Turning a Deaf Ear to a Siren Call

The fire alarms going off in the Dodger Stadium press box about an hour before Sunday’s game signified nothing more serious than some toast burning in the kitchen. There weren’t any sounds of panic in the Dodger clubhouse after a 7-6 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, either.

You’d think there might be a loud A-WOOO-GAH coming from the speakers, what with a starting rotation that’s only one step away from seeking volunteers from the crowd and the San Francisco Giants refusing to disappear.

Nope. No horns, no sirens, no flashing lights. Not even on a day when the Giants trimmed the Dodgers’ lead in the National League West from six games to five.

“It’s better than four,” said outfielder Jayson Werth.

He’s pretty new around here, but he still understands. For the Dodgers, just to make it this far into September without a total meltdown qualifies as progress. They’ve felt all along that this year was different, so why should all of those past failures apply to them?

The Dodgers did win two out of three games from the Cardinals -- the team with the best record in the majors, the same club that swept them in St. Louis last weekend.

The Dodgers overcame a three-run deficit to win Saturday night, and rallied from four runs down to tie the score before dropping the decision Sunday.

“We did a good job this weekend of winning this series and we were very close to sweeping this series,” Manager Jim Tracy said.

Then again, the Dodgers needed every one of the 19 runs they scored just to have a shot at the sweep. What’s ominous for them is, they might have to keep scoring like that to maintain their winning ways, because they don’t know what to expect from their starting pitchers.

On the same weekend Kazuhisa Ishii was dropped from the rotation, Hideo Nomo couldn’t pass his first test against front-line competition since he returned to the Dodgers at the start of the month after rehabilitating his right shoulder in Las Vegas.

Nomo had pitched two encouraging starts against Arizona, allowing a manageable nine hits and five earned runs in 12 innings ... but that was against the Diamondbacks.

The Cardinals, who began the day with more hits and runs batted in than any other National League team, tagged Nomo for nine hits and six earned runs in 3 2/3 innings. Larry Walker, who gave the Dodgers a break when he forgot to step on second base Saturday night, took Nomo deep twice.

But Nomo will keep his spot because, as Tracy said, “What do you feel are the different alternatives?”

Edwin Jackson didn’t inspire much confidence when he walked two Cardinals and gave up the winning run during his two innings of work.

Brad Penny’s rehabilitation schedule would let him throw to batters on Tuesday at the earliest, but he isn’t close to coming off the disabled list.

So the Dodgers will continue to cross their fingers every night until Eric Gagne steps through the bullpen gate.

The thing is, they’re fine with this existence. That’s the way it has been for most of the season, and they’ve found a way to make it work. Even with the loss Sunday they’re 28-16 in games decided by one run, giving them both the most one-run games in the majors this year and the best winning percentage in those squeakers.

“We don’t give up,” said Steve Finley, the one positive they have to show from Paul DePodesta’s trade-deadline dealings. “We know we have a chance, no matter what inning it is, no matter who’s out there on the mound. We mount a rally and we believe in each other, and that’s been happening.”

With the way things keep going their way -- including the miscues that turned Saturday’s game in their favor -- Vin Scully has even evoked memories of that magical 1988 season on the air.

On Sunday I bumped into Tom Lasorda in the press box -- imagine that -- and ran the 1988 idea by him. He buys it.

“They keep coming back, they have a good spirit and the fans are with them,” said Lasorda, rattling off the comparisons.

That doesn’t mean this group is destined to win the World Series. If it can imitate the 1988 team by winning a single playoff game, that would be more than any Dodger team has done in the 16 years since then.

Let’s not get carried away by thinking this weekend series victory holds too much significance. The Cardinals played the last two games without Scott Rolen, who has a strained calf muscle. And with a 16-game lead in the NL Central they don’t have the same sense of urgency as the Dodgers. The Cardinals are still the class of the NL.

But the Dodgers are still the leaders in the West. They’ve made it this far, they’re in control, they aren’t worried.

“This is a part of a 162-game marathon,” Tracy said. “Beyond that, our focus is still directed on the fact of doing what we have to do to win the division.”

The Dodgers are five games ahead with 20 left to play.

In other words, they’re far from being toast.

J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adande@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Adande, go to latimes.com/Adande.