Dodgers Let Pirates Make Up for Miscue

Manny Martinez homered and drove in three runs to overcome his own defensive misplay and the Pittsburgh Pirates rallied to beat Los Angeles 6-5 on Wednesday night -- the Dodgers’ 10th loss in 14 games.

With interim general manager Tommy Lasorda watching on, the Dodgers (62-64) squandered leads of 3-0 and 5-4 to slip two games under .500 for the first time since they were 40-42 on June 30.

The Pirates, long since banished from the NL Central race, have won three straight and seven of nine. They had won only six of their last 16 from the Dodgers before sweeping the two-game series, their first series victory over Los Angeles since June 1996.

Martinez, batting only .188 in his last 32 games, twice gave the Pirates the lead and also figured in their first two runs. He hit a go-ahead two-run homer following Tony Womack’s single in the fifth off Brian Bohanon (6-8) and a sacrifice fly in the seventh off Antonio Osuna after the Dodgers’ second costly throwing error of the night.

Bohanon, attempting to win following a Dodgers loss for the third straight start, threw away Martinez’s potential inning-ending grounder to the mound for a two-run error in the third.

In the seventh, Lou Collier singled and Mark Smith walked before third baseman Bobby Bonilla threw wildly on Womack’s infield single, scoring Collier and giving Martinez the chance to drive in the go-ahead run.

Mike Williams (3-1) got the win with two scoreless relief innings before Jason Christiansen, who signed a $1.725 million contract extension Tuesday, pitched a perfect ninth for his fifth save.

Bohanon took the loss -- only his second in his last six starts -- even though only three of the Pirates’ six runs against him were earned. He also drove in two runs with a force play grounder in a three-run second against Todd Van Poppel and a gift triple on a fly ball to center in the sixth that Martinez badly misjudged.

After Bonilla’s double and Mark Grudzielanek’s RBI single made it 4-4, Bohanon hit a drive that sailed over Martinez’s head as he broke in for the ball. A faster runner than Bohanon probably would have had an easy inside-the-park homer.

Notes

Lasorda is making the seven-game road trip and expects to interview at least two candidates to replace him: Marlins GM Dave Dombrowski and Braves assistant GM Dean Taylor. ... The Pirates hadn’t won consecutive home games against the Dodgers since May 4-5, 1996. The Dodgers had won 16 of their previous 23 in Pittsburgh and have won every season series against the Pirates since 1992. The Dodgers won the series 7-5 this season. ... Bonilla went 2-for-4 and is 7-for-18 over his last five games.