2 in the third.

"When you're down a couple of runs and they give you a couple of extra chances, you've got to do your best to capitalize on their mistakes," DeWitt said.

Janish replaced Hairston in the eighth inning for defensive purposes. It's going to be that way for the Reds until Keppinger returns. He is expected to be out 4-to-6 weeks after fouling a pitch off his knee last Tuesday against Florida.

"It's going to create a problem, but we've got some guys who have been playing great out there," manager Dusty Baker said. "Janish went a long ways to get to that ball. I mean, that was a quality play. He had to rush the throw, and when you have an outstanding throwing arm, that's what happens sometimes. We've been playing great defense, but you're going to have some nights like this."

Dunn increased the Reds' margin to three runs with an RBI single in the fifth, but the Dodgers came right back in the bottom half to tie it against Bronson Arroyo on two-out RBI singles by Loney, Kemp and DeWitt.

"Those were some quality two-out RBI hits," Baker said.

The Reds, coming off three-game sweeps against Florida and Cleveland, took a 2-0 lead with RBI singles by Phillips in the first inning and Corey Patterson in the second.

Dunn, who came in 3-for-25 lifetime against Brad Penny with a home run and 13 strikeouts, drove a 1-1 pitch into the pavilion seats in right-center in the third after Phillips led off with a single and stole second. He added an RBI single against the right-hander in the fifth to give Cincinnati a 5-2 lead.

Dunn's home run streak is the longest of his eight-year career. He now shares the franchise mark with Ted Kluszewski (1954), Johnny Bench (1972) and teammate Ken Griffey Jr. (2003). The 6-foot-6 left fielder is three behind the major league record shared by Dale Long, Don Mattingly and Griffey, whose homer streak came with the Seattle Mariners.

"There's nothing I'm doing differently," said Dunn, who is batting .231 with a team-high 11 homers and 29 RBIs. "I'm just making better contact on balls I've been popping up and fouling off. For me, home runs come in spurts. I don't know how to describe it. It's more of a contact point. I'm usually out in front of it or late on it, but now it's sort of coming together."

Griffey, who began this seven-game road trip needing three home runs to become the sixth player with 600, had two singles in five trips to the plate -- but has gone 83 at-bats since his previous homer on April 23 against Houston's Chris Sampson. The longest homer drought of Junior's career was 101 at-bats in 1990 with Seattle, his second season in the big leagues.

Penny allowed five runs, nine hits and four walks in six innings and struck out two. He was scheduled to pitch Sunday against the Angels in Anaheim, but was pushed back a day because of arm stiffness.

Game notes
Dodgers CF Andruw Jones, who was scratched because of a swollen right knee, had an MRI that revealed a slight cartilege tear. The club will wait a few days to see if he will have to undergo surgery. ... Jones and Griffey are among four players in history to hit 50 homers and win a Gold Glove in the same season. The others are Willie Mays and Alex Rodriguez. ... Baker has a 14-23 record against teams managed by Joe Torre, including a 5-7 mark during interleague play. The Reds and Dodgers split a two-game set last month at Great American Ball Park. ... Torre and Baker were teammates very briefly with the 1968 Atlanta Braves. Baker played his first six big league games that season, and Torre was traded to St. Louis in March 1969 for Orlando Cepeda.