Valdes Digs Deep Hole for Dodgers

Perhaps the acquisition of pitcher Ismael Valdes will put the Dodgers in the fast lane of the National League West title race.

Or maybe the move will be no more effective than replacing a bald tire with a retread. Such was the case Sunday night when Valdes didn’t get far before the game became a blowout.

The Milwaukee Brewers pounded the right-hander for seven runs in 1 1/3 innings and the Dodgers fell, 9-6, in front of 40,275 at Dodger Stadium.

Valdes (2-5) gave up eight hits--including four doubles and a home run--to a team that is last in the league in hitting.

The Dodgers came up with 12 hits but couldn’t dig out of the 7-0 hole, especially with top hitter Gary Sheffield sidelined because of a jammed right thumb.

And they fell deeper into third place in the West. The Dodgers (58-52) are 3 1/2 games behind the San Francisco Giants and 2 1/2 behind the Arizona Diamondbacks, each of whom won Sunday.

Of more immediate concern is Valdes, who was with the Dodgers from 1994-99 before being traded to the Chicago Cubs during the off-season. He was brought back in a July 26 trade for two minor leaguers.

“I’ve never seen [Valdes] get hit that hard,” Dodger Manager Davey Johnson said. “He left too many pitches over the middle of the plate.”

Trouble began early. With two out in the first, Geoff Jenkins and Richie Sexson singled and Jeromy Burnitz drove them in with a double.

The second inning was worse. Valdes walked Jose Hernandez and gave up a double to Henry Blanco. Pitcher Jimmy Haynes doubled to left field to score both runners, and a single by Ron Belliard drove in Haynes.

Marquis Grissom popped up, but Jenkins crushed a long home run to center field to make the score 7-0. The homer was the 22nd of the season and third in two games for Jenkins.

“My arm is fine, I have no problems at all,” said Valdes, whose earned-run average ballooned to 6.10. “I don’t know what happened. I just got my [butt] kicked.”

The Brewers, facing Valdes for the fourth time this season, weren’t quite finished with him. Sexson doubled on the next pitch, prompting Johnson to summon left-hander Carlos Perez.

Perez, banished to the bullpen last week because of ineffectiveness, held the Brewers scoreless for 5 2/3 innings. He gave up a single to Charlie Hayes with two out in the second, but right fielder Shawn Green threw out Sexson at the plate.

“The bullpen did a great job keeping us in the game,” Johnson said.

Haynes (10-10) allowed only one hit until the fifth inning, when the Dodgers loaded the bases with none out on consecutive singles by Devon White, Adrian Beltre and Alex Cora. White and Beltre scored to reduce the deficit to 7-2, but Mark Grudzielanek grounded into an inning-ending double play.

White, Beltre and Cora also opened the seventh with singles, chasing Haynes. Cora’s hit brought home White, and a single by Grudzielanek scored Beltre to pull the Dodgers to within 7-4.

Cora and Grudzielanek were stranded by Green, who grounded out to second for the third time. Green batted in Sheffield’s customary No. 3 spot and went 0 for 5.

Dodger right-hander Gregg Olson, in his second appearance since coming off the disabled list, got through the eighth inning unscathed but with two out in the ninth gave up run-scoring hits to Hernandez and Blanco.

The extra runs proved important. Cora started the Dodger ninth with a single, and with one out Tom Goodwin hit a ground-rule double. Grudzielanek brought both runners home with a bloop single to right, but Green and Todd Hundley grounded out.

Although the Dodgers are scheduled to face winless Chicago Cub rookie pitchers tonight and Tuesday, nothing can be taken for granted.

“We need to win these series,” Johnson said. “Especially at home.”

It would help if the Dodgers got some mileage out of Valdes. “This is not the end of the world,” Valdes said. “I need to come out and do better in my next start.”