No Sleep for the Beaten Dodgers

The Dodgers, forced to travel all night to get to Cooperstown for today’s Hall of Fame game, weren’t expected to get much sleep Sunday.

But that was the least of their worries. You can always catch up on lost sleep. Lost games in the standings are another matter.

The Dodgers lost a bitter one Sunday night at Wrigley Field, one that would have probably kept them up all night anyway. They were beaten by the Chicago Cubs, 4-3, in 12 innings on Sammy Sosa’s two-out, two-run homer off closer Todd Worrell (1-3).

It was galling to have lost and dropped a game behind the NL West-leading San Francisco Giants after taking a 3-2 lead in the top of the 12th inning on Greg Gagne’s seventh homer.

It was a game the Dodgers could have--should have--lost several times before they finally made one mistake for which there was no chance to respond.

With lightning crackling and rain falling, the Dodgers had to feel they were battling not only the Cubs, but also the elements.

Of course, the Cubs had to play under the same conditions, and they had two added burdens: poor clutch hitting and bad luck.

Dodger center fielder Roger Cedeno had a nightmare evening with the ivy-covered walls, but Chicago had difficulty taking advantage of his problems.

For example:

--In the sixth inning, Cedeno tried to run down an inning-opening drive by pitcher Steve Trachsel, but the ball squirted out of the top of his glove for what was generously ruled a double.

The Cubs subsequently got Trachsel home on Mark Grace’s RBI single, but stranded two men.

--In the seventh inning, Shawon Dunston led off with a line drive that Cedeno couldn’t quite get to in right-center, the ball skidding under his glove on the wet grass for a triple.

But Dunston went nowhere, left at third when Dodger starter Ismael Valdes struck out Ryne Sandberg, and reliever Scott Radinsky got pinch-hitter Kevin Orie to foul out to third and pinch-hitter Jose Hernandez to strike out.

--In the ninth inning, Sandberg led off with a drive that Cedeno chased to the ivy in left-center, but couldn’t quite get a glove on.

Again, liberal scoring gave Sandberg a double.

Again, the runner didn’t score.

But this time, Sandberg, the 10-time All-Star, blew the play.

With one out, pinch-hitter Dave Clark hit a ball back to the mound. With no need to run, Sandberg did so anyway and was tagged out in a rundown.

What particularly hurt was that the next hitter, Doug Glanville, followed with a single that would have scored Sandberg with the winning run.

That’s the way it seemed to go for Chicago all night.

Glanville had also singled in the eighth. The next hitter, Brian McRae, hit a grounder that Gagne bobbled behind second second base before finally recovering to throw out the runner.

At least that’s the way first-base umpire Charlie Reliford ruled.

A replay appeared to show Reliford had made the wrong call.

It appeared the Cubs had run out of opportunities when Worrell, the sixth Dodger pitcher of the night, retired the first two men he faced in the 12th before walking Grace.

That brought up Sosa, an effective fastball hitter. Worrell started him off with a curveball.

Good idea.

But Worrell hung the curve.

Bad idea.

“There was nothing wrong with the pitch, just where it was,” Dodger Manager Bill Russell said.

Sosa was overjoyed with where the ball landed. It rattled off the fence at the back of the left-field stands for his 23rd homer.

“Every time I think about a home run, I don’t get it,” Sosa said. “I get out of my zone. He threw me a hanging pitch and that gave me more time to make contact.”

The Dodgers quietly packed and headed to the airport. A long night had just gotten a lot longer.