Less Means More of the Same

The Dodgers are in a huge hole, and they need something special to happen quickly.

They still are waiting after the Pirates’ 6-5 victory in 10 innings Sunday night slowed their supposed second-half charge. The Dodgers took two of three against the Angels in their last series, and they had won six of their last seven.

That didn’t matter to the Pirates. They improved to 6-1 this season against the Dodgers when Kevin Young scored the winning run from third base on Adrian Brown’s one-out, fly ball to center against Alan Mills.

The Dodgers continued to waste opportunities, leaving the bases loaded in the first when they could have broken the game open, and stranding runners in scoring position in the late innings.

That, combined with some shaky pitching by Mills, helped the Pirates win their fourth in a row over the Dodgers here.

Dodger starter Carlos Perez gave up seven hits--among them two more home runs--and four runs in six innings. The disappointing left-hander was better than average for him this season, though that’s not saying much. His earned-run average is among the worst in the major leagues at 6.88, and he has given up 22 homers in only 83 2/3 innings.

Eric Young and Todd Hollandsworth provided clutch hits to help the Dodgers force extra innings before a crowd of 23,855.

Hollandsworth hit a two-run, second-deck, pinch-hit homer as the Dodgers scored three runs in the seventh to tie the score at 4-4.

Young’s two-out, run-scoring double in the ninth tied the score at 5-5. Typically, though, many of their teammates failed at key moments.

“We should have had that game,” said Young, who was forced to leave in the ninth inning because of a strained right hamstring. “Our No. 1 problem this year has been hitting with runners in scoring position, and we had our chances again tonight and didn’t get it done.”

The Pirates (46-45) also failed in key situations--but they got the job done in the 10th.

Kevin Young doubled into the left-field corner to start the inning against Mills (2-3) and advanced to third on a groundout by Ed Sprague. Brown then hit a fly ball to medium center. Devon White retreated to make the catch and threw home, but Young scored easily.

Mills also struggled in the ninth. In that inning, he gave up a single and walked two to load the bases with Brian Giles coming to the plate with two out.

Giles blasted a two-run homer against Perez in the sixth. Against Mills, Giles hit a sinking liner to left that Hollandsworth caught while dropping to his knees and sliding on the artificial surface, preserving the tie and extending the game to the 10th.

Extra-inning games have not been fun for Mills recently. The right-hander also took the loss Thursday during the Angels’ 7-6, 10-inning victory.

“We have to win more of these ballgames,” Manager Davey Johnson said. “Perez pitched all right, he made some mistakes late in the game, but he should have had a bigger lead.

“We had our chances early in the game. We had the table set, we had runners in scoring position, and we had the right people up there.

“We just didn’t get the big hit.”

Johnson should be used to that by now.

The Dodgers are among the worst teams in the major leagues with runners in scoring position, and things held to form Sunday.

They were four for 16 with runners in scoring position. The Nos. 3-7 batters were hitless in eight at-bats in those situations.

“We know that when the bases are loaded, we have to find a way to score runs,” Young said of leaving the bases loaded in the first after he scored on a single by Mark Grudzielanek to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead.

“We could have knocked Ritchie out of the game. We could have had a big inning, and we didn’t.”

And that’s nothing new for the Dodgers.