Dodgers score more than two runs! And it still isn't enough, as Giants hang on for 6-5 victory

The Dodgers, all tired of that Marvin Gaye routine -- it takes two / to make a dream come true -- actually managed to score five runs Friday.

The Dodgers had been acting like two runs was some kind of unofficial ceiling to their offense.

So the good news is they scraped together some runs Friday. Alas, the bonus runs still weren’t enough, the Dodgers losing again as the Giants came back behind Aubrey Huff and Tim Lincecum to drop the Dodgers, 6-5.

The Dodgers are averaging two runs per game in their 15 games since the All-Star break. And were stuck there again until scoring three late runs in the ninth.

This is not a pattern. It’s an official downward spiral. It’s offensive implosion.

With the victory, the Giants raised their record to 59-45 and pulled within 2 ½ games of the Padres in the National League West. With the loss, the Dodgers fell to 54-49 and remain seven games back of the Padres.

Things started well enough for the Dodgers, with Russell Martin collecting his first career hit off Lincecum to score Casey Blake in the second.

The Giants tied it in the bottom of the inning on a Juan Uribe solo home run.

Rafael Furcal did the same for the Dodgers to lead off the third, but then they blew a nice opportunity to expand their lead.

Andre Either singled and James Loney doubled him to third, still with no outs. Matt Kemp followed with a bouncer to Uribe at short, and for some reason Ethier broke for home. He was thrown out by 10 feet.

Lincecum hit Blake with a pitch for the second time, loading the bases, but Blake DeWitt struck out and Martin bounced out to first. The Dodgers’ offense had peaked.

The Giants regained the lead for good with a two-out rally against Carlos Monasterios in the bottom of the inning. Andres Torres singled and Freddy Sanchez did the same to center.

Only Kemp made a lazy throw to Furcal, the ball bouncing in the dirt and past Furcal for an error that allowed the runners to advance.

Huff then drilled a two-run double off the wall in center, and the Giants were back on top.

The Giants had scored one more than two, which is about all it takes to beat the Dodgers these days.

The Giants added two more anyway in the sixth, Huff scoring on a Pat Burrell double off Jeff Weaver. Pablo Sandoval doubled in yet another.

Huff added a solo homer in the seventh.

It looked like the Dodgers were going to end the night with only two runs yet again, but at least they showed some late fight.

They scored three times in the ninth. Scott Podsednik tripled in one run and then scored on a wild pitch. Kemp singled in a last run to pull the Dodgers within one, but Chris Ray got Blake to bounce out to earn his first save as a Giant.

Lincecum (11-4) went seven innings for the Giants, allowing his two runs on seven hits. He struck out nine.

-- Steve Dilbeck

Vicente Padilla gives Dodgers another strong start, but this time it's not enough as Mets win, 6-1

This time, strong starting pitching wasn’t enough for the Dodgers.

Vicente Padilla (pictured at right) gave them a third consecutive outstanding start, but was outpitched by the Mets’ Johan Santana. All that before the Dodgers bullpen imploded.

So the Dodgers' mini-winning streak was snapped at two, the Mets rolling on to a 6-1 victory Friday that returned the Dodgers to six games behind the San Diego Padres in the National League West.

There was little more that Padilla could have done. Save for one pitch to Ike Davis, he was just as masterful as starters Chad Billingsley and Hiroki Kuroda had been before him.

Padilla went seven innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on six hits. He struck out six and did not walk a batter. Fifty-five of his 77 pitchers were strikes. During one stretch, he retired 17 consecutive Mets.

Padilla (4-3) was simply continuing his recent string of strong outings. In his last six starts, he has a 1.30 earned-run average.

The Mets, however, got to him for an unearned run in the first.

Jose Reyes led off the game with a double. Luis Castillo was able to beat out a bunt for a single to put runners on the corners.

Padilla struck out Angel Pagan and David Wright, but on the latter Castillo took off for second. When catcher Russell Martin fired to second, Reyes broke for home.

Martin’s throw was on line and Pagan would have been out for an inning-ending double play … except Dodgers second baseman Blake DeWitt dropped the ball for an error.

There was nothing unearned about the Mets’ second run. Padilla tried to throw one of those slow, looping curveballs past Davis and the first baseman waited patiently and rocketed it into the left-field pavilion for his 14th home run.

With Mets outfielders making a series of outstanding catches, Santana had the game in control for New York.

