By JANIE McCAULEY
AP Sports Writer

SAN FRANCISCO(AP) -- Hiroki Kuroda figures if he got hit with both
a ball and a bat within a month he might need to quit pitching
and walk away from baseball all together.

Kuroda dodged the barrel of a broken bat that flew in his
direction and retired 19 straight during one stretch, Casey
Blake homered and the Los Angeles Dodgers matched their 2008 win
total by beating the archrival San Francisco Giants 10-3 on
Friday night.

Los Angeles (84-58) maintained a two-game division lead over
Colorado, which rallied to win at San Diego. The Rockies
extended their NL wild-card lead to 5 1/2 games over the Giants.

Kuroda (6-6), making just his second start since missing three
weeks after sustaining a concussion Aug. 15 when hit in the head
by a line drive, quickly ducked out of the way and off the mound
when Matt Cain's bat splintered on his third-inning groundout
and sailed onto the dirt past second base. That had to be a
scary moment for the right-hander, who gave up two hits to start
the second then got 19 straight outs before John Bowker's
one-out triple in the eighth.

"At first I didn't know if it was a ball or bat coming at me,"
Kuroda said through an interpreter. "Since I got a ball hit at
my head, I didn't think a bat could get there that fast. If I
get hit by a bat, I think I'm going to retire."

Blake returned to the lineup following a five-game absence with
a hamstring injury and hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning
and James Loney drove in three runs for the first-place Dodgers,
who won for the third time in four games.

Kuroda is showing the kind of form that made him so good down
the stretch last year, when he also won a game in the NL
division series against the Cubs.

"This year I had to go through a lot," he said. "I had to go on
the disabled list twice and got hit in the head for the first
time in 13 years. ... I was able to keep a really good rhythm
this game, close to what I had last year. Of course I would like
to finish as strong as I did last year."

He struck out five and didn't walk a batter in eight efficient
innings to win for the third time in his last four decisions,
bouncing back from a loss to San Diego on Sept. 6. He threw 86
pitches, 55 strikes.

Kuroda retired 21 straight batters against the Braves on July 7,
2008, a one-hit shutout.

Manager Joe Torre was scared when the bat headed toward Kuroda.

"You just sort of shake your head and say, 'You're shooting at
this guy,"' Torre said. "In his rehab start, he had a line drive
back at him and a bat fly back at him and he didn't flinch at
all. You never know how they're going to react."

Blake also singled in a run in the Dodgers' five-run seventh,
when Russell Martin hit a two-run double, Manny Ramirez added an
RBI single and Loney had a sacrifice fly. Loney's two-run double
in the first gave Los Angeles an early lead against Cain (13-5).
Matt Kemp hit an RBI double in the eighth.

"It was a huge mistake to Loney and a huge mistake to Blake,"
Cain said. "I'm disappointed I let the guys down but it's not a
situation where we can think negatively. We just can't think
like that."

The Dodgers came out with an energy and intensity following an
off day Thursday. On Wednesday, they concluded a grueling
stretch of 46 games in 48 days.

Los Angeles entered Friday's game without at least a share of
the best record in the National League for the first time since
May 2 - and the team's two-game lead in the NL West was its
smallest since Aug. 25, when it also led Colorado by the same
margin.

San Francisco needs to get back on track in a hurry before it
loses even more ground in the playoff chase. The Giants have
lost four of five and six of 10, including two of three at home
to San Diego before Thursday's off day.

"We've fallen back and now it's up to us to be resilient, be
tough about this and bounce back," San Francisco skipper Bruce
Bochy said.

NOTES: Both clubs sported red caps in memory of Sept. 11. A
moment of silence was held before the national anthem, followed
by a flyover. ... Jim Thome didn't play for the Dodgers as he
nurses a left heel injury. ... C Buster Posey, drafted fifth
overall by the Giants in '08, made his highly anticipated major
league debut in the eighth. He received a warm ovation and fans
chanted his name when he batted in the bottom half. He struck
out. "My heart started beating a little harder. I just tried to
get loose and enjoy it," Posey said. "It was a fun feeling I
know I won't ever have again." ... Giants slugger Pablo Sandoval
sported a new 'do: zigzag cornrows. ... The Giants' short-season
Class-A team, Salem-Keizer (Ore.), won its third Northwest
League title in four years Thursday. ... San Francisco failed to
sell out a game with the Dodgers for the fourth time in seven
home meetings this year.