Zeile Misses Chance and So Do Dodgers

It has become the Bermuda Triangle of the Dodgers.

They have tried draft choices and free agents, young and old, left-handed and right-handed hitter, it has made no difference.

The Dodgers have employed two dozen candidates the last 11 years, hoping to find someone, anyone to solve their third-base woes, but this jinx is powerful.

Todd Zeile, hoping to be the one to put an end to it, merely has become the latest to be ensnared, struggling again Saturday in the Dodgers’ 2-1 loss to the Houston Astros in front of 46,244 at Dodger Stadium.

Zeile drove in the Dodgers’ lone run in the fourth inning off Astro starter Darryl Kile (1-1), his first RBI in six games, but he failed in his chance to become the hero in the eighth inning.

With the Dodgers trailing, 2-1, Mike Piazza drew a leadoff walk. Eric Karros’ struggles continued when he fouled out to third baseman Russ Johnson.

The Dodgers then got the biggest break of the night when second baseman Craig Biggio booted Todd Hollandsworth’s double-play grounder.

That brought up Zeile, who knew that a sharp single likely would score Piazza from second and tie the game. But he grounded a 1-0 pitch to shortstop Billy Spiers, who flipped the ball to Biggio, and back to first baseman Jeff Bagwell for the easy double play, Zeile’s fourth of the season.

The loss dropped the Dodgers two games behind the San Francisco Giants in the National League West, and left Zeile talking to himself.

Zeile, who hit a career-high 25 homers with 99 RBIs last season, has battled the demons and ghosts at the Dodger third-base position ever since his arrival. He never imagined that he would be batting .176 with two homers and six RBIs after three weeks of the season.

“I keep hearing about the jinx and all of that stuff,” Zeile said, “but I don’t believe any of it.

“It gets to be frustrating, but I have to remember that one good day can turn things around. I just need a broken-bat single or a blooper. I just haven’t had the kind of luck yet.

“My Aprils and Mays have been off before, and I always recover. I can only hope the same thing happens this year too.”

Zeile, who signed a three-year, $9.5 million contract in the off-season, actually isn’t that far off his usual pace. He batted .267 with three homers and 15 RBIs last April, and has averaged only two homers and 10 RBIs in April during his seven-year career.

“The good news is that we’re still 10-5,” Zeile said. “I’m just trying to do whatever I can do to help our chances to win. Everybody else is picking each other up.

“Hopefully, my turn will come soon.”

The Dodgers wasted another strong outing by Hideo Nomo, who yielded four hits and two runs while striking out nine in 6 2/3 innings. The only real mistake he made was yielding a one-out, run-scoring double to Brad Ausmus in the fifth inning that tied the score, 1-1.

Nomo led off the seventh by walking Abreu, who stole second and went to third on Nomo’s wild pitch. With the infield drawn in, Nomo got Spiers to hit a grounder to Greg Gagne at shortstop, but Gagne’s throw to the plate was wide right, enabling Abreu to score the go-ahead run.

Zeile can hardly shoulder all of the blame for this defeat. The Dodgers came to bat nine times with runners in scoring position, but their lone hit was Zeile’s one-out single over a drawn-in infield in the fourth inning.

The Dodgers, who stranded 10 runners, also had a chance to at least tie the score in in the ninth. Gagne led off with a single, producing his sixth consecutive multiple-hit game. It was also the sixth time Saturday the Dodgers had their leadoff man reach base.

Manager Bill Russell, who originally had Billy Ashley on deck, summoned him back to the bench and sent Tom Prince to the plate. Prince laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt. Brett Butler then grounded out for the second out, moving Gagne to third, and Ashley was called upon to hit for Wilton Guerrero.

Ashley hit a dramatic three-run, ninth-inning home run the last time he faced Wagner on July 27 in the Dodgers’ 6-5, 11-inning victory. This time, he put a scare into Wagner again, but his fly ball to right field was caught by Bob Abreu in front of the warning track for the final out.