Like Padilla, Santana (8-5) wasn’t messing around, consistently throwing strikes. He gave up one run on five hits in his seven innings. Of his 98 pitches, 74 were strikes.

The only run the Dodgers scratched together off Santana came in the fifth when Martin led off with a double, advanced to second on a DeWitt groundout and scored on Jamey Carroll’s flyout to shallow right.

After the starters called it a night with the Mets clinging to a 2-1 lead, New York broke the game open against the Dodgers' bullpen.

Manager Joe Torre utilized four different relievers, all of whom struggled. Jeff Weaver walked two and James McDonald allowed a sacrifice fly and an intentional walk.

New left-handed specialist Jack Taschner then looked a lot like the old left-handed specialist (George Sherrill), walking the left-handed Davis.

Travis Schlichting’s first pitch was then lined by Jason Bay for a bases-clearing double.

-- Steve Dilbeck

Photo credit: Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times

There's a lack of trust, and good reason for it, in the Dodgers bullpen

OK, boys and girls, today we momentarily take pause from the grieving for the lost St. Louis weekend to offer this brief quiz:

Joe Torre currently has seven relievers in his bullpen -- how many does he actually trust?

His bullpen boys are Jonathan Broxton, Hong-Chih Kuo, Jeff Weaver, Carlos Monasterios, Justin Miller, George Sherrill and Travis Schlichting.

Come on, how many?

OK, despite blowing Sunday’s game, Broxton is an obvious choice. Kuo has yet to allow a hit to a left-handed hitter, so he’s in. Weaver has been more reliable than not.

And that about ends that.

That’s right, we’re going with the correct answer: three.

Oh, the pain. A year ago, the best bullpen in baseball. Now, tilting toward disaster.
 
How could this be? Let us count the reasons, again sticking with three:

1) Ronald Belisario had visa problems because of a DUI arrest, showed up the last week of spring training, joined the team late and then posted a 7.20 ERA in his first 16 appearances.

Then he got it together and had a 1.31 ERA over his next 19 appearances, only to disappear and be placed on the restricted list. Turns out, he’s in a rehab facility, and I don’t mean the kind that helps sore shoulders.

2) Ramon Troncoso, a workhorse middle reliever last season who owned a 2.72 ERA in 73 games, started the season decently and then went into a serious downward spiral.

Unable to get him untracked, the Dodgers finally sent him and his 5.15 ERA to triple-A Albuquerque to work on his mechanics. In his first five games for the Isotopes, he is 0-2 with a 2.84 ERA.

3) And then there is the unexplained mystery of George Sherrill, who was nothing short of sensational last season for the Dodgers (0.65 ERA) and nothing even close to that this season (7.17 ERA).

Finally at a loss as to how to get Sherrill to rediscover his form, the Dodgers placed him on outright waivers. He could clear Monday and then be asked to take a trip to Albuquerque. He could refuse and become a free agent, but he has the rest of that $4.5-million contract to consider.

This is a trio of key, reliable relievers for the Dodgers last season. Now, they’re out of the equation.

In their stead are rookies Monasterios and Schlichting and the journeyman Miller. And the Dodgers don’t want to use Kuo, because of four elbow surgeries, on consecutive days.

It makes for a lot of unpredictable nights in the bullpen. And days like Sunday, when Kuo and Weaver had already pitched the day before and Torre did not want to go back to them.

So he pushes Broxton, and it blows up. The depth just isn’t there, and unless most of the disappointing trio return to form or outside help is brought in, there could be a lot more games like Sunday's.

Who would you trust in that bullpen?

-- Steve Dilbeck

Photo: Jonathan Broxton walks off the field after giving up a walk-off single to St. Louis Cardinals' Matt Holliday on Sunday. Credit: Jeff Roberson / Associated Press.

It's the wrong kind of second-half start as Dodgers find a different way to lose to Cardinals, falling 2-0

Showing unwanted versatility, the Dodgers went from getting pounded the last two games by the Cardinals, to simply being edged.

Alas, the results were the same.

This time they wasted an excellent start by Hiroki Kuroda, the Cardinals’ Adam Wainwright proving just a shade better, that shade holding up for a 2-0 St. Louis victory on Saturday.

The Dodgers have now opened the second half all wrong, losing three games to the Cardinals, a team in search of its swagger.

Kuroda had struggled in his last three starts (14 earned runs in 14 innings), but perhaps benefiting from the additional rest with the All-Star break, was sharp on a sweltering afternoon in St. Louis.

