Loney lifts L.A. past Giants

SAN FRANCISCO — James Loney can appear awkward at the plate at times. When he gets behind in the count, he often looks a lot better.

Loney doubled twice and drove in three runs and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Francisco Giants 5-3 on Sunday for their third consecutive series win.

"Loney is one of those hitters you just have to shake your head," Dodgers' manager Joe Torre said. "He has an at-bat where he looks overmatched and all of a sudden he fires a double down the line."

Loney's first-inning double came on an 0-2 pitch and his fifth-inning double was on a 1-2 delivery.

"Sometimes I look like that," Loney said. "With two strikes on me I'm just looking to put it in play. For some reason two strikes increases my focus. I don't remember where the pitches were, I just react."

Andre Ethier added three hits and drove in a run for the Dodgers, who have won eight of their past 10 road games and remained within one-half game of Arizona in the NL West. Matt Kemp also drove in a run.

"We're getting runners on base and Andre and Loney are doing a great job of driving in a lot of runs," Kemp said. "I'm just trying to get on base for them."

National League

CUBS 7, CARDINALS 1: At St. Louis, Aramis Ramirez had two hits and three RBIs and Chicago rebounded from a final-inning loss to beat the Cardinals. Geovany Soto hit his 15th homer and Derrek Lee had three hits and an RBI for the NL Central leaders.

METS 4, PHILLIES 2 (12 INNINGS): At Philadelphia, Fernando Tatis hit a two-run homer in the 12th inning, lifting New York to victory in a game that ended more than seven hours after it started. Jayson Werth hit a two-run shot off Billy Wagner with two outs in the ninth to send the game into extra innings after it was delayed 2 hours, 50 minutes because of heavy rain in the bottom of the eighth.

BRAVES 7, ASTROS 6 (17 INNINGS): At Atlanta, Mark Teixeira singled off the wall with the bases loaded in the 17th inning, giving the Braves a victory over Houston in the longest game in Turner Field history.

BREWERS 11, PIRATES 6: At Milwaukee, J.J. Hardy hit two homers, All-Star starter Ryan Braun added one and the Brewers completed a three-game sweep. Hardy went 3-for-4 with four RBIs to raise his average to .446 over the last 18 games.