LOS ANGELES -- After pulling even with San Francisco for first place in the NL West this week, the Los Angeles Dodgers have hit a bump in the road and are chasing the Giants again.Andrew McCutchen and Jordy Mercer homered to lead newcomer Ivan Nova and the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 5-1 victory Friday night that kept the Dodgers a game behind San Francisco.The Giants lost 5-2 to Baltimore.Los Angeles has dropped consecutive games, with an off day sandwiched in between. This time, the Dodgers failed to take advantage of their opportunities against Ivan Nova.Handed a three-run lead before he threw a pitch, Nova (2-0) has won both starts for the Pirates since they obtained him from New York at the Aug. 1 trade deadline. The right-hander scattered nine hits over 5 1/3 innings in his first outing against the Dodgers and improved to 9-6 overall this season.He didnt walk guys, made us put the ball in play, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. Those guys over there can really defend.I thought we had some good at bats against Nova, hit some balls hard, got some hits, hit some other balls that they made plays on. Defensively, they can track it down.Ross Stripling (3-4) went seven innings for the Dodgers, giving up six hits and five runs -- including two homers.Ross has had a great opportunity and really seized the moment, Roberts said. I think that now and going forward it has been a great learning process for Ross. I think his growth has been exponential.Ross threw really well tonight. He gave us seven innings and his pitch command was real good.Stripling (3-4) started in place of Rich Hill, on the disabled list with a middle finger blister on his pitching hand. After a rough first inning, Stripling retired 17 of 19 hitters but gave up five runs, including solo homers to McCutchen and Mercer.Those were probably the two worst pitches I made all night, Stripling said. They definitely punished me for them.Pittsburgh, which had lost eight of 10 road games, extended its recent dominance of the Dodgers. The Pirates have beaten Los Angeles in four of five games this year and improved their record to 14-4 against the Dodgers since the beginning of the 2014 season.Pittsburgh jumped on Stripling for four hits and three runs in the first. McCutchen and David Freese stroked RBI singles, and Mercers RBI fielders choice made it 3-0.I think I threw the ball really well, Stripling said. The first inning was obviously frustrating, when really one ball makes it to the outfield and you give up three runs. I was able to kind of calm down and bounce back from that.Howie Kendricks two-out RBI single in the second cut the lead to 3-1. Kendrick finished with three hits.McCutchen continued his torrid hitting at Dodger Stadium with a third-inning solo shot, his 16th homer of the season. In his last seven games at Dodger Stadium, the slugger is 8 for 16 with four doubles and two home runs.I love Dodger Stadium and LA. Its Paradise, and the weather is always great, McCutchen said. When we come out here, I seem to get more down time and Im more relaxed.McCutchen also made an outstanding, over-the-shoulder catch near the warning track in left-center in the second inning to take an extra-base hit away from Yasmani Grandal.Los Angeles outfielder Josh Reddick robbed Josh Harrison of a home run when he reached over the low right-field wall to make a grab.Nova twice struck out Stripling to end a rally. Antonio Bastardo got the final two outs in the sixth before Felipe Rivero, Neftali Feliz, Juan Nicasio and Tony Watson followed and shut down the Dodgers.Watson came on with runners at the corners and retired Corey Seager for his fifth save.It was just one of those games where nothing went our way, Roberts said. I dont think it is an indication of where we are at, scoring one run tonight.TRAINERS ROOMDodgers LHP Clayton Kershaw, on the 60-day DL with a mild disk herniation, is scheduled to play catch Saturday. No target date has been set for his return. ... RHP Joe Blanton was reinstated from the bereavement list, and the Dodgers optioned LHP Luis Avilan to Triple-A Oklahoma City. ... The Dodgers plan to activate LHP Brett Anderson (herniated disk surgery) off the DL to start Sundays series finale.HOCKEY NIGHT AT CHAVEZ RAVINELos Angeles Kings players Kyle Clifford, Trevor Lewis, Brayden McNabb and Tyler Toffoli threw out the ceremonial first pitches.UP NEXTPirates: RHP Gerrit Cole (7-7) pitches Saturday. His last time out, Cole gave up four hits and four runs in 5 2/3 innings and lost 7-3 to the Reds. He is 3-0 against the Dodgers in four career starts.Dodgers: RHP Brandon McCarthy (2-2) felt healthy during workouts this week and is expected to pitch Saturday. In his last outing, McCarthy went 3 2/3 innings, gave up two runs and walked five against Boston. Cheap NFL Jerseys . Robredo, ranked No. 16, bounced back from an upset loss to Leonardo Mayer in the second round of the Royal Guard Open in Chile last week to down Carreno Busta in 1 hour, 25 minutes. On a day filled mostly with qualifying matches, fifth-seeded Marcel Granollers of Spain also entered the second with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 win over Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia, while Guido Pella of Argentina defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 7-6 (6), 6-4 to advance. Stitched NFL Jerseys . But Bourque, who has missed three games with a lower-body injury, wont be in the lineup when the Habs travel to Buffalo to take on the Sabres on Wednesday. http://www.cheapjerseysforwholesalestore.com/ . The formidable trio of Canadian receivers -- individually known as Chris Getzlaf, Rob Bagg and Andy Fantuz -- will share the field at Mosaic Stadium one more time on Sunday. Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys . The 29-year-old from Port Colborne, Ont., has nothing but good things to say about former U.S. marine Liz (Girlrilla) Carmouche ahead of their co-main event Wednesday on the UFCs "Fight for the Troops" televised card in Fort Campbell, Ky. Wholesale China Jerseys . Defencemen Drew Doughty, Shea Weber and forward Ryan Getzlaf also scored for the Canadians, who started their gold-medal defence 2-0. Goalie Roberto Luongo, getting the call in place of Game 1 starter Carey Price, was solid when needed in making 23 saves for the shutout. PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas -- Louisville added a late-night wrinkle to its defense, ran out to a big lead and hung on to earn a trip to the Battle 4 Atlantis championship game.Donovan Mitchell made two 3-pointers in the final 4 1/2 minutes and scored 14 points to help No. 10 Louisville beat Wichita State 62-52 on Thursday.Quentin Snider also scored 14 points for the Cardinals (5-0). They locked down defensively in the first half, then turned away the Shockers second-half comeback.Playing on a short turnaround after Wednesdays overtime victory over Old Dominion, Louisville showed some match-up zone in the first half for a different look against an offense that had was averaging 91 points. Coach Rick Pitino said his staff had about 55 minutes to teach it to this seasons group.The thing I like about our team right now is they are flexible, Pitino said.Wichita State shot just 27 percent (7 of 26) and managed 17 first-half points, allowing Louisville to take charge and play from in front all afternoon.We just wanted to confuse them as much as possible, Mitchell said, and we did that very well.Trailing 33-17 at the half and by 16 with about 14 minutes left, Wichita State (5-1) hit three straight 3-pointers to get back in it and twice got within six. But the Cardinals repeatedly came up with timely offensive rebounds or baskets to keep control.Wichita State shot just 32 percent for the game, while Louisville -- which shot 37 percent -- helped itself by making 17 of 23 free throws and taking a 46-33 rebounding advantage.We saw a different defense than what weve been seeing, a very good matchup zone, Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall said. And we didnt attack it very well. We didnt get the ball inside enough.Markis McDuffie and Shaquille Morris each scored 10 points for the Shockers.BIG PICTURELouisville: Pitino was concerned about the roughly 14-hour turnaround between the Cardinals opener in Atlantis and Thursdays second-round game. But the Cardinals handled it just fine, frustrating the high-scoring Shockers defensively and controlling the glass as Wichita State tried to rally.Wichita State: The high-scoring offense went cold for the fiirst time this year.dddddddddddd The Shockers had shot 51 percent through the first five games but struggled to knock down their looks against Louisvilles defense.They certainly took it to us in the first half, Marshall said. We faced our first adversity of the year in a regular-season game and it didnt go so well.POLL IMPLICATIONSLouisvilles win against a team with five straight NCAA Tournament trips certainly wont hurt its standing in the AP Top 25 , and the Cardinals could rise by completing an Atlantis title run.As for Wichita State, the Shockers are among teams receiving votes and could make a case to sneak in if they can bounce back with a win in the third-place game against a ranked foe.MITCHELLS SHOOTINGMitchell scored all 15 of his points Wednesday after halftime against Old Dominion, then came up with the two big 3s Thursday to keep Louisville in control: one from the right corner at the 4:10 mark and one from the left at 3:17.Still, Pitino keeps playfully needling the sophomore about his shot selection. After the ODU game, he said Mitchell treated the first half like a game of H-O-R-S-E by trying to take the toughest shot possible. And Thursday?Hes not showing his shooting yet but hes a great shooter, Pitino said after Mitchell made 5 of 13 shots. Id like him to just back off a few of the Kobe moves and stepbacks and just play.STAT STUFFERSLouisville had six players pull down at least seven rebounds, including Mitchell (eight) and Snider (four) from the backcourt. In addition, 7-foot reserve Anas Mahmoud had season-highs of five points and five rebounds to go with a career-best six blocks.UP NEXTLouisville: The Cardinals advanced to Fridays championship game to face No. 20 Baylor, which beat No. 24 Michigan State in Thursdays first game.Wichita State: The Shockers will face No. 24 Michigan State in Fridays third-place game.---Follow Aaron Beard on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/aaronbeardap---More AP college basketball at http://collegebasketball.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-Top25 Cheap Adidas Hockey Jerseys Wholesale College Jerseys Cheap Nike Basketball Jerseys Cheap Football Jerseys Free Shipping Cheap Baseball Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping Cheap Jerseys From China Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Nike NBA Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Authentic Cheap MLB Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Soccer Jerseys China Cheap NCAA Jerseys China Stitched NFL Jerseys Cheap Custom Jerseys China Cheap Basketball Jerseys Authentic NFL Jerseys China Cheap College Jerseys Wholesale Football Jerseys ' ' '