Dodgers Making Their Charge at Padres--for Last

The punching bag took another lick Wednesday night, when the Dodgers added Woody Williams to the list of pitchers they have made look like Roger Clemens or Greg Maddux.

That’s Williams, who was 2-5 coming into Dodger Stadium and looked like a Cy Young Award winner coming out.

Williams struck out only four Dodgers, but handled them easily enough in eight-plus innings and got enough runs to win in the fifth inning of a 6-2 victory before 31,152.

He got enough in the eighth to allow him to breeze, and enough help from Trevor Hoffman in the ninth to finish off the Dodgers.

Williams gave San Diego its fifth win in a row by keeping the Dodgers in a rut. They have lost 11 of 15 and have scored more than three runs in only six of them.

They finished the night 1 1/2 games ahead of the Padres, who are ahead of nobody in the National League West.

For all of the teammates’ cobwebbed bats, though, don’t let the Dodger pitchers escape blame. They were their own worst enemy Wednesday night.

Starter Ismael Valdes surrendered four of the runs on consecutive homers, one of which followed two walks.

Reliever Jamie Arnold gave up two more when he slipped on the infield grass after fielding an easy tapper by Ruben Rivera with Reggie Sanders coming hard to home plate with one out.

Arnold’s throw toward catcher Angel Pena instead was thrown through Pena on one hop, allowing Sanders to coast across, trailed by Dave Magadan, who scored from second base on a ball that was hit 55 feet.

Valdes (5-7) could be excused for assuming a two-run Dodger fourth inning would be their high-water mark on his behalf. In losing five decisions in a row, he has had eight runs of support, only once as many as three.

The first of the two runs came when Gary Sheffield reached down for a Williams offering and deposited it over the left-field fence for his 15th homer of the season.

The second came two outs later when Devon White legged a double on a ball hit to right field, then scored when Jose Vizcaino was fooled on a pitch and reached out, dumping the ball into center field with only his right hand on the bat.

The Dodger lead lasted only a few moments, erased when Eric Owens homered to left field with Damian Jackson and Quilvio Veras aboard. Both had walked.

Valdes compounded his misery when he served up a batting-practice fastball to Sanders on the next pitch. Sanders also put it into the left-field seats for a 4-2 San Diego lead.

It was nothing new for Valdes, who was allowed 19 home runs.

He left for pinch-hitter Dave Hansen in the seventh inning, and Arnold immediately struggled. He gave up an infield single to Sanders, then a base hit to center field by Magadan before striking out Greg Myers.

Sanders and Magadan executed a double-steal on the third strike to Myers, putting runners on second and third for Rivera and requiring the Dodgers to draw in their infield.

Manager Davey Johnson chose to have Arnold pitch to Rivera rather than walk the bases loaded to set up a double play, and the strategy seemed rewarded when Rivera topped a ball just to Arnold’s left.

Arnold pounced on it, then had to turn his feet to make his right-handed throw to home plate. Those feet had a mind of their own on the dew-covered grass, and Arnold slipped while throwing.

The ball bounced through Pena’s legs for an error and two runs, enough to finish off the Dodgers in just about any game they have played lately.

Williams retired 10 Dodgers in a row until Todd Hollandsworth ended the streak with a single to right field to open the ninth.

Eric Karros followed with a single of his own, and Padre Manager Bruce Bochy decided Williams had done his job.

Bochy directed him to hand the ball to Hoffman, who induced White to hit into a double play, then retired Vizcaino to finish off his 17th save.