Dodgers Manage to Get Rocked

Dodger center fielder Todd Hollandsworth looked up from his dinner plate Thursday night after the Colorado Rockies’ 13-1 victory over the Dodgers, looked up glumly, and apologized to interim Manager Bill Russell.

“Don’t worry, skip,” Hollandsworth said, hopefully, “ we’ll get a win for you.”

Russell, still winless on the job, shot back: “Hey, don’t be afraid to win one for the Gipper.”

These may be Russell’s first days on the job replacing Manager Tom Lasorda, but as he quickly is learning, there’s no grace period on this job. This is cutthroat. Teams offer their sympathy, and then try to beat you into submission.

“Tommy told me there would be nights like this,” Russell said. “I just hope I’m getting them out of my system.”

The Dodgers, who watched Rocky first baseman Andres Galarraga drive in a franchise-record eight runs with two homers and a double, have lost all three games since Lasorda was hospitalized with a mild heart attack and ulcer. The Dodgers (41-38) have also lost six of their last nine games. Their lead in the National League West is one game over the San Diego Padres and 1 1/2 games over the Rockies.

By the way, the Dodgers play their next 21 games against the National League West.

“There’s not much you can say when you’re down the way we got down,” Russell said. “You just got to hang with them. We know we’re not playing like we can and struggling to score runs.

“The good thing is we’re still in first place, and [the players] don’t know how good they are.”

Russell, out of respect to Lasorda, refused to even step into the visiting manager’s office at Coors Field. He even made sure that Lasorda’s uniform still was hanging proudly in his locker. Yet, he suffered the same anguish Lasorda has endured this season, watching another night of offensive woes.

The Dodgers conceded they were sluggish. They didn’t arrive at the team hotel until 5:15 in the morning. Their suitcases didn’t arrive until after 6. Still, it was a slap in the face. It’s one thing to struggle for runs at Dodger Stadium, but altogether different to score only once on six hits at Coors Field.

Last year, the Dodgers scored 58 runs with 11 homers in the six games at Coors Field. Thursday night, their first five hitters in the order went three for 20 without an RBI.

Instead, they watched Galarraga put on a one-man hitting show in setting a franchise record for RBIs. It was the most RBIs by a National League player since Ken Caminiti last Sept. 19 against the Rockies.

The Dodgers tried everything to get him out. They pitched inside. They pitched outside. Starter Pedro Astacio even threw a couple of pitches over his head, drawing Galarraga’s anger. The only thing that helped was that Galarraga was forced to leave the game because of a swollen left knee in the seventh inning.

“You hit two home runs, and the next time up he’s throwing at your head,” said Galarraga, who was in a three-for-27 slump, and had gone six games without an RBI. “I felt I had to say something to defend myself and try to tell him not to throw at my head. They can throw inside any time they want, but they can’t throw at my head.

“When I start hitting like that, I think it motivates everyone. They say, ‘Wow, look at that.’ Everybody says, ‘Let’s go, let’s keep it going,’ and the next thing you know you’re winning the game, 13-1.

The Dodger pitching staff, which came in with a major league-leading 3.09 ERA, watched it rise to 3.21. Dodger pitchers were shelled for a season-high 17 hits and a season-high 13 runs.