Dodgers Share in Blame Game

The Dodgers were too numb to scream Sunday night, too angry to curse, and too frustrated to even point fingers.

It is the time of year when every decision is scrutinized, every play dissected, and every blunder magnified, and after the Dodgers’ 6-3 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies at Veterans Stadium, there was plenty of blame to be shared.

The Dodgers, leading, 3-1, with a chance to move into first place by percentage points over the San Diego Padres, instead collapsed in the eighth inning.

There was center fielder Wayne Kirby turning a difficult catch into a triple, third baseman Tim Wallach making a fielding error, Manager Bill Russell making a questionable pitching move, and Todd Worrell blowing a save.

“We felt like we should have swept them,” Wallach said. “We had a lead in the eighth inning. And if we have a lead, we should win.”

Instead, the Dodgers watched pinch-hitter Ruben Amaro hit a two-out, three-run double in the eighth, leaving the Dodgers (73-62) one game behind the Padres in the National League West race. Their lead in the wild-card race over the Montreal Expos was cut to one-half game.

“We’ve got to have some improvements if we want to get back to the postseason,” catcher Mike Piazza said. “I can only think of one or two games all year when we’ve had everything clicking in the same game.

“What can you do? It was a frustrating loss. Very, very disappointing.”

The Dodgers’ collapse came moments after Piazza’s two-run homer against Phillie starter Mike Williams (6-12) with two out in the eighth. It was only the Dodgers’ fourth hit.

All that was needed was to hold off the Phillies (55-82), who have the worst record in the National League.

Left-handed reliever Scott Radinsky, replacing starter Hideo Nomo at the start of the eighth, got Mickey Morandini to line out to first baseman Eric Karros for the first out. Kevin Sefcik, who has only eight homers in four professional seasons, then hammered a line drive to deep center. Kirby froze, and when he recovered, the ball skimmed off the top of his glove. The ball caromed off the wall, over his head, enabling Sefcik to reach third with a triple.

“I gave it my best shot,” Kirby said. “He just hit the ball good. I certainly didn’t think he’d hit the ball like that, did you?”

Gregg Jefferies drove in Sefcik with a sacrifice fly to left, and with right-handed hitter Benito Santiago stepping to the plate, Russell went to the bullpen, and called upon . . . Worrell.

Worrell leads the league with 37 saves, but had not been asked to come into a game before the ninth inning since May 10 against the St. Louis Cardinals.

“We just wanted him to get that one [extra] out,” Russell said. “I would have done it earlier in the year too, but I wasn’t around early in the year. It just wasn’t his night.”

Worrell, who has pitched longer than one inning in only four games this season, said he had no problem with the decision. He was ready. Simply, his control was missing.

Worrell opened his stint by inducing a hard-hit grounder from Santiago. The ball skipped once into Wallach’s glove--then out. Santiago was safe, and Wallach was charged with an error.

“I’m not going to scorekeep,” Wallach said. “It was hit hard, but I still think I should have made the play, and I didn’t.”

Worrell then walked Jim Eisenreich on five pitches, which appeared to be no big deal considering that Eisenreich has a career .430 batting average against the Dodgers. But Worrell also walked rookie third baseman Scott Rolen on five pitches.

Phillie Manager Jim Fregosi called upon Amaro to pinch-hit. Amaro defeated the Dodgers on Aug. 20 with a two-run homer in the ninth inning at Dodger Stadium.

This time, he slammed an 0-and-1 fastball off the top of the right-field wall, clearing the bases for a three-run double. Center fielder Wendell Magee Jr., who hit his first major league homer against Nomo in the fifth, and robbed Wallach of at least a double in the seventh, then iced the game with a run-scoring single up the middle.

“It was just one of those games where you try to reach back for a little more and it wasn’t there,” said Worrell, who blew a save for the ninth time. “It happens. I think you have to accept the fact that you’re going to be burnt. You just can’t keep pitching at that rate.”

It also is the time of year when the Dodger bullpen is a bit fatigued. The starting rotation has only four complete games, second-fewest in the National League, and third-fewest in baseball.

“This is the time of year you’ve just got to let it fly,” Russell said. “This is the time of year where you’ve got to suck it up. They understand. You’ve got to play through those things.”