Chan Ho Park helps Dodgers beat Angels

"We were better with our situational hitting," Martin said. "If we start playing like we did tonight, we'll be all right."

As the Dodgers moved closer to first place, the Angels moved closer to second, as they had their lead in the American League West cut to 3 1/2 games on a night when Joe Saunders failed to become the first 12-game winner in the majors. Responsible was something as uncharacteristic by the Angels as the Dodgers hitting with men on base.

The Angels struck out 14 times, seven of them recorded by Park, who held them to four hits. Jonathan Broxton and Takashi Saito combined to strike out the last six Angels hitters.

"That doesn't happen very often," Angels Manager Mike Scioscia said.

For the Dodgers, the victory was only the third in their last 12 games against the Angels, a team that Dodgers Manager Joe Torre said was a blueprint for what he wanted his team to be.

"They don't rely on the home run, even though they have a couple guys that can hit home runs," Torre said. "They rely on contact, moving runners, putting pressure on the defense. We haven't threatened enough to put pressure on the opposition like that."

The Angels began the game tied for 27th place in the majors with 201 extra-base hits and 22nd with 67 home runs. The Dodgers were last in extra-base hits with 194 and tied for last with 51 home runs.

Unlike the Dodgers, the Angels have found ways to overcome. Including Friday, the Angels have been held to five runs or fewer in 28 of their last 35 games, but are 17-11 in those 28 games.

Strength, not speed, got the Dodgers a 1-0 lead in the first inning, when Martin drove a ball into his team's bullpen for his eighth home run.

Then the Dodgers started to use their legs.

The managers from both sides came out of their respective dugouts in the bottom of the third, Scioscia doing so first to argue that Juan Pierre was out at third on a double steal that landed Martin at second. Loney drew a walk to load the bases with two outs, but Andy LaRoche ran into a ball he bunted on a suicide squeeze to end a threat. Torre protested.

Two innings later, the Dodgers exploited a throwing error by shortstop Erick Aybar to add two runs and extend their lead to 3-0. The runs were scored on the at-bats by Kent and Loney that Martin described.

The inning was the last pitched by Saunders (11-4), who ran his pitch count to 92. He was charged with three runs (two earned) and four walks.

Park (3-2) went an inning longer and lowered his earned-run average to 2.52.

He said he hadn't pitched this well in five or six years, crediting "better mechanics, better mentality, better family support, better city, I don't know."

Andre Ethier, who started the game on the bench for the fourth time in six games because of his inability to hit left-handers, went in as a defensive replacement in the seventh and crushed a three-run home run in the bottom of the inning that blew open the game.

dylan.hernandez@latimes.com