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  Tuesday, Aug. 8 10:10pm ET
Los Angeles 7, Chicago 5
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Los Angeles hit four home runs, including the first of two solo homers by pitcher Darren Dreifort, in the fourth inning against rookie Phil Norton as the Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs 7-5 Tuesday night.

Dreifort (9-7), who hit 25 homers in three seasons at Wichita State, became the first Dodgers pitcher to homer twice in a game since Hall of Famer Don Drysdale, who did it against the Milwaukee Braves on Aug. 23, 1958 at the L.A. Coliseum.

Dreifort's homer to center field tied it at 3. He then hit his third of the season and fifth of his big league career with one out in the fifth against Todd Van Poppel for a 7-3 lead _ and bounded out of the dugout for a curtain call.

Dreifort, whose homers were measured at 441 feet and 462 feet, respectively, became the first pitcher to homer twice in a major league game since Atlanta's Derek Lilliquist did it on May 1, 1990, against the New York Mets.

He also is the first Dodgers pitcher to homer more than once in an entire season since 1984, when Fernando Valenzuela hit three.

The right-hander also pitched quite well, winning for the fifth time in as many starts since the All-Star break after going 1-6 with a 7.03 ERA in his previous 10 starts.

Dreifort allowed four runs _ two earned _ and six hits in 6 2-3 innings, including a pair of RBI singles by Mark Grace.

He also walked Ricky Gutierrez all four times, in front of Sammy Sosa. But Dreifort fanned Sosa twice and did not allow him to hit a ball out of the infield.

Kevin Elster, whose costly throwing error punctuated Chicago's three-run third inning, led off the Dodgers' tumultuous fourth with his 12th homer. Dreifort, whose homer on July 5 at San Diego ignited a come-from-behind victory, followed with his first of the night.

Two outs later, Gary Sheffield drove in the go-ahead run and took over the major league lead from Sosa with his 36th.

Eric Karros' bid for his 28th homer was 15 feet foul on Norton's next pitch, and he settled for a single. Shawn Green capped the five-run inning with a drive to right field that chased the shell-shocked Norton, who allowed six runs and nine hits over 3 2-3 innings in his second big league start.

This was only the 12th time the Dodgers had their 1-through-8 opening day starting lineup intact, and first time since May 1. Their record in those games is 6-6.

Norton, called up from Triple-A Iowa on July 31, became the 18th pitcher in major league history to surrender four homers in one inning and the 10th in NL history. The last to do it was St. Louis' Andy Benes, on July 23 against Houston.

Jeff Reed hit his fourth homer for the Cubs in the eighth off Mike Fetters. Gary Matthews Jr. tripled to bring the tying run to the plate, but Eric Young took a called third strike from Jeff Shaw, who pitched 1 1-3 innings for his 18th save in 25 chances.

Notes: With Sosa at Dodger Stadium and Boston's Pedro Martinez pitching 35 miles down the freeway in Anaheim, the Dodgers outdrew the Angels, 46,373 to 27,293. ... The Dodgers' home attendance surpassed the two-million mark for the 28th consecutive season, and the 34th time since the team changed venues from the LA Coliseum to Dodger Stadium in 1962. With 27 home dates remaining, the Dodgers can crack the three-million mark for a record 15th time if they maintain their season average of 37,710. ... Elster's 1989 streak of 88 consecutive errorless games is the fourth-longest streak by a shortstop in major league history. At the time it did it, it was the longest. ... Dreifort has surrendered a team-high 14 unearned runs, including the two that resulted from Elster's 11th error. ... Sheffield walked twice and took over the NL lead by one over Ken Griffey Jr.

 


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