Dodgers’ Reality: Half Done

The Dodgers received some much-needed good news for a change Tuesday night after another laughable performance in a 5-2 loss to the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.

They have reached the midway point of the 162-game schedule, meaning only 81 games remain. The Dodgers and their infuriated fans won’t have to endure much more, and the last out of this numbing season can’t occur soon enough.

“We’re there already . . . is there anything left [to say]?” second baseman Eric Young said. “This is getting real old now. It’s just a shame because we’re trying a lot of things and not any one thing seems to be working.”

For this team, failure has been the only constant.

The Dodgers (35-46) dropped a season-high 11 games under .500 with their fifth loss in six games this month. That comes on the heels of the Dodgers going 8-17 in June--among the worst months in Los Angeles franchise history.

The fourth-place Rockies (38-43) have increased their lead on the last-place Dodgers in the National League West by winning the first two games of the four-game series. As if it matters, but the Dodgers also dropped a season-high 11 1/2 behind the front-running San Francisco Giants in the West.

Pedro Astacio became the latest struggling pitcher to regain his form against the Dodgers, tossing a six-hitter before a crowd of 39,979. Astacio (8-7) struck out 10 in the strong performance against his former team.

Astacio got pounded in losing his last two starts against the San Diego Padres. The right-hander gave up 21 hits and 16 earned runs in only 11 innings during those defeats.

Of course, he was only facing the Dodgers Tuesday.

They rank second to last in the league in batting and are at the bottom in most offensive categories. The Dodgers had only two hits with runners in scoring position against Astacio.

Then again, the Dodgers performed better than they did in those situations during an 8-4 loss in the opener Monday. They went one for 10 in that game.

On Monday, Gary Sheffield and Eric Karros, the Nos. 3 and 4 batters, respectively, stranded nine runners combined. That usually won’t cut it anywhere--but especially at Coors Field.

Dodger Manager Davey Johnson shook up the lineup again Tuesday, putting Karros on the bench in favor of Todd Hollandsworth at first base and batting Hundley cleanup.

As with Johnson’s many experiments this season, the results again were mixed, at best.

“We were in position to do it again just like last night,” said Johnson, who conducted yet another closed-door meeting, this one with position players, before Tuesday’s loss. “This is frustrating as hell.”

For starter Darren Dreifort (6-8) as well. Dodger pitchers are getting used to working without much support, and the pattern held Tuesday.

Dreifort gave up two runs in the second inning and then cruised until reaching the 90-pitch mark in the seventh. The young right-hander often seems to hit a wall at that point.

The Rockies began the inning with three straight hits to take a 3-2 lead and chase Dreifort. Terry Shumpert singled to start things and advanced to third on a single by former Dodger catcher Henry Blanco. Astacio then helped himself by singling through the middle to give the Rockies the lead.

Colorado added two more runs after Dreifort’s departure on a sacrifice fly by Jeff Barry against Pedro Borbon and a run-scoring single by Dante Bichette against Alan Mills. The Rockies had a 5-2 lead, and that was more than enough against the punchless Dodgers.

All five runs were charged to Dreifort, who also gave up nine hits in 6 1/3 innings. Dreifort made 97 pitches in what became another unsettling outing for him and the Dodgers.

“I was proud of Dreifort, I thought he pitched a heck of a ballgame,” Johnson said. “He just made a couple of mistakes at the end, and then our bullpen didn’t do a whole lot.

“The story was their pitcher. Astacio pitched a great game. We got him in a couple of jams, but we just couldn’t get the big hit.”