The right-hander went six innings, holding the Cards to four hits while striking out eight and walking one.

St. Louis had scored 15 runs against the Dodgers in the first two games of the series.

The Cardinals scratched together one run off Kuroda in the fourth when Skip Schumaker’s bouncer got past the glove of diving first baseman James Loney for a run-scoring double.

The Dodgers, meanwhile, could do little against Wainwright (14-5). The Dodgers had scoring chances in the second and sixth, but each time hit into a double play.

Wainwright threw six shut-out innings, to lower his earned-run average to 2.02. He allowed five hits, struck out three and walked one.

The Dodgers played without left fielder Manny Ramirez (calf) and catcher Russell Martin (thumb). Neither are expected to be placed on the disabled list.

The Cardinals added their second run in the eighth off reliever Jeff Weaver on a Brendan Ryan sacrifice fly.

Loney hobbled off the field after popping out for the second out in the ninth, apparently cramping in the heat and humidity.

-- Steve Dilbeck

Photo: Dodgers starting pitcher Hiroki Kuroda went six innings against St. Louis on Saturday. Credit: Jeff Roberson / Associated Press

Ronald Belisario and the Dodgers: The dilemma awaiting answers

What now, Ronald Belisario?

What now, Dodgers?

The Times' Dylan Hernandez and Bill Shaikin reported that the reason the right-hander left the team and was placed on the restricted list Wednesday was to receive treatment in a substance abuse program.

Certainly there is more to come on this story, but for now it seems a sad situation for the hard-throwing Belisario and a challenging one for the Dodgers.

No one is commenting. Players seem as in the dark over his situation as anyone. There is an almost odd mix of concern and mystery.

Because of his DUI arrest last summer, the assumption made by most will be that Belisario is seeking treatment for a drinking problem. Still, for now that is simply an assumption.

The Dodgers will now have to move forward knowing Belisario will be out for an unspecified time period.

Manager Joe Torre said Thursday that he's treating Belisario as if he's injured.

"He's on the DL as far as I'm concerned," he said.

But when a player goes on the disabled list, it's with a specific injury that carries with it an understood time frame as to when he's likely to return.

With Belisario it's all but unknown. There is nothing to really count on right now. The Dodgers almost have to operate under the assumption he may not come back this season at all.

At a time when Torre only has confidence in about three relievers in his bullpen -- Jonathan Broxton, Hong-Chih Kuo and Jeff Weaver -- Belisario's loss is a blow. It puts more pressure than ever on general manager Ned Colletti to find pitching help before the July 31 non-waiver trading deadline.

Meanwhile, Belisario -- who had not allowed a run in his last five appearances -- has a very different challenge. A troubling one that at age 27, he needs to master now.

Something transpired to bring Belisario to this point. Something serious enough to cause this unexpected development in the middle of the season.

Something that has to be addressed now, and hopefully, for good.

-- Steve Dilbeck

Dodgers: Ronald Belisario still out and no one knows when he'll return

Now for today’s Ronald Belisario update:

There is no update.

"I know nothing other than what I gave you [Wednesday]," said Dodgers Manager Joe Torre.

And he gave the media nothing Wednesday, saying he was not told the circumstances that led to the hard-throwing right-hander being placed on the restricted list.

One day later, still no news. Not from the organization, not from any media outlets and not from the players, who seemed as mystified as anyone.

Torre claimed he not only did not know the personal reasons that led to Belisario being placed on the restricted list, and but perhaps more importantly, he had no idea how long the right-hander would be out.

"I’m looking at it as an injury right now,’’ he said. "He’s on the DL as far as I’m concerned. I’m assuming that if and when the time comes that changes, somebody will let me know that.

"It gives us an opportunity to look at [Travis] Schlichting, who’s certainly intriguing. …  Something bad for somebody is something good for somebody else. Here’s a kid when I sent him out in spring training, he kind of caught me off guard saying he thought he could help this club. I thought it was one of those no-brainer, spring-training send-downs. He didn’t give me any static, he just voiced his opinion respectfully.

"And that was interesting. Every time he’s come up, he’s shown us pretty much what we knew was there. He hasn’t disappointed us up here. He’s been very, very interesting."

Schlichting is 1-0 with an 0.79 in five games with the Dodgers.

Torre said Jeff Weaver would be his swing reliever, going either early or late  in the game.

Meanwhile, Belisario remains out and without explanation.

