LOS ANGELES (AP) - Brandon League was the scourge of the Dodger Stadium boo birds last season by virtue of his 5.30 ERA out of the bullpen. He turned his fortunes around over the past month with a career-best streak of 22 innings without allowing an earned run. That ended Thursday night with a jolt against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Pirates scored three runs against the right-hander in the seventh inning after losing a baserunner to a video reversal, and handed the Dodgers a 6-3 loss. It was just their third against Pittsburgh in their last 20 meetings at Chavez Ravine. Former Dodger Russell Martin helped lead the way with one of two home runs given up by starter Dan Haren.
Starling Marte drew a leadoff walk in the seventh and appeared to have stolen second - at least to umpire Eric Cooper, who called him safe. Dodgers manager Don Mattingly challenged the ruling, which was overturned after a short delay.
But Clint Barmes followed with his third straight single, advanced on the pitcher Gerrit Cole’s sacrifice bunt and scored on Josh Harrison’s second RBI single. Harrison continued to second on the throw to the plate and came home on Neil Walker’s single, and pinch-hitter Gabby Sanchez greeted former Pirates starter Paul Maholm with an RBI double.
“I know it’s been a while since anything like this has happened,” League (1-2) said. “It’s not discouraging. It just stinks having your name next to the ’L.’ As a reliever, you go day to day and you’re taught to forget quickly. It’s nice to know your manager keeps running you out there regardless of the results, but in the end, you’ve still got to get the job done.”
The three runs charged to League ended a stretch of 16 appearances and 22 innings in which he did not allow an earned run.
“We kind of got the game where we wanted - to the back end of the bullpen - and it didn’t go very well from there,” Mattingly said. “Brandon’s been pretty good, but they squared some balls up. We have to give him a hiccup now and then. We have to look at the body of work.”
Haren allowed three runs and eight hits in six innings with two strikeouts and no walks. In his four starts with Tim Federowicz behind the plate, Haren has a 3.04 ERA and has given up 28 hits in 23 2-3 innings.
“We really faced a tough pitcher, and I wasn’t able to hold them down,” Haren said. “I’ve been mediocre here for a few starts now. Strikeouts have kind of come and gone for me. I got a lot last game. But when that many balls get put into play, bad things have to happen.”
Martin’s third homer of the season landed halfway up the left field pavilion, giving the Pirates a 3-2 lead with two outs in the sixth. It also ended a string of nine consecutive games at Dodger Stadium in which Pittsburgh scored no more than two runs.
Yasiel Puig, who reached base safely for the 30th consecutive game, led off the bottom half with his second double of the game and scored on a single by Hanley Ramirez.
Andre Ethier lined an 0-1 pitch inside first base with one out in the first for his second triple in seven at-bats, after getting only four in his previous 2,180 at-bats since the start of the 2010 season. Puig drove him in with a bloop double to right field.
Alvarez tied it in the second with a two-out drive to right field for his 10th homer, tying Walker for the team lead. Gordon regained the lead for the Dodgers in the bottom half with a two-out RBI single, but Harrison got the Pirates even again in the fifth with a two-out RBI single.
Cole (5-3) allowed three runs and six hits over 6 1-3 innings in his first career appearance at Chavez Ravine. The right-hander helped set up two runs with sacrifice bunts in the opener of a four-game series against the defending NL West champions.
Cole was lifted after walking pinch-hitter Chone Figgins with his 88th pitch, but Tony Watson retired speedster Dee Gordon on a double-play grounder with his first pitch. Mark Melancon worked a perfect eighth and Jason Grilli got three outs for his sixth save.
NOTES: Dodgers RHP Chad Billingsley, who hasn’t pitched for them since April 15, 2013, and is recovering from Tommy John surgery, threw 30 pitches Thursday in a two-inning simulated game. … Mattingly said that it would be “overly hopeful” to expect 3B Juan Uribe (right hamstring strain) to be reinstated from the 15-day DL when he is eligible to come off on June 5. … Gordon stole second and third in the second inning, increasing his major league-leading total to 32. … Cole’s only other outing against the Dodgers was June 16, 2013, when he won a 6-3 decision over Zack Greinke.
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