The Dodgers Get to Enjoy a Cold One

Normally at Coors Field, the long fly balls decide games. On a frigid Thursday, it was the short ones.

Jose Vizcaino reached second base on an error by Colorado center fielder Ellis Burks to open the 10th inning and scored on Todd Hollandsworth’s two-out single to give the Dodgers a 4-3 victory over the Rockies.

“I just closed my glove too quick,” said Burks, who dropped Vizcaino’s shallow fly ball as he charged in from center. “I should have had it, and it was just a bonehead play.”

Hollandsworth’s single off Jerry Dipoto (0-1) was his third hit of the game. Todd Zeile added two RBIs in the lowest scoring game in Denver this season. In the previous eight games, the Rockies and their opponents had combined for an average of 17 runs.

“Did you notice it was 35 degrees?” Zeile said. “It was 35 degrees, and you had a pretty good pitcher, Darryl Kile, going against Ramon Martinez, both guys you don’t want to face when it is cold.”

Vinny Castilla’s third homer in as many games, his sixth of the season, tied the score in the ninth against Scott Radinsky (1-0). Castilla’s last three homers have tied games.

Mike Lansing doubled leading off the bottom of the 10th and advanced on a grounder. But Jim Bruske, the third Dodger reliever of the inning, retired Dante Bichette on a game-ending popup to earn his first save since Oct. 1, 1996.

“I will make all the moves I have to make,” Dodger Manager Bill Russell said. “The bottom line is winning. This is what we are going to have to do for a while.”

Jeff Reed’s second homer of the season pulled the Rockies within a run in the seventh.

Martinez was pulled one out later after giving up a walk to pinch-hitter John Vander Wal. He gave up two runs and five hits with three walks and four strikeouts.

“Ramon has thrown well for us,” said catcher Mike Piazza, whose average at Coors Field fell to .442 after an 0-for-4 day. “I’ll take a hitless game any day with Ramon throwing as well as he pitched today.”

Martinez and Kile treated the sparse crowd of about 10,000 to a good pitching duel through seven innings.

Kile, who retired the last 11 hitters he faced, gave up three runs on six hits before leaving for a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning. He struck out four and walked one.

“The bottom line is if we win or lose. I’ll gladly go out there and give up 10 runs a game if we win every time,” Kile said.

The Dodgers opened the scoring in the first on an RBI groundout by Zeile and extended the lead to 3-0 in the third on RBI singles by Hollandsworth and Zeile.

The Rockies squandered a scoring chance when they loaded the bases with nobody out in the fourth. Rookie Todd Helton popped out to shallow center, Castilla struck out and Reed grounded to second.

“Normally with good pitching, you’re going to get one opportunity, and you’re lucky to get it twice,” Rockies Manager Don Baylor said. “We didn’t get back in the ballgame and we didn’t break it open at that time. It’s a different game if it’s 3-2 in the fourth.”

Colorado scored its first run in the sixth when Larry Walker came around from first on Helton’s ground single to right-center field.