No Funny Business: Rockies Just Win : Baseball: Rookie Estes starts key game for Giants and Bichette sparks Colorado’s 6-1 victory.

Shawn Estes? In his second major league start?

Is this what Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda feared when he recently said he could only hope that the San Francisco Giants, basically out of the race, would produce their best effort in eight games with the Colorado Rockies?

Estes, a 22-year-old left-hander who started the year in Class A, went to the mound at Candlestick Park on Friday night and gave up five runs in five innings as the Rockies went on to a 6-1 victory that enabled them to remain 1 1/2 games ahead of the Dodgers in the National League West.

It was a night on which the Lasorda comments resurfaced as an underlying issue in this series. Both Giant Manager Dusty Baker and the Rockies’ Don Baylor expressed displeasure with the comments, believing Lasorda was really saying Baker might not play it to the hilt because of his long friendship with Baylor.

It really had nothing to do with Estes, who would have had to pitch a shutout to beat the Rockies as Kevin Ritz, Roger Bailey and Curtis Leskanic combined on a two-hitter.

Ritz (11-10), who beat the San Diego Padres, 5-1, Monday night, was coming back on three days’ rest so he can pitch Wednesday’s series finale against the Dodgers in Los Angeles. He worked six strong innings against the Giants, yielding only a double to Matt Williams in the second and Glenallen Hill’s 24th homer in the fifth, walking two and striking out five.

Bailey and Leskanic retired the final nine Giants in order.

Estes was no match for the scorching Dante Bichette, who has 23 hits in the last 11 games and a .364 average over the last 70. Now batting .346, Bichette had three hits and drove in three runs--improving his league-leading RBI total to 122. He had a run-scoring single in the third and slugged a two-run homer in the fifth, his 38th.

“You’re questioning the integrity of Dusty Baker?” Baylor said of Lasorda’s remarks.

“It took an awful lot for Dusty and me to be where we are and have the jobs we do. You mean we’re then not going to play hard? Those are fighting words to Dusty and me.

“I mean, why is someone always more concerned about someone else’s club? I’ve always had enough concerns with my own club.

“I just don’t believe managers at this level wouldn’t play their best guys or would send guys out to lose.”

In the next-to-last week of a season in which his pitching staff has been riddled by injuries, Baker said he was devoid of options for this game.

“I’m starting Estes because he pitched a good game in Pittsburgh [in his major league debut last Saturday] and because [Bill] VanLandingham is hurt.

“I’ve only seen [Estes] the one time, but he had a lot of composure, he wasn’t afraid. I also used to hate facing new pitchers coming up in September. I’d be 0 for 3 before I had a clue. A pitcher always has the advantage when hitters haven’t seen him before.”

It didn’t work that way for Estes, but Baker continues to be rankled by Lasorda’s concerns about the Giants playing hard.

Asked if the Dodgers might simply be apprehensive about finishing behind a third-year expansion team, Baker said:

“I think it would bother them to lose to anybody. Position by position, arm by arm, talent-wise they should be tough to beat.

“Tommy needs to worry about San Diego. That’s who he’s playing six or seven more games with. San Diego has given him nothing but trouble over the years.”

The Rockies, meanwhile, are now 3-2 on this trip and 13-6 in September. In a rotation riddled by injuries, Ritz is suddenly offering some healthy hope. However, the Rockies had other encouragement Friday, as Baylor said he expected Bret Saberhagen, who skipped his Thursday turn here because of recurring shoulder inflammation, to be able to start Tuesday in Los Angeles. Saberhagen will throw off a bullpen mound today, a final test.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Stretch Drive

The standings and remaining schedule for the National League West:

*--*

W L Pct. GB Colorado 73 62 .541 -- Dodgers 72 64 .529 1 1/2 San Diego 66 70 .485 7 1/2 San Francisco 64 71 .474 9

*--*

Tonight and Sunday

San Diego at Dodgers; Colorado at San Francisco

Monday through Wednesday

Colorado at Dodgers; San Diego at San Francisco

Sept. 28-Oct. 1

San Francisco at Colorado

Sept. 29-Oct. 1

Dodgers at San Diego