Dodgers Suffer No Loss of Confidence

First, the Dodgers lost center fielder Brett Butler, one of the baseball’s best leadoff hitters.

Then, they lost Manager Tom Lasorda.

But they didn’t lose their poise, even going into the All-Star break with Sunday’s 3-0 loss to the Colorado Rockies before 38,269 at Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers (47-42) go into the break one game behind the San Diego Padres. After 89 games last season, the Dodgers were also 47-42 and in second place, 1 1/2 games behind the Rockies.

“I think we’ve played tremendously in the first half of the season,” Lasorda said by phone from his Fullerton home, where he is recovering from a heart attack. “If you recall, at one time we were six games behind the Padres and everybody had given up on us, they thought there was no way we could catch the Padres.

“Losing Brett Butler was a bigger loss than losing me. Brett Butler was a great leadoff hitter and he was a great leader who meant a lot to the club.”

First baseman Eric Karros said the Dodgers have overcome adversity.

“Considering what we’ve had to go through I think we’re in a good position,” Karros said. “We lost Brett and Tommy and we lost [Greg] Gagne for a month and [Ramon] Martinez, our No. 1 starter, for four weeks.

“Last year [at the All-Star break] we were five out and we ended up winning the division. I think we’re all right right now, but we’ve still got a long road ahead of us.”

Catcher Mike Piazza, who went two for four to raise his league-leading average to .363, agreed.

“It’s not a bad position to be in right now,” said Piazza, who’ll play in his fourth consecutive All-Star game Tuesday in Philadelphia. “You can look and say we’ve had some opportunities to be further ahead, but you have to look at the situation we’re in and realize that it really wasn’t that bad of a run.

“We had a little bit of inconsistency in the first half, but all in all, I think we played pretty well. We have some things we need to work on, but I believe we’ll come together in the second half. We just want to try to stay consistent and we should be there at the end.”

Former Dodger Eric Young, who will play in his first All-Star game, went three for four with two RBIs and scored a run as the Rockies avoided being swept by the Dodgers, who won the first three games of the series.

“Being the leadoff guy I try to make things happen,” Young said. “We’ve got to manufacture runs.”

Young manufactured all of the Rockies’ runs Sunday.

After singling in Walt Weiss in the third inning against Dodger starter Pedro Astacio (4-7), who gave up one run on three hits in seven innings, Young drove in a run and scored a run in the eighth inning against reliever Scott Radinsky.

Young stole second after singling in Jeff Reed with two outs and scored on Trenidad Hubbard’s single to right.

Although the Dodgers exposed Young in the 1993 expansion draft, in which he was selected sixth by the Rockies, Young doesn’t resent the Dodgers.

“One thing about the Dodgers, I’m thankful that they gave me the opportunity because a lot of teams passed over me,” Young said. “They didn’t cut me, they just left me exposed.”

Pitcher Kevin Ritz (10-5), who gave up one run on six hits in a 13-1 victory over the Dodgers on June 27 at Denver, gave up five hits in 7 2/3 innings as the Rockies shut out the Dodgers for the first time in their four-year history.

“The last two times we’ve faced him we’ve only gotten one run off him, so that shows you what kind of pitcher he is,” Dodger interim Manager Bill Russell said. “He’s had excellent stuff the last two starts.”

With runners at first and second in the fifth, Young got Delino DeShields to line out to second.

After one-out singles by DeShields and Piazza in the eighth inning, Ritz got Karros to hit back to the box on a checked swing.

“That’s what your No. 1 guy is supposed to do, stop a losing streak,” Rocky Manager Don Baylor said. “Ritz just seems to pick us up when we need it.

“I’m just sorry he’s not on the All-Star team because he’s pitched well for us every time out. He’s kept us in the ballgame. Today we needed a big game from somebody and he stepped up and did it again.”

Reliever Curtis Leskanic replaced Ritz and struck out Raul Mondesi with runners on second and third to end the inning. Then he struck out Mike Blowers to lead off the ninth, stopping Blowers’ hitting streak at 19 games.

After walking pinch-hitter Roger Cedeno, closer Bruce Ruffin got the final two outs, getting Gagne to fly out to right and striking out pinch-hitter Billy Ashley.