Two Lapses Add Up to a Dodger Defeat

Darren Dreifort pitched one bad inning and Mark Grudzielanek committed one big error.

The total was costly Thursday night for the Dodgers in the Houston Astros’ 6-3 victory at Enron Field before 37,150.

Dreifort gave up a first-inning, three-run home run to Lance Berkman, and two runs scored on second baseman Grudzielanek’s sixth-inning error. The combination paved the way for the Astros in their only victory in the three-game series.

Dreifort (4-6) got in a groove after the first and worked seven innings in a solid start overall, but the right-hander has lost his last three starts and has dropped five of six.

Grudzielanek acknowledged he didn’t help Thursday. Houston took a 5-1 lead in the sixth on his two-base error on Julio Lugo’s one-out grounder against a drawn-in infield.

“It was one of those changeups and a knuckler, and I messed it up,” said Grudzielanek, who doubled in four at-bats. “I came up a little quick and it stayed down and kind of slithered.

“That’s one you’ve got to make sure to get an out. I blew it and that just can’t happen.”

The Astros (26-45) maintained the momentum with right-hander Scott Elarton (5-3) , pitching an effective eight innings, but the Dodgers gave them a ninth-inning scare.

Gary Sheffield increased his hitting streak to 12 games with a leadoff homer--No. 24--against Doug Henry. The Dodgers loaded the bases with none out, and Chad Kreuter represented the tying run.

He grounded into a double play and the Dodgers scored another run, but that was it for the rally. Kevin Elster flied out to center and Marc Valdes earned his first save since 1997.

The Dodgers (38-32) had come-from-behind victories in the first two games of the series, and there were early indications they would come up short with Dreifort working.

“Dreif was a little uptight early,” Manager Davey Johnson said. “Sometimes he gets sky-high early and throws a lot of pitches, but he settled down and kept us in the game.

“He gradually settled down, as he had a lot of times, but he was too pumped up. That’s kind of the way it’s been for him.”

Dreifort’s problems started after leadoff batter Glen Barker flied out. Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell walked, and Berkman hit Dreifort’s first pitch to him deep to left-center for his seventh homer.

The Astros had a 3-0 lead and Dreifort had another reason to be upset with himself.

“Walks will kill you,” said Dreifort, who has a 4.76 earned-run average. “I was probably overthrowing a little bit. It wasn’t that I wasn’t comfortable in the first, I just wasn’t getting the ball where it needed to be.

“Every game is big for me. I hate to lose, I hate to put us in a position not to win right out of the gate.”

The Dodgers were in similar positions in each of the previous two games, but they had Elarton to contend with Thursday.

The 6-foot-7 right-hander gave up only four hits and one run--on Dreifort’s run-scoring double to center in the fifth. He walked one, struck out six and kept the Dodgers guessing.

“He was hitting both sides of the plate,” said Sheffield, who has seven homers during his hitting streak. “He was throwing in the low 90s but his ball gets on you real quick.”

Grudzielanek may have had too much time on Lugo’s grounder.

The Astros had runners at second and third with one out after two singles and a double steal. The ball went through Grudzielanek’s legs, Lugo advanced to second and Grudzielanek was left with a bad feeling.

“It caught me off guard a little bit,” he said. “I probably cost us a chance to win the game.”

Dreifort said his bad moment hurt more.

“I feel like I’m pitching well, but I’m not getting the job done. You have to do both,” he lamented.