A pinch of Betemit is just right

If you don’t like the way things are going through the first four innings against Kip Wells, just wait.

That seems to be the best strategy against the embattled St. Louis Cardinals pitcher who tends to unravel in the middle innings, and it happened again Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium.

The Cardinals’ one-run lead in the bottom of the fifth disappeared in the time it took Wilson Betemit’s three-run, pinch-hit homer to clear the center-field fence and propel the Dodgers toward a 5-4 victory.

Wells and the Cardinals relievers were not as charitable against the hottest hitter in the major leagues.

Aside from a first-inning double, Rafael Furcal went quietly in his bid to notch a fourth consecutive four-hit game, going one for four with a walk. And so Milt Stock’s 82-year-old major league record of logging four hits in four consecutive games lives on.

But Betemit is almost halfway to the major league record of seven pinch-hit homers in a season, and it’s not even June. Betemit is four for five with a double, three homers and six runs batted in as a pinch-hitter; he has one homer in his 67 other at-bats as a third baseman who recently lost his everyday starting job.

“He’s been awesome,” catcher Russell Martin said. “Every time he comes up in a big situation, it seems like he’s hitting a home run. He’s the best pinch-hitter I’ve ever seen.... It just seems like it’s the Betemit that we had last year.”

Asked whether Betemit would be better suited to primarily come off the bench as a pinch-hitter, Manager Grady Little said, “He’s done a good job off the bench, but there’s no doubt if he’s back in there at third base he’ll be different than he was earlier in the season.”

Getting the best of Wells (1-8), who has given up the most runs and lost the most games of any major league pitcher, seemed to be just a matter of time; 26 of the 43 runs he has allowed have come in the fifth inning or later.

Wells began to wobble during a 36-pitch fourth inning, when he gave up a run-scoring single to Juan Pierre on the 10th pitch of an at-bat in which Pierre fouled off six consecutive pitches.

Wells eventually worked his way out of a bases-loaded jam by striking out Jeff Kent to preserve a 3-2 Cardinals lead.

But with two on and two out in the fifth, Betemit homered on a 1-and-0 pitch to straightaway center to put the Dodgers ahead, 5-3.

“It’s great to have guys like that who can come in and do the job and carry the team like he did tonight,” third baseman Andy LaRoche said of Betemit, who left the clubhouse before reporters arrived.

The Cardinals made it a one-run game in the seventh when Scott Rolen doubled down the left-field line with two out against reliever Chin-hui Tsao and scored on pinch-hitter Scott Spiezio’s single to center off Joe Beimel. But Jonathan Broxton pitched a scoreless eighth and Takashi Saito a scoreless ninth for his 13th save, putting the Dodgers (25-16) a season-high nine games over .500.

Furcal’s bid for a fourth consecutive four-hit game got off to a promising start. He doubled down the left-field line in the first inning, giving him 15 hits in his last 17 at-bats to momentarily lift his batting average to .302. But he struck out swinging in the second, walked in the fourth, struck out looking in the fifth and tapped a weak grounder in front of home plate in the eighth.

ben.bolch@latimes.com

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Cooled off

Rafael Furcal fell short of tying the major league record for consecutive four-hit games, going one for four Wednesday. Furcal’s numbers during the four games:

At-bats 18

* Hits 13

* Singles 9

* Doubles 3

* Triples 1

* Runs batted in 5

* Batting average .722

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Los Angeles Times