Valdes Is Happy to Help Again

Pitcher Ismael Valdes returned to his favorite place Tuesday night: the mound at Dodger Stadium.

The right-hander hadn’t spent much time there recently because of a strained stomach muscle, which had sidelined him for five weeks.

Valdes faced the Philadelphia Phillies in his first game back--and they weren’t pleased to see him.

He pitched seven scoreless innings to help provide the Dodgers with a 3-2 victory before a subdued crowd of 28,199. Valdes is feeling good again, and it showed.

“I felt comfortable and I had no pain at all,” Valdes said.

Valdes (10-9) was in command throughout while earning his fourth successive victory in as many starts. Catcher Charles Johnson hit his 17th home run in the seventh--a two-run shot to center--to give the Dodgers a 3-0 lead.

Scott Rolen hit his 26th homer against rookie reliever Sean Maloney in the eighth to cut the Dodger lead to 3-1, and Bobby Estalella homered in the ninth against closer Jeff Shaw. But then Shaw, who suffered back-to-back loses to the New York Mets last Friday and Saturday, got three outs in a row for his 39th save, and 16th with the Dodgers.

On a night the Dodgers lost outfielder Gary Sheffield for the season because of a sprained left ankle, Valdes eased their growing burden.

“For a guy who hasn’t pitched in [five weeks], he really pitched well,” Manager Glenn Hoffman said. “August didn’t treat us too well, but hopefully we can get something going now.”

The Dodgers announced before the game that Sheffield won’t play again this season because of the sprained left ankle he suffered in Sunday’s game. Right-handed set-up man Antonio Osuna will undergo season-ending elbow surgery next week, and many players acknowledge that the Dodgers have dropped out of contention for the National League wild-card berth.

With that as a backdrop, Valdes gave the small crowd a reason to stay for a while. And he inspired his teammates in the process.

“He really pitched well today,” said Johnson, who homered against reliever Jerry Spradlin. “He really located his fastball low and away, and he made his pitches when he needed to.”

He gave up five hits and struck out five with two walks. Valdes, who was on a 110-pitch limit, threw 107, 64 for strikes.

“This is big for us because we need all the pitching we can get,” Hoffman said. “To get Rocket [Valdes] back and throwing well can only help.”

Valdes was forced to leave in the sixth inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks on July 26 after experiencing stomach pain. He underwent tests the next day that revealed the strain, and that was the beginning of a difficult time for him.

Valdes missed six starts because of the injury, which he said was too painful for him to do anything at times.

“It’s hard when you want to help your team and you can’t help your team,” Valdes said. “I wanted to [pitch], but there was nothing I could do about it. When you’re hurt, you have to make sure everything is OK.

The timing of the injury was especially disappointing for Valdes.

He was in his best stretch of the season, going 3-0 with a 1.96 earned-run average in three starts. Valdes had worked hard to overcome a shaky performance in May, when he struggled with his confidence.

“I was helping my team, and then I got hurt,” Valdes said. “I was making good pitches then.”

Valdes did once again Tuesday.