Dodgers Left Out in Cold by Rockies

The Dodgers believe it’s only a matter of time before they get hot, and that everything will soon fall in place.

But they’re still waiting.

On a cold, wet night in Colorado on Tuesday, the Rockies defeated the Dodgers, 6-3, before a crowd of 44,337 at Coors Field. The Rockies prevented the Dodgers from having their first three-game winning streak in a game that was delayed twice by rain.

“It’s going to happen, we all know that,” second baseman Eric Young said. “We all believe in this team and what it can do, we just have to put everything together for one good stretch.”

That was hard to do Tuesday because of the delays.

The first delay lasted 59 minutes. It occurred at the start of the bottom of the fourth inning, with the Rockies batting and the Dodgers leading, 2-1. The second, which lasted 36 minutes, occurred with two out in the top of the seventh and the Rockies leading, 5-3.

“The delays didn’t affect us, not at all,” Manager Bill Russell said. “We got 10 hits, but you just have got to get more than three runs here. We usually hit well here. We just couldn’t break it open.”

Dodger starter Ismael Valdes (1-2) pitched well for five innings, which wasn’t surprising. Valdes, who won his first game in his previous start, was 6-0 with a 2.84 earned-run average in 13 games and seven starts against the Rockies before Tuesday, including 4-0 with a 3.51 ERA at Coors Field.

He gave up only one run through the fifth on Larry Walker’s run-scoring single in the third. But the Rockies got to him in the sixth.

Dante Bichette singled and scored on Vinny Castilla’s one-out home run. Castilla’s fifth homer, which traveled 389 feet, tied the score, 3-3.

Valdes was replaced by Darren Dreifort after he gave up consecutive singles to Kirt Manwaring and Neifi Perez. Facing Todd Helton, who pinch-hit for reliever Mike DeJean, Dreifort gave up a two-run double off the left-field wall, which gave the Rockies a 5-3 lead.

The ball went over the outstretched glove of left fielder Todd Hollandsworth, who seemingly misjudged his proximity to the wall. Dreifort struck out Mike Lansing and Ellis Burks, but the damage was done.

The Dodgers took a 2-1 lead in the third inning on Wilton Guerrero’s one-out run-scoring fly ball. Mike Piazza, who doubled in his first at-bat, walked to open the inning against Colorado starter Mark Thompson.

Todd Zeile singled to left and Paul Konerko did the same with one out, loading the bases for Guerrero, making his second start at shortstop in as many days because Jose Vizcaino is still recovering from a strained left hamstring. Guerrero drove in two runs with a single in the seventh inning of the Dodgers’ 3-1 victory over the Houston Astros on Monday, and he came through again.

Piazza scored easily on his fly ball, and Trenidad Hubbard struck out looking for the last out.

The Dodgers have played better during the last week, though that has seemingly been lost in the contract negotiations with Piazza and the lingering disappointment of the season-opening, four-game losing streak. Problems persist, but the players said they began the road trip having finally seen some encouraging signs.

“When you look around our clubhouse, you see a lot of guys who are capable of putting up big numbers,” Hollandsworth said. “There are also a lot of guys who can step in and help pick us up.

“We weren’t doing the stuff we were capable of doing at the start, but now we’re starting to do some of those things.”

The Dodgers started quickly against the Rockies, but also failed to capitalize on some early opportunities.

Young singled to open the game, but Hollandsworth grounded into a double play. Piazza then doubled, and Zeile flied out to end the inning.

The Dodgers took a 1-0 lead in the second on Hubbard’s one-out RBI single to center. They then loaded the bases with two out against Thompson, who hit two batters in the inning. But Thompson got out of the jam when Hollandsworth grounded out.

* HOT AGAIN

Mark McGwire homered three times in St. Louis 15-5 rout of Arizona. C7