LOS ANGELES — For the Los Angeles Dodgers, taking the wild card has become a more realistic goal than winning the NL West.

        “I think our focus right now has shifted toward the wild card, just because we're pretty far behind Arizona,” said Shawn Green, whose homer and three RBIs helped the Dodgers beat Pittsburgh 4-0 Wednesday night and snap Andy Ashby's string of seven winless starts.

        “We've got to start with the smaller piece and work toward that. But a couple of weeks down the road, if we all of a sudden find ourselves within a few games of them, then our focus will change. And then, who knows what can happen?”

        Brian Jordan hit a tiebreaking RBI double in the fifth, helping the Dodgers win for only the third time in their last 13 home games and remain within a half-game of San Francisco for the wild card berth. Los Angeles trails the Arizona Diamondbacks by seven games in the NL West.

        Ashby (8-9) combined with three relievers on the Dodgers' NL-leading 11th shutout. The two-time All-Star allowed five hits over 7 1-3 innings, struck out seven and walked two to win for the first time since June 23 against Boston.

        “It's been a while, but it feels great,” Ashby said. “I'm not going to get too overly confident, but it feels a lot better. I slowed down a little bit and stopped thinking. There was a stretch where I was thinking too much and trying to be too mechanical. But right now, it's going OK.”

        Ashby extended his scoreless streak to 19 1-3 innings, the longest by a Dodgers starter this season. He has given up only two earned runs in 20 1-3 innings over his last three outings, and has held the Pirates to two earned runs over 22 1-3 innings in his last three starts against them.

        “Ashby had exceptional movement on his fastball,” Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon said. “He's a veteran and he kept our guys off-stride.”

        Jack Wilson chased Ashby with a one-out single in the eighth before Jesse Orosco came in and walked Brian Giles. Paul Quantrill retired Aramis Ramirez on a groundout that advanced both runners into scoring position, and Eric Gagne got Armando Rios on a grounder to second.

        Gagne got three outs in the ninth to earn his 37th save in 39 attempts. He has converted all 19 opportunities at home.

        Brian Meadows, who had a 7.16 ERA in his previous six career starts against the Dodgers, matched zeros with Ashby through the first four innings with help from double-play grounders by Paul Lo Duca and Jordan.

        But Adrian Beltre singled with one out in the fifth for his second hit, and Jordan followed with a his RBI double between Ramirez and third base.

        Meadows (0-2) allowed two runs and five hits in 6 1-3 innings, including Green's 31st homer leading off the seventh.

        “I feel like I've been hitting the ball well, but I've been finding a lot of leather,” Green said. “So I try to hit it out of the park so that no one can catch it.”

        The Pirates have been shut out 12 times this season, including both of Meadows' starts. But he had no complaints.

        “I'll take six innings and two runs every time,” Meadows said. “My job is to go out and go as long as I can and keep us in the game. My luck has been kind of bad, and I just have to wait to break out of it. It's just a matter of time.”

        Three of the Dodgers' hits off Meadows were by Beltre, who is 10-for-14 lifetime against him. Green ended the scoring with a two-run single in the eight against Joe Beimel.
       

        Notes: Wilson, who was born about 40 miles from Dodger Stadium in Westlake Village, was hitless in 13 career at-bats at Chavez Ravine before his eighth-inning single. ... Giles doubled in the first for his NL-leading 60th extra-base hit. ... Dodgers CF Dave Roberts started his 17th consecutive game, eclipsing his previous longest streak, set in August 1999 with Cleveland. ... Ashby hadn't beaten an NL team since June 1, when he pitched eight innings of five-hit ball in a 2-0 victory over Arizona at Dodger Stadium.

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