Dodgers Have Almost Hit Bottom in the West

In a season going downhill rapidly, fingers are bound to be pointed.

After the Dodgers lost to the San Diego Padres, 2-1, Thursday night, left fielder Gary Sheffield pointed his finger directly at his general manager, Kevin Malone.

Asked if he thought teams were playing harder against the Dodgers, Sheffield said he did, adding, “Especially when you make comments about winning the World Series, teams are going to come after you.”

Malone talked about his team getting to the World Series back in spring training.

Never mind the World Series. The Dodgers would be happy at this point winning a regular-season series. They were swept by the Padres in the just-concluded, three-game series

For the Dodgers, good hitting is negated by poor pitching. Or good pitching is wasted because of weak hitting.

Thursday night at Dodger Stadium, it was the latter. After giving up a first-inning run, Dodger starter and loser Darren Dreifort (6-6) and three relievers held the Padres to one additional run the rest of the way.

But, with another anemic performance by the Dodger offense, that proved to be just enough as the Padres won, 2-1, in front of another disappointed crowd, this one numbering 31,028.

The Dodgers were thus swept in the three-game series by the Padres, who have won six in a row.

Despite facing a Padre starter--Andy Ashby--who was coming off the disabled list Thursday after missing 18 days because of a protruding disk in his lower back, the Dodgers managed to get only four hits off Ashby (7-4) in his six innings-plus and five overall.

While the Padres improved to 31-38, the Dodgers dropped to 32-38, the first time they have been six games under .500 since May 1995.

Dreifort, who has been plagued by control problems, started off wild again in the first inning and it cost him.

After Damian Jackson hit a sharp grounder to third that Dave Hansen, starting in place of the slumping Adrian Beltre, found too hot to handle, Dreifort, with one out, hit Reggie Sanders and walked John Vander Wal.

Dave Magadan’s sacrifice fly to center drove in the night’s first run.

San Diego used another Magadan sacrifice fly in the third to bring home a second run. Eric Owens singled, stole second and went to third on a single by Vander Wal. From there, Owens scored on a sacrifice fly to left.

The Padres were without outfielder Tony Gwynn, who went on the disabled list Thursday because of a strained left calf, but they had all the offense they would need.

Ashby retired the first 11 Dodgers before giving up a single to Sheffield.

“I wasn’t worried,” San Diego Manager Bruce Bochy said of his decision to start Ashby after the long layoff. “He pitched pretty good.”

But, in the seventh inning, the slumbering Dodgers briefly awoke against the San Diego right-hander. However, anybody looking for a prime example of the Dodgers’ offensive frustration of late need look no further.

Sheffield opened with a walk, Raul Mondesi singled to center and Todd Hollandsworth did the same to right, Hollandsworth’s hit sending Sheffield home and Mondesi to third.

With two swings of the bat, the Dodgers had equaled their previous hit total for the evening and had gotten the troublesome Ashby out of there.

On came reliever Donne Wall with the tying run at third, the go-ahead run at first and nobody out.

But the Dodgers could not hit this Wall.

Eric Karros popped up to short left, not deep enough to bring a run home. Jose Vizcaino hit a ball back to the mound, which turned into a rundown, with Hollandsworth out at third. The Padres were out of the inning one batter later when pinch-hitter Devon White hit a soft liner to short.

“I hate to be thinking about squeezing in the tying run,” Dodger Manager Davey Johnson said. “That’s what was going through my mind. That’s very contrary to the way I like to play this game.”

The Dodgers took one more run at San Diego in the ninth inning. The Dodgers might have been relieved not to see Padre closer Trevor Hoffman on the mound, but the Padres got adequate relief from Dan Miceli.

After Miceli had retired the first two Dodgers, Hollandsworth singled and Karros walked.

But Miceli slipped a pitch past Vizcaino on the outside corner for a called third strike and the game was over.

” We’ve got to get out of this funk some day sooner or later,” Johnson said.

At this point, it looks like it will be later. Much later.

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* UNPLEASANT EXPERIENCE: Dodger Stadium attraction’s curator and designer go to court over confrontation. C2