-- Steve Dilbeck

Versatile Jeff Weaver has a role going with Dodgers

It’s Jeff Weaver situational pitcher, Jeff Weaver middle man, Jeff Weaver spot starter.

It’s Jeff Weaver, whatever you want him to be. Or at least whatever manager Joe Torre wants him to be. As in, a coach’s dream.

When the season started, it was clear the former starter would be used mostly as a situational guy. In his first 20 appearances, he pitched only 15 1/3 innings.

Lately, however, Weaver (5-1, 3.54 ERA) has begun to be stretched out. In his last nine games, he’s pitched 12 2/3 innings -- including 3 1/3 shut-out innings Monday  against the Marlins.

"I had a couple days off so I was probably the freshest to go out there and give a couple innings," Weaver said. "But I think we just try to fill in the blanks. Whatever’s needed, everybody’s prepared to throw situational or a couple of innings or whatever is needed. We have a lot of guys who have done a little  bit of everything this year."

Torre said Weaver’s long outing Monday was more out of need than that some design to return him to his starting roots.

"I am set against him [starting] right now," Torre said. "I don’t think there’s anybody whose place he should take at this point. I mean, [John] Ely certainly had a horrible start [Monday] night but he’s given us a whole lot more good than bad.

"And the fact that Weaver likes what he’s doing. He really likes coming out of the bullpen. And I think he’s done a lot for the bullpen guys just sitting down there with them, preparing them for coming into the game."

Weaver, 33, was a starter throughout most of his nine-year career until being converted to a reliever last season by the Dodgers. He made seven spot starts, but this season seems to be growing into his role as a reliever.

"It’s a different challenge," he said. "It keeps me on my toes. It’s still really new to me. I’m still trying to make adjustments on the fly.

"It’s a different rush, a different adrenalin rush when the [bullpen] phone rings and you’re up trying to get ready as quick as possible. I think I’m having fun dealing with those challenges."

Weaver’s versatility and willingness to play whatever role Torre needs has endeared him to the manager.

"You’ve heard so often where these guys, 'I don’t know my role. I want to know my role,’ " Torre said. "You pick up the phone and call his name, like the third inning or the eighth inning, he’s just out there sitting, waiting for you to tell him what to do. That to me is a good role model for the other guys around.

"When he came onboard here last year, he wanted to relieve. We did start him a couple of times last year, and he did it because we asked him to. But he seems to be much more comfortable here in this role."

-- Steve Dilbeck

Dodgers, Hiroki Kuroda make Kirk Gibson an easy winner in his managerial debut with 12-5 victory

Kirk Gibson, greatest manager in the history of the universe.

Hiroki Kuroda, suddenly struggling starting pitcher?

For one night, all things were possible, although Kuroda suddenly doing his Ramon Ortiz imitation might have had a little something to do with Gibson looking like a genius in his managerial debut.

Certainly, Kuroda was not anywhere near his usual game in Friday’s 12-5 loss to the Diamondbacks in Phoenix.

Unless you count giving up six earned runs in less than two innings to be typical Kuroda.

The right-hander couldn’t get out of the second inning, getting pounded with eight hits and allowing two walks.

The only thing that makes it a slight concern, is this was Kuroda’s second consecutive poor outing. He also struggled in his last start against the Yankees, and in his last two starts he has a 12.86 ERA and has allowed 15 hits in seven innings.

After sweeping the Giants, the Dodgers had every right to believe they’d come to Phoenix and continue their newfound winning ways. They were 5-1 against last-place Arizona coming into Friday.

The Diamondbacks organization was so fed up with losing that on Thursday both manager A.J. Hinch and General Manager Josh Byrnes were fired. That’s always a confusing double play. Was the trouble the bad players the GM provided or the poor performance the manager got out of them?

Gibson, the legendary hero who gave the 1988 World Series champion Dodgers their signature moment with his ninth-inning, pinch-hit home run in Game 1, had been Arizona’s bench coach before being named interim manager.

The Diamondbacks responded quickly Friday, scoring three runs in each of the first two innings to chase Kuroda (7-6).

Jeff Weaver followed and gave up another three runs in third.

The Dodgers showed some life against eight-walks, no-hit Edwin Jackson. They scored four runs off Jackson, two on a Blake DeWitt base hit in the second, one in the third on a James Loney single, and one more in the fifth on another Loney single.

Jackson had thrown 149 pitches in his no-hitter against Tampa Bay in his last start, so after five innings Friday, Gibson went to his bullpen to hold the lead.

