Workload could be tiring Proctor

NEW YORK -- When the Dodgers acquired Scott Proctor at the trade deadline last month, they knew they were getting a pitcher who had thrown more innings in the last 1 1/2 seasons than any reliever in baseball. And now, after three poor performances in his last six outings, there has been speculation that the heavy workload may have left Proctor hurting, or at least fatigued.

“Am I taking the ball every day?” Proctor asked in response to a question about his health. “Then I’m fine. When I’m not taking the ball every day, then you know something’s wrong.”

Friday’s appearance -- in which he gave up two runs, three hits and a balk in one inning -- was the 13th this month for Proctor, one more than he made in June or July and equal to the number of games he pitched in May. But he has given up two runs in four of his last eight appearances, leaving him with a 5.28 earned-run average for August, his highest of the season.

“Overall he’s been pretty good,” said Manager Grady Little, who dismissed talk of an injury. “[Friday] I think I saw the best fastball I’ve seen since he’s been with us. He wants the ball every day. [And] we want him out there.”

Sunday’s Little League World Series final, which matched teams from Warner Robins, Ga., and Tokyo, was followed closely in the Dodgers’ clubhouse. Among the most interested viewers were relievers Takashi Saito, who played Little League baseball 190 miles from Tokyo, and Jonathan Broxton, who lives about a 90-minute drive from Warner Robins.

“Of course I’m proud for them,” Saito, speaking through interpreter Scott Akasaki, said of the Japanese team, which lost a heartbreaker when Dalton Carriker hit a walk-off homer in the eighth inning to give Georgia its second consecutive Little League title. “Little League in Japan, the teams have usually been strong. . . from maybe about the time I was born. So them being in the championship game is really not surprising.”

As for his own Little League career, Saito said his team from Sendai lost its last game to the eventual Japanese champions. At the time Saito was a weak-hitting third baseman who, he said, was “pretty proficient at blooping hits to right field.”

Asked if the two pitchers had wagered on the game, Broxton shook his head -- but he smiled wryly as he did.

“It’s illegal to bet on sporting events,” Saito added with a smile of his own. “This is not Las Vegas.”

After Saturday’s game, Nomar Garciaparra caught a short flight to Oneonta, in upstate New York, for Sunday’s ceremony inducting wife Mia Hamm into the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

“It was amazing,” said Garciaparra, who would have missed the event had ESPN not forced the Mets to move the start of Sunday’s game back seven hours to accommodate national television. “I was glad I could make it. I know she was glad I could make it.”

Garciaparra, who is on the disabled list because of a left calf strain, is eligible to be activated before the weekend. He has resumed most baseball activities but has yet to test his calf by running.

Juan Pierre had a triple and a single in five at-bats Sunday, driving in two runs and scoring one while extending his hitting streak to 14 games, equaling his season high. Pierre also stole his 51st base of the season. . . . Derek Lowe, tonight’s starter, did not stay for Sunday’s night game, flying home a day early to get a full night’s rest.

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kevin.baxter@latimes.com