Loney's bases-loaded BB gives Dodgers 5-4 win

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LOS ANGELES (AP) " James Loney drew his second bases-loaded walk with one out in the ninth inning to give the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday night.

Singles by Orlando Hudson and Manny Ramirez gave the Dodgers runners at the corners with none out against reliever Bob Howry (0-1). Andre Ethier was intentionally walked, and Brian Wilson came on and got Russell Martin to ground into a force at the plate with the infield in. But he lost Loney on a 3-2 pitch.

Jonathan Broxton (1-0) pitched a perfect ninth.

Aaron Rowand hit a three-run homer in the eighth against rookie Ronald Belisario, giving the Giants a 4-2 lead after they were held to one hit over the first seven by 21-year-old left-hander Clayton Kershaw, who struck out a career-high 13.

But the San Francisco bullpen couldn't protect its lead, either. Jeremy Affeldt gave up a leadoff single in the bottom half to Andre Ethier, after pitching a perfect seventh in relief of Matt Cain. Martin greeted Howry with a double inside third base, Ethier scored on Loney's sacrifice fly, and Matt Kemp followed with a tying RBI single.

Kershaw allowed only two baserunners, giving up Molina's tying home run leading off the second innings and walking Rich Aurilia with one out in the fourth. He fanned eight of the first 13 batters, then finished with five Ks in a row.

Kershaw became the youngest Dodgers pitcher to strike out 13 or more batters in a game since Sandy Koufax did it on Aug. 27, 1955 at age 19.

He lost the decision when the bullpen failed to make Casey Blake's go-ahead solo homer in the fourth inning stand up.

Hong-Chih Kuo hit his first batter, Pablo Sandoval and pinch-runner Emmanuel Burriss advanced to third on Aurilia's single. Manager Joe Torre brought in Belisario " who promptly surrendered Rowand's homer into the left field pavilion.

Cain allowed two runs and seven hits over six innings and left trailing 2-1 after 115 pitches. The right-hander struck out three and walked four, remaining 0-6 in 12 career starts against the Dodgers with a 3.97 ERA.

Cain is just 16-30 in 68 starts after winning 13 games as a rookie in 2006. Since the beginning of the 2007 season, his teammates have scored fewer than two runs in 30 of his starts. Last season, Cain had the second-lowest run support in the majors (3.14) behind Oakland's Greg Smith (2.88).

Cain walked three batters in the first inning, including Loney with the bases loaded and two outs " but came back to strike out Matt Kemp with his 30th pitch of the inning.

Molina, who had a career-high 95 RBIs last year, tied it when he homered leading off the second. It was the Giants' first home run since the three they hit on opening day.

Kershaw's walk to Aurilia was the first in four games for the Giants, who ended a string of 87 consecutive plate appearances without one going back to the eighth inning of Friday's loss at San Diego. But Aurilia was doubled off first base after Kemp robbed Aaron Rowand of a hit with a diving catch in short center field.

Notes: Everyone on both teams wore No. 42 to mark the 62nd anniversary of Jackie Robinson's major league debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers, and former teammate Don Newcombe threw out the first pitch. ... Aside from the team tribute, the only Dodgers player to wear No. 42 after Jackie Robinson's retirement was RHP Ray Lamb, who allowed three runs over 15 innings in his 10 relief appearances as a rookie in 1969 and was 0-1. Lamb switched to No. 34 the following spring. ... Hudson was 0-for-18 against Cain before singling his first two times up. ... Hudson, who on Monday joined Wes Parker (1970) as the only L.A. Dodgers to hit for the cycle, smiled broadly while presenting his 4-year-old son Orlando and 7-year-old daughter Kamari with bicycles at home plate before the game. They were gifts from his new club.

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