Dodgers 2, Pirates 0

Hiroki Kuroda dominated through seven innings and rookie Jerry Sands drove in a run to lead the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers to a 2-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday.

Matt Guerrier worked a perfect eighth and Vicente Padilla got his third save with a strong ninth for the Dodgers, who have taken the first two games of the series and improved to 3-3 on their seven-game road trip.

Kuroda (4-3) surrendered three hits, three walks and struck out a season-high eight. The Japanese righthander took a no-hitter into the fifth and allowed only one runner past first base.

Paul Maholm (1-5) matched Kuroda through the first five innings before breaking down in the sixth. Ivan De Jesus led off with a walk and Andre Ethier reached on an infield single before Maholm walked Matt Kemp to load the bases. Maholm got Juan Uribe to ground into a double play but a run scored.

Sands came up two batters later and drove a 1-0 pitch to right to score Ethier.

Maholm has received 12 runs of support in his eight starts.
Final1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th8th9thRHE
Los Angeles DodgersDodgers000002000250
Pittsburgh PiratesPirates000000000040
WP:Hiroki Kuroda (LAD)
LP:Paul Maholm (PIT)
Season Series
PittsburghStatsLA Dodgers
2-6Vs6-2
.231Batting Average.321
2.6Runs / Game6.1
5Home Runs7
7Errors2