Perez’s Performance Is Short and Rocky

Where is Ismael Valdes when you need him?

The former and future Dodger starter will join the club soon after being reacquired in a trade Wednesday, but that didn’t help in the Colorado Rockies’ 11-4 victory at Coors Field.

The Rockies pounded Dodger starter Carlos Perez before 40,301, taking the third game of the four-game series after dropping the first two.

Perez (4-5) gave up six runs in the first inning after the Dodgers staked him to a 3-0 lead, and he was chased after three-plus innings. The left-hander gave up nine hits--including his team-leading 21st home run--and was charged with nine runs, eight earned.

The left-hander’s second-worst start of the season slowed the Dodgers’ momentum, and coincided with Valdes’ return after he was traded to Chicago in December.

The Dodgers (53-47) made the curious move because they believe the National League West title is up for grabs, and they hope Valdes will provide a boost. After Perez’s latest performance, the Dodgers need one.

“It’s the first time he hasn’t kept us in a ballgame in quite a while,” said Manager Davey Johnson, whose team trails the co-division leading Arizona Diamondbacks and San Francisco Giants by 2 1/2 games.

“Carlos has been good, but he wasn’t real sharp tonight. He was up and he had some walks that pretty much sealed his fate. He really has been a lot better.”

Before Wednesday’s outing, Perez was 0-1 with a 3.34 earned-run average in his previous six appearances.

The same guy didn’t show up against the Rockies, who had lost 17 of 20 and three in a row.

“I was thinking I had my good stuff earlier in the game, but they hit a lot of pitches,” said Perez, who knocked over a water cooler and other items in the visitors’ dugout after Johnson pulled him in the fourth.

“There were a couple of bloopers and a couple of walks that hurt. I thought I had a lot better velocity compared to my last three starts, but things happen. It just wasn’t good.”

No doubt about that.

Perez’s ERA ballooned from 4.98 to 5.56. The Dodgers gave him a 3-0 lead on Eric Karros’ two-run double and Adrian Beltre’s run-scoring out against former Dodger Brian Bohanon (5-7)--and then Perez got pounded.

The Rockies sent 10 batters to the plate in the first and had six hits. Jeffrey Hammonds’ three-run home run to left-center was the big blow, though it was disputed.

TV replays showed that a fan reached over the fence and caught the ball, and Johnson argued with umpires. He did not persuade them to change the call, which did not surprise him.

When Johnson was managing the Baltimore Orioles in the 1996 American League championship series, the New York Yankees’ Derek Jeter was awarded a homer when 12-year-old Jeffrey Maier reached over the right-field fence at Yankee Stadium and caught the ball.

“I haven’t gotten a good call yet with somebody leaning over the wall,” Johnson said, smiling. “We just got a bad call. Somebody did touch it.”

The Dodgers hope Valdes will help change their luck.