Mlicki, Dodgers Go Wrong Way

Dave Mlicki went undefeated in his first nine starts with the Dodgers, but the right-hander figured he wouldn’t remain perfect.

He was correct.

Mlicki and several of his teammates performed poorly Wednesday night in an 8-3 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies before 20,127 at Veterans Stadium, and the combination ended his impressive start.

“I felt good and I had all my pitches working, and that’s kind of the frustrating thing,” Mlicki said. “No one is going to win all the time, but when you pitch like that, you can’t feel good. That’s the type of game that always makes you feel bad.”

It was easy to understand why.

Mlicki (5-5) lasted only four innings in dropping his first game in five decisions with the team. The Dodgers committed two errors and were out of sync defensively, frustrating Manager Glenn Hoffman from the outset.

They scored only three runs against Philadelphia right-hander Carlton Loewer (5-3), who entered the game with a 7.20 earned-run average. And they said they didn’t display the spark that a team supposedly battling for the National League wild-card berth should.

A day after moving a season-high four games above .500, the Dodgers took another step backward, which has been their pattern. They dropped another game in the wild-card derby, and now trail the front-running Chicago Cubs by 5 1/2 games.

By now, the Dodgers are familiar with their seemingly daily roller-coaster ride. But they don’t like it.

“It’s difficult because we have a great team, but we haven’t been able to put everything together for a long stretch,” said Mlicki, who was 4-0 in his first nine starts with the Dodgers.

“We’ve had some injuries, but other guys have stepped in. We’re just not playing as well as we can, and tonight just wasn’t our night.”

Mlicki assumed much of the blame for Wednesday’s loss. He gave up seven hits and five runs--four earned--in his third-shortest outing with the Dodgers since he was acquired June 4 in a four-player trade with the New York Mets.

The Phillies scored four runs in the fourth against Mlicki.

“He was struggling with his location,” Hoffman said. “But we just didn’t play very well tonight. We kind of bounced the ball around on the turf, and we gave them some extra at-bats. We’re talking about consistency, and we weren’t very consistent.”

Gary Sheffield hit a leadoff home run--his 19th--in the fourth to tie the score, 1-1. In the seventh, Charles Johnson hit a solo homer--his 15th--and Juan Castro had a one-out, run-scoring single.

And that was it for the Dodger offense. Rookie pitcher Sean Maloney made his major league debut, giving up one hit and striking out three in two scoreless innings.

Wilton Guerrero, considered among the worst baserunners in the game, was thrown out at the plate on a one-out single to left by Castro in the third. Guerrero, running from second, was fooled by catcher Bobby Estalella, who made him believe that left fielder Gregg Jefferies didn’t have a play.

Guerrero slowed down between the plate and third, failing to slide. Understandably, that was on Hoffman’s mind as well.

“I saw him coming around third, and Mondy [Raul Mondesi] was at the plate telling him to slide,” Hoffman said. “Wilton just got [fooled].”

Philadelphia came back strong after losing, 7-3, in the series opener Tuesday night. The Phillies took command by scoring four runs on five hits in the fourth.

Bobby Abreu sparked the rally with a leadoff homer--his seventh--and Doug Glanville had a one-out, two-run double. With Glanville at second, rookie third baseman Adrian Beltre helped prolong the inning when his errant throw on a grounder by Jefferies pulled Eric Karros off the bag at first.

The play was ruled an infield hit, and Glanville then scored on a sacrifice fly by Scott Rolen. When the inning ended, the Phillies were ahead, 5-1.

Beltre went two for three with a double, but he also committed an error in the sixth. Hoffman had some encouraging words for him afterward.

“He really hasn’t played on turf that much, and he had kind of a tough time out there,” Hoffman said. “You just have to talk to him and let him know things he can do differently next time.”

The same could be said for others.

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