For Starters, Dodgers Will Rely on Pitching

The Dodgers hope the rotation has emerged from a slump after Odalis Perez and Kazuhisa Ishii delivered consecutive quality starts in the last two games of a three-game series against the New York Mets.

Before those games, the starters had an 11.01 earned-run average in the six previous games, having given up 45 hits and 31 earned runs in 25 1/3 innings.

“We’ve been a little shaky,� Jose Lima said. “We’re probably thinking too much and trying to do too much, even myself.

“I tried to get 27 outs on one pitch in my last game because I’m trying to help this ballclub so much. It’s tough sometimes.�

Dodger starters have been solid overall.

Before Monday’s games, they ranked eighth in the major leagues with 52 victories and 11th with a 4.30 ERA. But do they have enough left to provide a finishing kick for the National League West leaders?

“If you take what you have seen for the rest of the year from all of them, they’ve been pretty solid,� General Manager Paul DePodesta said. “There isn’t one of those days where you say, ‘Oh, we can’t lose today.’ But there also isn’t one of those days where you say, ‘I hope we make it through this.’ Any one of those guys can beat anybody on any day.�

Despite the slump, the Dodgers are 4-3 on a four-city, 13-game, 14-day trip that resumes tonight against last-place Arizona. Kazuhisa Ishii has two of the victories on the trip and is 3-0 with a 3.70 ERA and three quality starts in his last four outings.

Jeff Weaver is scheduled to pitch against Randy Johnson in the opener. The Dodgers plan to activate Hideo Nomo from the disabled list Wednesday to make his first start since June 30, then Perez will finish the series. Weaver has been the Dodgers’ most consistent starter, and Manager Jim Tracy was optimistic about Nomo, whose velocity increased during a lengthy throwing program.

However, Nomo went 3-10 with an 8.06 ERA in his first 14 starts this season, including 0-9 with an 8.80 ERA in his previous 10. In his last outing in the majors, Nomo gave up seven hits -- three home runs among them -- and seven earned runs in 4 2/3 innings in a 7-1 loss to San Francisco on June 30.

“He could be quite a shot in the arm for us if, in fact, this guy is back to his old self,� Tracy said. “Not that we have to be lifted up much higher, from the standpoint of our concentration and our focus, but it helps when you have somebody who is as well respected as he is in this clubhouse.

“And it picks a lot of people up if this guy comes back and resembles his old self of ’02 and ’03. It makes a lot of people very happy.�

The return of Brad Penny also would please the Dodgers.

Penny is in the early stages of a throwing program while recovering from a nerve problem in his pitching arm, but there is no timetable for him to rejoin the rotation.

“We’re getting Nomo back and Penny might come back soon, and getting both of those guys back could be big,� infielder-outfielder Shawn Green said. “They’re both huge factors for us.�

The starters are confident of a strong finish.

“There’s definitely no lack of confidence,� Weaver said. “We’ve had a few bad outings, but everybody just believes we’ll go back out there the next time and we’ll get on a run, just like we’ve hit a bump.