Reality of a .500 Season Is Sinking In for the Dodgers

The Dodgers seemingly took a step forward--for them--by finally winning their fourth consecutive game recently.

But typically this season, they’ve moved backward again. Quickly.

The Dodgers dropped back to .500 for the 31st time in a 4-2 loss to the expansion Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday night.

A crowd of 43,361 at Bank One Ballpark watched as right-hander Andy Benes (12-13) pitched eight strong innings and the Dodgers continued their roller-coaster ride.

With their second loss in as many days, the Dodgers are now 72-72. Their season has been marked by mediocrity, which hasn’t been lost on the players.

They acknowledge that they haven’t been very good collectively. Of course, that’s been obvious to their fans the entire season.

“I never envisioned our team being a .500 team, but from what’s been going on all season, the reality is that we are a .500 team,” second baseman Eric Young said. “I never thought that’s something I would say while I was wearing a Dodger uniform, because everyone knows about the tradition and history this organization has.

“But right now, this is what we are. I can’t put my finger on exactly what all the problems are, but we’re at .500. That’s for sure.”

Left fielder Jim Eisenreich said it’s a combination of things.

“We do some things well, but not enough of them consistently, and that leads to being a .500 team,” Eisenreich said. “We don’t ever play poorly enough to lose seven in a row, but we also don’t play well enough to win seven in a row.”

The Dodgers won four in a row for the first time this season by defeating the San Francisco Giants on Saturday at Dodger Stadium. They hoped that would stir momentum--but things haven’t worked out that way.

“That’s the thing, we win four in a row, and then lose two in a row,” Eisenreich said. “I wouldn’t say that I’m amazed we’re a .500 team this late in the season, because anything can happen in baseball.

“But I am amazed that this is the point we’re at after our expectations were so high. I remember how excited everyone was when we all [Eisenreich, Gary Sheffield, Bobby Bonilla and Charles Johnson] came over here in the [Mike Piazza] trade. We’ve had some injuries, and all the moves haven’t helped from a stability standpoint, but the bottom line is that we’re all still professionals. We just haven’t played very well often enough.”

That was the story Monday.

The Dodgers didn’t perform badly. They got another quality start from right-hander Dave Mlicki (8-7).

Mlicki pitched seven innings, giving up seven hits and four runs (three earned). He struck out six and walked one in his sixth consecutive strong performance. And Eric Karros hit a leadoff home run in the ninth--his 22nd homer--against Diamondback closer Gregg Olson to cut Arizona’s lead to 4-2.

But the Diamondbacks simply did more things well. Olson retired the next three batters he faced after Karros homered, earning his 27th save and the 200th of his career.

“The frustrating part of it is that I just made a couple of bad pitches, and it’s tough to lose that way,” Mlicki said. “That’s happened a lot to us this year. Sometimes it’s the pitching, sometimes it’s the hitting.

“I really believe we’ve got a great team here, and a solid bunch of guys. For whatever reason, things just aren’t working out.”

Things are going right for the Diamondbacks. They are last in the National League West at 58-87, but Monday’s victory was their eighth in 10 games.

Benes set the tone against the Dodgers, giving up only five hits--including a run-scoring double by Eisenreich in the fourth. He struck out eight and walked one while throwing 104 pitches, 61 for strikes.

“Benes was hitting his spots and he kept us down early,” Dodger Manager Glenn Hoffman said. “He gave them eight strong innings and he gave us trouble.

“That’s just the way it seems to have been going, we win one and we lose one. But we’re better than a .500 team--I know that.”

Their record indicates otherwise.