Park Leaves Dodgers Stuck Again

ST. LOUIS — His distracting contract negotiations have ended for now, his teammates have provided consistent run support and he says he feels fine.

So what’s wrong with pitcher Chan Ho Park?

The Dodgers were left pondering that question again Saturday night after Park faltered in an 8-5 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium.

Park couldn’t preserve a lead of at least three runs for the second time in as many starts, getting chased in the sixth inning as the Cardinals scored four runs to take the lead for good.

The Dodgers (20-16) wasted an opportunity to move into first place in the National League West, losing the second game of the three-game series before a sellout crowd of 48,308. Trailing, 1-0, in the fourth, the Dodgers gave Park the lead by scoring twice on a run-scoring single by Mark Grudzielanek and an error by St. Louis catcher Eli Marrero.

Gary Sheffield gave the Dodgers a 3-1 lead with a run-scoring double in the fifth, and Adrian Beltre’s run-scoring single pushed their advantage to 4-1 an inning later. But the Dodgers’ fun ended in Park’s poor sixth.

Manager Davey Johnson takes losing badly--but Park’s perplexing performance troubled him most of all.

“Chan Ho was really throwing the ball well [through the fifth], I was impressed with how he took charge of the game,” Johnson said. “He had a good curveball, a good fastball and good location.

“Then he came out there in the sixth and he didn’t really go after them after dominating them. He went curve and changeup [to the first batter, Ray Lankford], soft and soft. I mean, here’s a guy who throws 95 [mph].

“He didn’t throw the ball [hard] and he got himself into trouble. That was the surprising thing to me.”

To Park as well.

“It’s hard to figure out what’s going on,” said Park, who squandered a four-run lead beginning the sixth inning last Sunday in a 6-4 loss to the Florida Marlins. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s just a hard month.”

Park (3-3) appeared strong through five innings, facing the Cardinals in the sixth with a three-run lead. Then, once again, he lost it.

St. Louis opened the inning with three straight singles, cutting the lead to 4-2 on Eric Davis’ hit. With one out, pinch hitter J.D. Drew doubled down the right-field line, driving in two to tie the score, 4-4.

Johnson had seen enough after Park went to a 2-and-0 count against pinch-hitter Shawon Dunston, turning to rookie right-hander Jamie Arnold. Using the inexperienced Arnold in that situation wouldn’t typically be Johnson’s first choice, but Arnold was his best option Friday because Antonio Osuna has an elbow injury and has been shaky recently.

Not surprisingly, Arnold didn’t fare well. Dunston smacked his first pitch to right, singling to drive in Jose Jimenez, who was running for Drew, from second with the go-ahead run.

Jimenez, the rookie pitcher who lost the series opener Thursday, was running for Drew because the outfielder is suffering from a strained left quadriceps muscle. Jimenez scored the final run charged to Park, completing another difficult outing for the Dodgers’ No. 2 starter.

Park pitched only 5 1/3 innings, marking the fourth time he has failed to complete at least six innings in eight starts this season. Park gave up seven hits and was charged with five runs, increasing his earned-run average from 4.91 to 5.32.

He struck out eight and walked two while throwing 96 pitches, including 58 for strikes. Park has 46 strikeouts in 45 2/3 innings this season.