Dodgers manage just six hits in loss
07/20/2006PHOENIX -- There was nothing amusing on the Dodgers' side of an 8-0 loss to the Diamondbacks on Wednesday night, other than the timing of Arizona manager Bob Melvin.
The Dodgers hadn't moved a runner as far as second base in the fifth inning when he had plate umpire Randy Marsh check the bat of shortstop Rafael Furcal (who struck out three innings earlier) for a discoloration he suspected was pine tar high on the barrel.
"We're not even hitting and they check the bats," said Furcal. "Unbelievable."
You'd think changing anything about the Dodgers' offense in this game would be the last thing Melvin would want. The Dodgers were shut out for the second time in a week, fifth time this year and never had a runner reach third base.
And they slipped all the way into fourth place in the division with their sixth loss in the seven games since the All-Star break. It was the second time this season they lost to Miguel Batista, who threw his fourth career complete game, second against the Dodgers.
What does Dodgers manager Grady Little think about his offense?
"I try to always be at the point if I couldn't say anything good, I wouldn't say anything, so tonight I'm not going to talk about it," he said. "I couldn't hit when I played. What am I going to do?"
Little later conceded that he's "concerned" about the lack of production.
"Collectively, we've gone into a little tailspin and it's lasted the entire trip," he said. "But I feel with the players we have we can get it going again. It just needs to happen."
One day after Jeff Kent was placed on the disabled list and still short-handed with third baseman Cesar Izturis home after the birth of his daughter, the Dodgers also were without rookie catcher Russell Martin.
Martin, hit on the right wrist by a Juan Cruz fastball the night before, was concerned enough about the soreness and swelling that he had X-rays taken. They were negative, but he said the limited range of motion might keep him out of Thursday night's trip finale, when the assignment gets even tougher for the Dodgers, because the Diamondbacks throw an All-Star in 10-game winner Brandon Webb.
Not that the opposing pitcher really matters when you're averaging fewer than two runs a game against every pitcher you've faced on the trip.
"We've gotten to the point where we don't need to expend a lot of energy seeing how the other team is doing," said Little. "We've got to look in the mirror and reach down and go get him."
Although umpire Angel Hernandez again got under the Dodgers' skin by calling a balk on reliever Joe Beimel that scored a run, compounding the prolonged offensive malaise was the continuation of starting pitcher Derek Lowe's slump.
He lost for the fourth time in his past five starts, during which he has missed very few bats (49 hits in 24 1/3 innings). His ERA during the stretch is 9.99.
Lowe (7-7) got through the first three innings clean, but the wheels came off in the fourth when Arizona scored four runs, two on a two-run, 443-foot blast to center by former Dodger Shawn Green (.459 average against L.A. this year). Four more Diamondbacks reached base in the fifth when Lowe's cornerman, Little, stopped the beating at the 4 1/3-inning mark, his shortest of the season.
"Those type of starts obviously are not going to get it done," said Lowe. "This is not a trial-and-error session. My job is to pitch deep into games and I haven't done it in a month."
Lowe scoffed at the suggestion that the three effective innings were a positive to build on.
"Yeah, if you're a rookie," said the nine-year veteran. "There comes a point in time where I have to make better pitches. Now it seems like when I make them, they get hit. And when I make mistakes, it's punishing, an extra-base hit or a home run. It's not for lack of effort or concentration. It comes down to execution. I'm beyond frustration. The results are horrible."
Lowe repeated the theory that pitch selection is part of his problem. He said he abandoned the curveball against Arizona and succeeded with the sinker early, but felt he had to change the pitch selection the next time through the lineup, which is exactly when the Diamondbacks awoke. He's clearly not trusting his stuff.
"Right now, I'm fighting when to throw the breaking ball," he said.
Little praised Lowe's stuff, but said he mislocated pitches. Arizona outfielder Luis Gonzalez, however, said Lowe's sinker flattened out after the second inning.
Source: http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/
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