Dodgers’ Extra Effort Especially Wasteful

The Dodgers could have capped an improbable victory Sunday, swept the San Diego Padres and accomplished an early-season goal with one timely fly ball.

Instead, they wasted their work--and Jeff Reboulet’s disputed ninth-inning, three-run, pinch-hit home run--in the Padres’ 7-6, 11-inning victory before 31,040 at Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers failed to score in the 10th after loading the bases with none out against reliever Jay Witasick (1-1), who struck out Chad Kreuter, pinch-hitter Tom Goodwin and Reboulet to escape the jam.

The Padres capitalized in the 11th, scoring the go-ahead run on Bubba Trammell’s double to right field against Dodger closer Jeff Shaw (0-1), who walked Phil Nevin to start the inning.

Gary Sheffield flied out to end the 3-hour 45-minute game, completing a 1-2-3 inning and giving Rodney Myers his first save.

“We had ‘em where we wanted ‘em in the 10th inning,” Dodger Manager Jim Tracy said. “Let’s face it, you’ve got the bases loaded and nobody out. You feel awfully good about your chances.”

The Dodgers did not sustain the momentum provided by Reboulet’s one-out blast against Padre all-star closer Trevor Hoffman, which tied the score, 6-6, and sparked another controversial ruling that ended in San Diego Manager Bruce Bochy being ejected for the second time in less than 24 hours.

Trailing, 6-3, in the ninth, the first two Dodger batters reached base against Hoffman on an error by Padre left fielder Santiago Perez, and a wild pitch after Hoffman struck out Kreuter.

After Angel Pena struck out, Reboulet batted for reliever Gregg Olson, who gave up two runs in the top of the inning.

On a 1-and-1 count, Reboulet drove a ball into the left-field corner near the 330-foot sign, where Perez seemed to be in good position to make a catch.

But fans hanging over the short wall battled him for the ball. It hit his glove and bounced into the stands for Reboulet’s first homer in his last 200 games.

Third base umpire Mike DiMuro ruled that Perez went into the stands to try to make the catch, making the ball fair game.

Television replays appeared to indicate a fan interfered with Perez.

Bochy argued and was ejected. He had been ejected Saturday for disputing a call in the Dodgers’ 4-2 victory.

“Everybody saw it,” Perez said. “Somebody touched me. I thought the ball hit my glove right when somebody touched me.”

The fan who collided with Perez, Nicholas Montanez of Oxnard, said Perez was in the stands.

“I was not helping the Dodgers,” said Montanez, 38. “He came in here and tried to catch it.

“He hit us with his glove. I was on [the crowd side of the wall]. I went for the ball and he hit my glove.”

Dodger starter Darren Dreifort had only one bad inning in seven, but it cost him a victory.

The Dodgers staked the right-hander to a 3-0 lead on Shawn Green’s run-scoring single in the first and consecutive home runs from Green and Eric Karros--Nos. 5 and 4, respectively--in the fourth. Green matched his career high with four hits.

Wiki Gonzalez’s leadoff homer in the sixth ended Dreifort’s bid for a no-hitter, and Ryan Klesko’s three-run shot--homer No. 2 and his second in as many games--gave the Padres a 4-3 lead.

The Padres salvaged a victory in the three-game series, dropping the Dodgers to 9-9 against National League West opponents.

The Dodgers had hoped for a better start in their 18-game, season-opening stretch against the division, and their poor performance in the 10th did not boost their spirits.

“I don’t think we’ve been playing fundamentally all week long, and I think it just caught up with us,” said center fielder Marquis Grissom, who was four for six with a run in the leadoff spot. “I can look at five or six incidents . . . you’ve just got to get guys over and get ‘em in.”