Dodgers in a Real Fix, for Starters

Kazuhisa Ishii suffered a fractured skull Sept. 1, and Dodger Manager Jim Tracy turned to Kevin Brown. Brown went down with a season-ending back injury Monday, and Tracy turned to Kevin Beirne.

Now Omar Daal and Andy Ashby are mired in horrendous pitching slumps, and who will Tracy turn to next? Giovanni Carrara? Guillermo Mota? Robert Ellis? Victor Alvarez? The options are dwindling, and so are the Dodgers’ playoff hopes because of their patchwork rotation.

Daal put the Dodgers in an early four-run hole Tuesday night, and the San Francisco Giants held on for a 6-4 victory before 40,161 in Dodger Stadium to take a one-game lead over the Dodgers in the National League wild-card standings with 11 games remaining.

Barry Bonds, taking advantage of a rare opportunity to swing the bat, keyed a four-run second inning with a two-run double, and catcher Benito Santiago had a pair of RBI singles and a double, as the Giants evened a critical four-game series, one game apiece.

The Giants gained some breathing room in the top of the ninth with a run against Eric Gagne, and San Francisco closer Robb Nen retired the side in order in the bottom of the ninth for his 39th save.

“The way our bullpen has been going, you’d like to think we could get more quality starts like [Hideo] Nomo gave us Monday,� Tracy said. “But tonight ... we didn’t pitch well at any time to any hitter in the first 1 2/3 innings of the game. This is not the way the Dodgers have had success this year. We don’t crawl out of many big holes early.�

Starting pitching was the strength of the team for more than four months, but the Dodger rotation has combined for a 3-7 record and 7.14 earned-run average in the last 11 games, an 8.31 ERA if you take away Nomo’s two starts.

Daal (11-9) went 4-0 with a 1.87 ERA during an eight-start stretch from July 20-Aug. 31, but the left-hander has been shredded for 14 runs and 21 hits in 10 innings of his last three starts, all losses, and he didn’t make it out of the second Tuesday night, giving up five runs on five hits in 1 2/3 innings.

Starting pitching isn’t the Dodgers’ only concern. Gagne, who entered with a one-run deficit in the ninth and gave up a run, has thrown 69 pitches in the last three games, which could affect his availability for the final two games of the series.

“We were only trailing by a run, we knew Robb Nen was coming into the game, and we knew we could ill afford to give up another run,� Tracy said of his decision to go to Gagne. “He’s only had a couple days worth of work.... He’ll be ready [tonight].�

The Dodgers nearly overcame their pitching problems. Paul Lo Duca tagged from third on Shawn Green’s first-inning pop to deep second base, scoring when a stunned Jeff Kent hesitated before throwing high to the plate, to tie the game, 1-1.

After San Francisco’s four-run second, Cesar Izturis’ RBI single in the bottom of the second made it 5-2. Marquis Grissom’s solo homer in the fifth, his 16th of the season, made it 5-3, and a punishing hit by Brian Jordan broke up a double play to give the Dodgers another run in the sixth.

Lo Duca made a spectacular play in the top of the seventh, sprinting toward the third-base dugout for pinch-hitter Ryan Minor’s foul pop, sliding before the top step to make the catch and landing feet-first on the sunken floor of the Dodger dugout.

Lo Duca then came to bat with two outs and two on in the bottom of the seventh, but he swung at reliever Felix Rodriguez’s first pitch and tapped weakly to second, ending the threat.

Relief pitching was a bright spot: Carrara replaced Daal in the second and blanked the Giants over 3 1/3 innings, Mota added two scoreless innings, and Paul Quantrill threw a scoreless eighth to keep the Dodgers close.

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WALKING MAN

When it comes to Barry Bonds, it’s usually better not to take any chances. Bonds broke his single-season record for walks Monday; he had already obliterated the record for intentional bases on balls.

The most intentional walks in a season since 1955, when records were first kept:

*--* 1. Barry Bonds 2002 62 2. Willie McCovey 1969 45 3. Bonds 1993 43 4. McCovey 1970 40 5. Sammy Sosa 2001 37

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The most walks in a season:

*--* 1. Barry Bonds 2002 182 2. Bonds 2001 177 3. Babe Ruth 1923 170 4. Mark McGwire 1998 162 4. Ted Williams 1947 162 4. Williams 1949 162

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