Dodgers Can Catch Breath After Catch

There are three stages to endure in watching a teammate track a fly ball at Coors Field, according to Dodger third baseman Todd Zeile.

They are:

1. “Oh, no sweat.”

2. “Gosh, is he going to get there?”

3. “Finally!”

The Dodgers endured all three before left fielder Todd Hollandsworth rolled over on the grass Tuesday afternoon and held up the ball, proof his team had hung on to beat the Colorado Rockies, 6-5, in front of a sellout crowd of 48,621.

These are teams heading in opposite directions, the Dodgers having won 11 of their last 12, the Rockies having lost 11 of 12. The Giants routed the Padres later Tuesday, 16-2, leaving the Dodgers three games out of first place.

But even with all that, even with a solid performance from winning pitcher Chan Ho Park (7-5), even with Todd Worrell’s 23rd save and second in as many games, even with three more hits from Mike Piazza, even with Zeile’s home run in the eighth inning, the Dodgers had towait until a diving Hollandsworth had crashed on the grass to learn if they had swept the two-game series after the 14-12 victory in 10 innings Monday night.

Piazza’s run-scoring single in the seventh inning Tuesday had given the Dodgers a seemingly comfortable 5-1 lead.

But the only time a team can really feel comfortable in Denver is when it is back in the clubhouse packing to leave.

Piazza had doubled home a run in the third against starter and loser Roger Bailey (8-7), who was making his first appearance since spending 15 days on the disabled list because of a strained left hamstring. The Dodger catcher was seven for 11 with a home run and six RBIs in the two games at Coors Field.

The Rockies finally got to Park in the seventh, scoring two runs on four hits to chase him. Last year, his first full season in the majors, that would have been cause for distress by Park, but not this year.

“I feel like the team owner,” said Park, a Korean who is still learning English.

It is believed that he meant he now feels more in control of his own fate. Either that, or it means Peter O’Malley has sold the team to Park.

“Last year, when I lose a game, I lose confidence,” Park said. “This year, I know I have to keep my focus. I have much confidence. It is very different.”

Zeile’s 20th home run, a high fly into the left-field seats in the eighth, gave the Dodgers a 6-3 lead. It was Zeile’s third homer in two games here.

“This is the best hitting park in the league,” Zeile said. “I figured it owed me a few.”

Zeile was remembering last season, when, as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies, he went 0 for 14 in a four-game series at Coors Field.

“When you get the ball in the air here,” he said, “it doesn’t seem to come down.”

Dante Bichette’s pinch double in the eighth off relief pitcher Mark Guthrie made the score 6-4.

With Worrell pitching in the ninth, the Rockies got one run across on a fielder’s choice by Eric Young and had the potential tying run at second with two out.

Playing against Quinton McCracken, a left-handed hitter, Hollandsworth was positioned in shallow left field.

“We challenged them,” he said. “I didn’t want to let anything short fall in.”

Instead, McCracken lofted a fly ball into left-center.

“I knew it was going to be over [Hollandsworth’s] head as soon as it was hit,” said Manager Bill Russell, watching helplessly in the dugout.

“It sure did keep drifting,” Worrell said. “That’s Coors Field at its best. The ball probably doesn’t even reach our left fielder at Dodger Stadium.”

Fortunately for Hollandsworth, he immediately backed up. At the last instant, as the ball passed over Hollandsworth’s head, he reached out, plucked it out of the air backhanded as if he were plucking a peach off a tree, tucked his glove into his midsection, smashed onto the turf, rolled over and held the ball high over his head while still stretched out on the ground.

“Every ball is an adventure here,” Worrell said.

And every game.