Park Wipes Out on Perilous Curve

Starter Chan Ho Park has anchored a Dodger rotation shuffled often because of injuries, though one could not tell Thursday night in an 8-5 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates before 29,841 at PNC Park.

The National League Central’s last-place team pounded Park (11-8) for seven hits--including two home runs--and seven runs in five ineffective innings.

Brian Giles, who lacked only a single for the cycle, hit his team-leading 26th homer, was three for four, and had two runs batted in and three runs against Park.

Craig Wilson’s three-run home run in the fourth gave the Pirates a 5-1 lead and was Park’s lowest moment in a night of many.

The Pirates (44-69) had 11 hits in salvaging a game in the three-game series, and finished 2-75 in the season series against the West leaders.

Todd Ritchie (9-10) earned his ninth victory in his last 11 decisions despite giving up 10 hits and five runs (four earned) in 51/3 innings.

Former Dodger reliever Mike Fetters recorded his third save and second since being traded to the Pirates July 31, pumping his fist and yelling as Paul Lo Duca grounded out to end the game.

The Dodgers (65-50) also had 11 hits, but their winning streak ended at four games and their lead in the division dwindled to one game over the second-place San Francisco Giants and 11/2 over the third-place Arizona Diamondbacks.

Although the Dodgers had other problems Thursday, Park was their biggest from the outset.

“He just ... he wasn’t sharp tonight,” Manager Jim Tracy said. “He didn’t have his good stuff, he didn’t have the good bite to his breaking ball that he normally has.

“There are times when you go out there and you don’t have your good stuff with you, and it was very obvious that he didn’t have it tonight. But when you look at what this man has done over the course of this season, he’s been there for us in a big way.

“Tonight was just one of those nights. He just didn’t have it.”

Park’s earned-run average ballooned from 2.83 to 3.12 in his second-worst start of the season, and second loss in as many outings.

The right-hander’s performance wasn’t as bad as a seven-run, 31/3-inning outing July 13 in an 11-7 interleague loss to the Oakland Athletics, but it was close.

“My curveball wasn’t too good,” Park said. “Especially [on] the Wilson three-run home run.

“That was a hanging curve. That was big.”

The Dodgers cut the lead to 2-1 in the fourth on Chad Kreuter’s run-scoring groundout, but Park quickly faltered again in the Pirates’ half of the inning.

He gave up a leadoff double to Giles, hit Jason Kendall with a pitch and gave up Wilson’s blast to left-center on the first pitch for a four-run Pirate advantage.

“Obviously, that was a very big blow,” Tracy said. “The three-run home run that Wilson hit, that one really hurt.

“The way we were swinging the bats against Ritchie, a guy throwing extremely well for them, you would think that getting five [runs] would be more than enough.

“We needed a stop [in the fourth]. We kept coming back. We did everything we could to try to get back in the ballgame, we used about every possible combination we could possibly use to match up with their pitching in the latter part of the game.”

Park was disappointed.

“We hit [well], the guys tried to pick me up, but I had a bad day,” said Park, who had six strikeouts with a walk while throwing 53 strikes in 76 pitches.

“I’m looking forward to the next game. I feel good about that day.”

Fetters has not had much fun since the Dodgers sent him and minor league left-hander Adrian Burnside to the Pirates for veteran left-hander Terry Mulholland.

“In my heart, I want those guys to win the whole thing, I just don’t want them to win a single game against my team,” Fetters said. “I was really pumped up after I got that last out. I sat in the dugout and had to take a breath. It was real strange facing those guys. It’s not very often you get traded in the middle of a season, and then you have to face your old teammates.”