Mistakes Defeat Dodgers

On Wednesday, Florida Marlin right-hander Kevin Brown beat the Dodgers.

Thursday, the Dodgers beat the Dodgers.

Poorly executed plays, a baserunning mistake, a defensive breakdown and ineffective pitching contributed to Thursday night’s 8-7 loss to the Marlins in front of a Pro Player Stadium crowd of 27,406, dropping the Dodgers four games behind the National League West-leading San Francisco Giants.

In losing for the second consecutive night here and for the fifth time in as many games in Miami this season, the Dodgers spotted Florida a 6-2 lead, then made a late charge that fell just short thanks to a diving, game-ending catch by rookie center fielder Mark Kotsay, the former Cal State Fullerton star.

“You can’t make mistakes,” Dodger Manager Bill Russell said. “You give opposing teams too many runs, you can’t catch up.”

No argument from first baseman Eric Karros.

“Some mistakes were made,” he said, “that we should not be making at this level.”

For example:

* In the first inning, with Brett Butler on first, one out and Raul Mondesi at bat, Russell sent Butler on a full count. Mondesi struck out and Butler was tagged out in a rundown.

* In the second inning, Karros led off with a walk. He too was sent with Todd Zeile at bat and a full count. Zeile struck out and Karros was out in a rundown.

“You’ve got to make contact,” Butler said. “We didn’t. If we hit it in the gap, we score.”

Said Karros: “Those plays had absolutely no impact on the game. There were about 10 other incidents that were not good.”

* In the bottom of the second, with two Marlins aboard, Luis Castillo hit a fly ball that soared over the head of Butler in center, scoring the first two runs of the game.

“With a knuckleballer [Tom Candiotti], pitching and a little guy, a Punch and Judy guy up batting,” Butler said, “I played up and he hit it over my head.

“I guess that’s why I play left field,” said Butler with a smile. Butler had been moved from center to left over the last couple of weeks with the emergence of Roger Cedeno, who sat out Thursday because of a sprained wrist.

* In the Dodger third, with Tom Prince on third base and Wilton Guerrero at second, Candiotti hit a grounder to short. Instead of staying at the bag, Guerrero took off and was tagged out by the Marlin shortstop, Edgar Renteria.

Russell admitted that while Guerrero may be hitting .298, the Dodger rookie has had his troubles on the basepath and with his glove.

“Those are the kind of mistakes you make when you rush someone into a new position,” Russell said.

* Dodger pitching was unable to contain the Marlins.

“It was very humid out there,” said Candiotti (5-3), who gave up five runs in five innings. “I had trouble keeping my hand dry. It was sweltering out there. It seemed like there were always guys on base. I had to work hard all the time to keep them out of a big inning.”

Relief pitcher Darren Hall wasn’t any more effective. Of the first 10 batters he faced, seven got on base, five via hits and two via walks.

There were plenty of heroes for the Marlins. Catcher Charles Johnson had three hits and scored four runs to tie a club record. Gary Sheffield, after sitting out three games because of a strained hamstring, came off the bench to drive in two runs. Even pitcher Al Leiter (8-6) got in the act with a run-scoring single.

An unlikely power source for the Dodgers was shortstop Tripp Cromer, who hit two home runs, giving him three in the last week. Before this season, he hit five in 117 major-league at-bats.

One of Cromer’s home runs Thursday was a solo shot in the ninth. Karros also hit one with nobody on in the ninth, his club-leading 22nd, to pull the Dodgers within a run.

With two outs, Eric Anthony singled. Prince, playing because Mike Piazza was given the day off, then hit a sinking liner that Kotsay caught up with as he left the ground.

The Dodgers had come up just short, and they knew there was no one to blame but themselves.