Which normally would be like trying to hold nitroglycerin on a roller coaster.

The bullpen had already blown eight leads inherited from starters, but that was way back before Gibson was the manager.

Four relievers held the Dodgers to one additional run, Chris Young added a three-run homer in the seventh to finish with five RBI, and Gibson was a perfect 1-0 as a manager.

-- Steve Dilbeck

Dodgers return to National League West, drop Giants, 4-2, on Casey Blake two-run homer

Meanwhile, back in the National League West, all was just rosy.The crushing loss to the Yankees the night before just so much yesterday’s news, the Dodgers returned to their own league Monday, and better yet, their own division.

They beat the San Francisco Giants, 4-2, when Casey Blake hit a two-run, eighth-inning home run off reliever Santiago Casilla.

The Dodgers limped into the Bay Area having lost eight of their last 10. With their loss to the Yankees on Sunday, they had dropped 11 of their last 13 interleague games.

Ah, but in the NL West, bullets bounce off their chests, roses are thrown at their feet.

Monday’s victory leaves the Dodgers 19-5 in their own division. Against everyone else, they’re 21-30.

It didn’t hurt the Dodgers' cause that the Giants are a struggling team right now. They’ve lost five of their last six. And then Monday hit into five double plays. The five double plays tied a Dodger record.

Chad Billingsley got the Dodgers going. Billingsley, making his first start since June 11 after going on the disabled list with a sore groin, pitched about as well as the Dodgers could have hoped.

He held the Giants to two runs on five hits in six innings. He walked two and struck out three, throwing 98 pitches.

The Giants opened the scoring with one run in the first. Andres Torres walked, stole second and scored on an Aubrey Huff single.

The Dodgers took the lead with a pair of runs off Barry Zito in the third.

Rafael Furcal doubled and was singled to third by Reed Johnson. Andre Ethier’s fly to left was deep enough to sacrifice Furcal home. Manny Ramirez then lined a hit to center that Torres dived awkwardly for and missed, the drive going for a run-scoring double.

Billingsley carried the 2-1 lead into the sixth before pinch-hitter Travis Ishikawa doubled down the left-field line and scored on Freddy Sanchez's single.

With Jonathan Broxton unavailable after his 48-pitch outing Sunday, Torre got a scoreless inning each from Jeff Weaver and Ronald Belisario, before Hong-Chin Kuo pitched the ninth to earn his second save of the season.

For Blake, it was his eighth home run of the season.

-- Steve Dilbeck

Photo: Dodgers third baseman Casey Blake is congratulated by teammate A.J. Ellis after hitting a two-run home run in the eighth inning of the Dodgers' 4-2 victory over the Giants on Monday. Credit: Jed Jacobsohn / Getty Images

This time bullpen stumbles as Dodgers lose sixth consecutive interleague game, 5-4

Not the bullpen. Not that one reliable aspect to the 2010 Dodgers.

Yes, well, reliable but not perfect. Not Saturday afternoon in Fenway Park.

On a day when Manny Ramirez homered, Vicente Padilla made an encouraging return to the rotation and the Red Sox committed four errors, a 4-4 game in the bottom of the ninth ended when Dustin Pedroia singled in the winning run off Jonathan Broxton.

He was the only batter Broxton faced.

The 5-4 loss to the Red Sox means the Dodgers have now dropped six consecutive interleague games.

Jeff Weaver and Hong-Chih Kuo did their part after taking over for Padilla, but Ronald Belisario gave up a single and a walk in the ninth.

Then with two outs the call went to Broxton, who hadn’t pitched six days. He got ahead of Pedroia 1-2 in the count, but then oddly left a fastball over the plate that was lined over first baseman James Loney to drive in the winning run.

Padilla made his first start since April 22, when he took his 6.65 ERA to the disabled list with an inflamed radial nerve in his right elbow.

For someone who had not pitched in almost two months, the Dodgers had to be satisfied with his start. He may not have been brilliant, but he threw hard and mostly had solid command.

He went 5 1/3 innings, allowing four runs on five hits and one walk. He struck out four. He was hurt by the long ball, giving up a two-run homer to Victor Martinez in the fourth and a solo shot to Kevin Youkilis in the sixth.

Manny hit his solo homer off Tim Wakefield in the sixth, but the Dodgers continued to sputter offensively, managing just six hits.

-- Steve Dilbeck