DODGERS POWERED BY MARTIN HIS SECOND HR OF GAME, A TWO-RUN SHOT, LIFTS L.A. DODGERS 6, HOUSTON 3.

Byline: TONY JACKSON 

Staff Writer

The storyline was getting a bit tired. Almost as tired as Russell Martin's legs had to be.

The Dodgers were busily flailing their way to another defeat, getting there by way of the same, mindnumbing script of not coming through with men in scoring position and not putting up much of a fight, when Martin stepped to the plate in the bottom of the sixth inning and provided an alternate ending.

Four innings earlier, Martin had hit what was beginning to look like a meaningless, solo home run off Houston's Jason Jennings. This time, he stepped in with two outs and a man on second base and took Jennings over the wall in straightaway center, turning what had seemed like an insurmountable, two-run deficit at the start of the inning into a lead and an eventual 6-3 Dodgers victory before 49,098 on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium.

For Martin, who has started 108 of the Dodgers' 120 games behind the plate and at times lately has appeared to be running on adrenaline and little else, it was the first multiple-homer game of his young career. For the Dodgers in general, it was much more than that. It was a reminder of what it feels like to win, but also of what it feels like to have fun playing baseball, a game that in recent weeks had begun to weigh on them like, well, a job.

For just the eighth time in their past 27 games, the Dodgers did that job well.

It had started like all the others in the four-game losing streak the Dodgers brought into this one. They had gone hitless in five at-bats with runners in scoring position, running their mindboggling stretch of ineptitude in such situations to 3 for 59. And, once again, they were making a mediocre opposing pitcher like downright unhittable.

And they were doing it all with the .500 mark, a place they hadn't been since they were 2-2 way back on April 6, hanging over their heads like a guillotine blade.

But throughout their recent struggles, the Dodgers have insisted that all they needed was one big hit to get them started, one guy to come through in a key situation to turn around a game and possibly a season. Only time will prove whether all that whistling past the graveyard holds true. But for one evening, anyway, Martin's hit seemed to be the perfect elixir.

After his two-run shot off Jennings put them in front 4-3, the Dodgers got two more hits with runners in scoring position, equaling their total for their previous eight games combined, to put the game away. The suddenly sizzling Juan Pierre lined a single over the infield and into center to score Rafael Furcal in the seventh, making it 5-3, and after Pierre stole second, Matt Kemp got him in with a double up the gap in left-center.

Pierre now has 10 hits in 17 at-bats over the past four games.

The Dodgers (61-59) assured themselves of staying above .500 for at least two more days. They also gave themselves a chance to hault their series losing streak at seven if they can salvage a four-game split with the Astros by winning tonight's finale. And even if the Dodgers did remain buried in fourth place in the National League West and 6 1/2 games behind division-leading Arizona, this one win enough to dramatically change the atmosphere in a clubhouse that had been about as comfortable in recent days as a dentist's chair.

For one night, anyway.

While Martin's homer stopped the Dodgers' losing streak at four, it also stopped staff ace Brad Penny's winless streak at three starts. Penny (14-3) was far from dominating, allowing the leadoff man to reach in four of his six innings and giving up leadoff doubles in three of those frames. The Astros got to him for 10 hits. But Penny minimized the damage by striking out six batters and inducing one doubleplay grounder.

He left immediately after that decisive, sixth-inning rally by the Dodgers.

Jennings (2-8), who had beaten the Dodgers on July 24 at Minute Maid Park when they were just beginning their infamous swoon, had his way for five innings. He gave up Martin's first homer, a drive that just cleared the wall in left-center field, with two outs in the second, then pitched around a two-out double by Luis Gonzalez.

Beyond that, the Dodgers didn't really touch him until the sixth, when Pierre's leadoff single and a subsequent hit by Kemp set the table for the decisive rally. James Loney made it 3-2 with a sacrifice fly that scored Pierre, and Martin followed with his second homer.

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Dodgers (Lowe 8-11) vs. Houston (Rodriguez 7-10), 7:10 p.m., Dodger Stadium. TV: Prime Ticket

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Photo:

The Dodgers' Russell Martin, right, is congratulated by Matt Kemp after Martin's two-run homer in the sixth inning gave L.A. a 4-3 lead.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer