Dodgers Buoyed by Fifth Straight Win

There was room on the lifeboat for Jeff Kent and Rafael Furcal after all.

Good thing, because they did most of the paddling for the Dodgers in a 9-6 victory over the Houston Astros on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium.

After flailing and floundering seemingly forever, they’ve found themselves -- and their swings -- during a buoyant five-game winning streak that has lifted the Dodgers to .500.

Kent hit a three-run home run in the first inning and Furcal did the same in the second, providing right-hander Brett Tomko with a comfortable cushion. Tomko’s smooth sailing, in fact, was broken only by a change of heart by the official scorekeeper.

The lone hit Tomko allowed in six innings was Preston Wilson’s slow bouncer to third base in the fourth inning that caused Bill Mueller to make an errant throw. The play was initially ruled an error, then after the inning was amended to a hit and an error on the throw, which allowed Wilson to advance to second.

Tomko, who improved to 4-1 with a 2.93 earned-run average, had no trouble in the fifth or sixth but was lifted by Manager Grady Little because he had thrown 104 pitches with the Dodgers leading, 9-0.

Missing a chance at a no-hitter because of a close scoring call didn’t bother Tomko.

“It didn’t matter,� he said. “With my pitch count the way it was, Grady wouldn’t have let me throw 140 pitches to get it anyway.�

Little said that had Tomko been pitching a no-hitter, he would have gone “as long as his body let him go.�

There is a noon game today, so Little emptied the bench in the seventh to shorten the night for Furcal, Mueller, center fielder Kenny Lofton and catcher Russell Martin. Although Tim Hamulack gave up three runs in the seventh and Franquelis Osoria gave up three in the ninth, Danys Baez shut the door in the ninth by striking out the two batters he faced.

“We’ve got to get ourselves in a frame of mind where we can hold a nine-run lead with three innings to go,� Little said. “We aren’t quite there yet.�

Kent hung around for nine innings, hitting a single in the fifth and walking in the seventh. He is eight for 19 during the winning streak, ending a six-for-52 skid that had lowered his average to .181.

Now his power is beginning to return. He hit a three-run homer during his last at-bat Tuesday, then hit another on his first swing Wednesday, giving him three this season. The blast also came moments after rookie right-hander Taylor Buchholz became visibly upset that first baseman Lance Berkman didn’t make the play on J.D. Drew’s hot smash -- which was ruled a hit.

Astro third base coach Doug Mansolino telephoned official scorekeeper Dan Hartack in the press box after the game to complain that Drew’s hit should have been scored an error. And by the way, Mansolino said to Hartack, Mueller’s play shouldn’t have been scored a hit, either.

Hartack answered graciously, saying, “We just disagree.�

Kent’s three runs batted in gave him 1,333, tying him with former Dodger great Duke Snider for 75th on the all-time list. Coincidentally, Snider was on the club level at the time, signing copies of his book, “Few and Chosen.�

Next came Furcal’s slump-buster. With Andre Ethier and Tomko aboard, he drove a pitch into the right-field stands for this second homer in two games -- the only two he has hit this year.

Furcal is seven for 21 during the winning streak. That might not sound notable for a player signed to a three-year, $39-million contract, but he was only 22 for 110 before May 5.

Sometimes all it takes for a dry spell to end is for the calendar to flip to the next page. Or maybe it’s something else.

“I’ll retire from this game still scratching my head,� Kent said. “We’ve got a lot of experienced guys that don’t care about the lows and highs.