Betemit's home run sends Dodgers past Cardinals

LOS ANGELES -- Pinch-hitter Wilson Betemit's three-run homer with two outs in the fifth inning drove in the go-ahead runs, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-4 Wednesday night.

The win was the fifth in six games for the Dodgers, putting them a season-high nine games over .500, and their second straight over St. Louis following a 10-game losing streak to the Cardinals.

Betemit, batting for winning pitcher Randy Wolf, hit a 1-0 pitch from Kip Wells (1-8) over the center-field fence to give the Dodgers a 5-3 lead. It was Betemit's fourth homer -- three as a pinch hitter.

Wolf (5-3) allowed six hits and three runs, two earned, in five innings while walking one and striking out seven.

Takashi Saito, the fifth Dodgers pitcher, worked the ninth for his second save in two nights and 13th of the season. He has converted 23 straight opportunities dating to last year.

Saito allowed a leadoff single to Juan Encarnacion, his third hit, before striking out Albert Pujols and getting Scott Rolen to ground into a fielder's choice. Scott Spiezio hit a foul popup to end it.

Wells has lost his last seven starts, allowing 37 earned runs in 39 innings for an 8.54 ERA during that stretch. He leads the NL in losses and earned runs allowed (39).

Wells gave up six hits and five runs in five innings while walking a season-high six and striking out five. He threw 125 pitches -- an average of 25 per inning.

Dodgers shortstop Rafael Furcal, who had four hits in each of the previous three games, went 1-for-4 with a walk. The major league record for consecutive four-hit games is four, set by Brooklyn's Milt Stock in 1925.

Furcal has 15 hits in his last 20 at-bats dating to Saturday, raising his batting average from .214 to .295.

Furcal sliced Wells' second pitch of the game into the left-field corner for a double, went to third on an infield out and scored on a single by Nomar Garciaparra.

The Cardinals went ahead 3-1 in the third with some help from the Dodgers, scoring on a two-out RBI single by Aaron Miles, a wild pitch and catcher Russell Martin's throwing error on the play.

Juan Pierre's two-out RBI single in the fourth trimmed the Cardinals' lead to 3-2. Wells later struck out Jeff Kent with the bases loaded to end the inning.

The Cardinals scored their final run in the seventh on pinch-hitter Spiezio's two-out RBI single off Joe Beimel.