Furcal's HR snaps Cubs' winning streak

The Cubs were looking to keep a couple of streaks going Thursday night at Dodger Stadium.

They took a three-game winning streak into Los Angeles after sweeping three games against the Diamondbacks in Arizona.

In each of those victories, the starting pitcher got the win.

Randy Wells put the Cubs in good position early as the Cubs led the Dodgers 2-1 in the seventh inning. That changed in the bottom of the seventh when Rafael Furcal lined a two-out, 2-run homer to put the Dodgers up 3-2, which ended up being the final score.

"That's what you want to see, your starting pitchers get wins," manager Lou Piniella said on his WGN radio pregame show. "It means, basically, that you're playing good baseball. You're playing good defense, and you're swinging the bats."

Wells went to the mound against the Dodgers, having snapped a six-game losing streak in his previous start and coming off 2 straight quality starts.

Once again, first-inning woes gave Wells a minor problem Thursday. Furcal led off with a double to the gap in right-center, and Matt Kemp walked.

Wells then got help from his defense as Andre Ethier grounded into a 3-6-1 double play, with Wells covering first base. James Loney followed with an RBI single, but Wells got Casey Blake on a groundout to keep the damage to a minimum.

The Cubs tied the game in the second on a booming home run to left by Alfonso Soriano. It was his 15th homer of the year. Soriano was questionable early in the day after being hit by a pitch on the left elbow Wednesday night. But he had a session in the batting cage before Thursday's game and was proclaimed fit to play.

Wells settled down nicely after the first, working 1-2-3 innings in the second and fourth.

The Cubs went ahead 2-1 in the top of the fourth. Aramis Ramirez dropped a double down the right-field line. Geovany Soto followed with an RBI single to left-center.

Wells was able to work out of two-out trouble in the fifth. Pitcher Clayton Kershaw worked Wells for 8 pitches before reaching on an error by Ramirez at third base. Wells then hit Rafael Furcal on the left elbow with a pitch on a 1-2 count.

Matt Kemp then lifted a flyball to deep right-center, but center fielder Marlon Byrd was able to run it down as the Dodgers left two on base.

Bruce Miles' game tracker Cubs vs. DodgersStreaking along: Aramis Ramirez doubled in his second at-bat to extend his hitting streak to four games. In the first three games, Ramirez was 5-for-13. In his previous 2 games, he had 3 homers and 7 RBI. Mixed bag: Ryan Theriot was back in the leadoff spot. He extended his hitting streak to six games but was caught stealing in the third after being caught off the base by lefty Clayton Kershaw. Strikeout brigade: The Cubs' 7-8-9 hitters - Xavier Nady, Starlin Castro and Randy Wells - combined for 6 strikeouts in their first 6 combined at-bats.False15302000Cubs' Alfonso Soriano, right, hits a solo home run as Dodgers catcher Russell Martin looks on during the second inning Thursday.Associated PressFalse