Dodger Offense Painfully Absent Against Giants

Carlos Perez pitched Saturday afternoon despite undergoing treatment for a stiff neck before and during a game against the San Francisco Giants.

He felt worse after the Dodgers stalled offensively in a 4-1 loss at Pacific Bell Park.

The Dodgers grounded into double plays in the first three innings against starter Kirk Rueter, stranded nine runners and lost for the first time in five games at the Giants’ new home before another sellout crowd of 40,930.

Reuter (6-4) was in command in a scoreless six-inning outing.

The efficient left-hander induced grounders with a sharp sinker, and the help of umpire Angel Hernandez’s wide strike zone. Closer Robb Nen struck out the side in the ninth, including two looking, for his 13th save.

It was that type of day for the Dodgers.

“We started the game off with three double plays, and that always helps,” said Giant Manager Dusty Baker, whose team improved to 39-38. “And [Rueter] was throwing strikes, which also always helps.”

Perez wasn’t bad either.

The left-hander pitched surprisingly well overall in his return to the rotation after two strong relief appearances. Perez (4-4) kept the Dodgers in the game in his six innings of work, throwing 75 strikes in 97 pitches.

But he wasn’t as good as Reuter.

The Giants hit two, two-run home runs against Perez. F.P. Santangelo’s seventh-inning sacrifice fly produced the Dodgers’ only run.

That didn’t ease Perez’s pain.

“The way I felt this morning, I didn’t think I could pitch today,” said Perez, who is experiencing soreness on the right side of his neck. “My neck was real bad, and it was stiff the last few days.

“But no matter how I feel, I want to pitch and do my best. The only thing that could stop me is if my arm hurts, and my arm felt fine. I just made a couple of bad pitches.”

The first occurred in a frustrating third inning for the Dodgers (41-38).

They should have turned a double play after Rueter’s leadoff single, but only got Rueter at second because shortstop Kevin Elster fielded Calvin Murray’s grounder slowly. Then Hernandez called a balk on Perez, saying Perez stepped toward home plate while throwing to first, sending Murray to second and upsetting the Dodgers.

Especially Perez.

“I’ve been doing that same stuff all the time, and nobody called anything,” Perez said. “That guy [Hernandez] called three balks on me in my career. Three times.”

With one out and Murray at second, Ramon Martinez hit an 0-2 splitter over the wall in left-center, his fifth homer staking Rueter to a 2-0 lead. And the Dodgers wondered what could have been had they turned the double play.

“That whole inning was a little unnerving for Carlos,” first baseman Eric Karros said. “He had the balk call, and the double play we didn’t turn.

“It was a combination of the two. You keep giving any team opportunities like that and you’re going to get burned.”

The Giants completed their scoring in the fourth.

Ellis Burks led off with a single and Rich Aurilia blasted a full-count fastball over the left-field wall. His seventh homer gave the Giants a 4-0 cushion.

“To me, that was a good game for me today,” said Perez, who hasn’t won since May 20. “I threw a lot of strikes today and tried to keep my team in the game.”

Dodger Manager Davey Johnson was satisfied with Perez’s nine-hit, six-strikeout, no-walk performance. He wasn’t too happy about the rest of the team.

“It was just a couple of long balls . . . Carlos didn’t pitch that badly,” said Johnson, whose team trails the Arizona Diamondbacks by 5 1/2 games in the National League West.

“We just didn’t get much on Rueter. He got a lot of ground balls with runners on base, and those three double plays the first three innings set the tone for us.”

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