McCutchen, Mercer deliver HRs in Pirates' 5-1 win
LOS ANGELES -- Andrew McCutchen and Jordy Mercer homered and the Pittsburgh Pirates continued their dominance of the Los Angeles Dodgers in a 5-1 victory on Friday night before 47,438 at Dodger Stadium.
The Pirates (58-55) won for the 14th time in their last 18 meetings with the Dodgers (64-51). Pittsburgh has taken four of five from Los Angeles this season.
McCutchen, who went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, is 8-of-16 with two homers in his last seven games at Dodger Stadium.
Ivan Nova, in his first start against the Dodgers, gave up a run on nine hits with two strikeouts and no walks in 5 1/3 innings. Nova (9-6), who was making his second start since being obtained by the Pirates from the New York Yankees, is 10-3 in 18 starts against National League clubs.
Tony Watson worked 1/3 of an inning for his fifth save of the season.
Dodgers rookie Ross Stripling couldn't overcome a rough start. Stripling (3-4) surrendered five runs -- three in the first inning -- aon six hits with four strikeouts and no walks in seven innings. He retired 11 Pittsburgh batters in a row before Mercer led off the seventh with his seventh homer of the season.
Dodgers rookie shortstop Corey Seager went 2-for-4 and extended his streak of multi-hit games to four in a row.
The Pirates plated three runs in the first. McCutchen and David Freese singled home Josh Harrison and Starling Marte, and McCutchen scored on a fielder's choice by Jordy Mercer.
Howie Kendrick drove in Joc Pederson with an RBI single in the second to slice the Pirates' lead to two.
McCutchen's solo shot to right, his 16th home run this season, pushed the margin to 4-1 with one out in the third. McCutchen moved into sole possession of fifth place -- he was tied with Dave Parker -- on the Pirates' career home run list with 167. Barry Bonds is fourth with 176.
NOTES: Pirates C Francisco Cervelli (left wrist discomfort) was out of the starting lineup again for the second game in a row. ... The Dodgers reinstated RHP Joe Blanton from the bereavement list and optioned LHP Luis Avilan to Triple-A Oklahoma City. ... The Pirates were 53-0 this season when leading after eight innings heading into the game. They were one of four teams without a loss when leading after eight, Cleveland (58-0), Baltimore (53-0) and San Diego (39-0) being the others. ... Dodgers LHP Julio Urias celebrated his 20th birthday Friday. ... Pirates RHP Gerrit Cole (7-7, 2.94 ERA) opposes Dodgers RHP Brandon McCarthy on Saturday. On Sunday, Dodgers LHP Brett Anderson, who had surgery for a herniated disk earlier this year, makes his season debut when he starts against Pittsburgh RHP Chad Kuhl (2-0, 3.91 ERA).