Dodgers Lose, but Remain in First

With a tip of the cap and a hearty merci to the Montreal Expos, the Dodgers still are the first-place Dodgers, for today at least.

They coughed up a stinker Wednesday, giving up a season-high 20 hits in their third consecutive loss, this one 10-5 to the Cincinnati Reds before 38,582 at Dodger Stadium. But first place in the National League West still belongs to the Dodgers, thanks to the Expos’ 8-5 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

At this rate, neither the Dodgers nor the Diamondbacks will win the division. The San Francisco Giants extended their winning streak to seven games Wednesday, creeping within two games of first place.

“It’s a two-month season right now,” Dodger Manager Jim Tracy said. “It’s going to be very interesting.”

The Reds struck hard twice, scoring five times off Terry Adams in the fifth inning and four times off newcomer Terry Mulholland in the seventh.

Ken Griffey Jr. had the only home run, a solo shot, but Aaron Boone had four hits and Sean Casey, Todd Walker and Dmitri Young had three apiece.

The Dodgers wasted no time unveiling Mulholland, one of their newest cast members. They traded for the veteran reliever Tuesday and he arrived Wednesday at 4 p.m. Five hours later, the Dodgers put him to work.

Mulholland had not pitched in a major league game since June 8 because of a broken finger. The Pittsburgh Pirates provided him two minor league rehabilitation appearances, for a total of 2 1/3 innings, before trading him. The Dodgers scouted those appearances, decided no more would be necessary and activated him immediately.

So, with the Dodgers trailing, 5-3, after six innings, Mulholland made his Dodger debut in the seventh. This was not the stuff dreams are made of.

The first four batters singled. The Reds batted around on Mulholland, scoring four runs on five hits and building a 9-3 cushion.

“If I’m able to throw up a zero there, it’s a whole different game,” he said.

Adams had been nothing short of terrific as a starter. The Dodgers inserted him into their starting rotation in June, after a major league career that consisted of 363 relief appearances and zero starts. In his 11 previous starts, he lost once, and he carried a three-game winning streak into Wednesday’s game.

This, however, would be the shortest outing of his fledgling career as a starter, and surprisingly so. He got a double play grounder in the first inning and another in the second, and he struck out two in the fourth.

He started the fifth inning with a 3-0 lead; he ended the inning in the showers. Pokey Reese doubled to start the inning. Davis struck out, but reached first base when strike three bounced past catcher Paul Lo Duca for a wild pitch.

“I didn’t block that pitch,” Lo Duca said. “That opened up the flood gates.”

The runs flowed from there. Walker doubled home one run, Adam Dunn doubled home two more, and Casey and Young each singled home a run.

The Reds got nine hits in all off Adams, in 4 1/3 innings. Adams (7-4) lost for the first time since July 12. Cincinnati rookie Lance Davis (5-1) won his fourth consecutive start, giving up three runs over six innings and walking none.

The ascension of the Giants is no surprise to Mulholland, who played for San Francisco Manager Dusty Baker in 1995 and 1997. The Giants fortified Baker’s roster by trading for first baseman Andres Galarraga, outfielder John Vander Wal and pitchers Jason Christiansen, Wayne Gomes and Jason Schmidt in recent days.

In his San Francisco debut Wednesday, Schmidt pitched a one-hitter over seven innings.

“There’s a big difference between a club with good talent and a club with good talent that has no heart,” Mulholland said. “He [Baker] always does a real good job of preparing the players and knowing what makes them tick.”

Tracy respects Baker’s ability and that of the newest Giants, but he isn’t cowering. In the last four seasons, the Giants have won two division championships; the Dodgers last won one in 1995 and last finished within 10 games of first place in 1997.