Dodgers Losing Their Balance

The Dodgers are fading fast in a tight National League West race that might soon feature one fewer contender.

The leading Arizona Diamondbacks and second-place San Francisco Giants are speeding into the homestretch while the third-place Dodgers are stumbling.

The Dodgers have lost 13 of their last 19 and were 2-4 in their last homestand against the Montreal Expos and New York Mets--teams a combined 30 games under .500.

Despite their second-half flop, the Dodgers (67-57) trail the Diamondbacks by only 5 1/2 games in the division race, and the Giants by three in the NL wild-card standings with 22 of their final 27 against the West.

But players said they must end long pitching and batting slumps if they are to benefit from the unbalanced schedule. They’re still waiting.

The Dodgers today begin a seven-game trip against the Florida Marlins and East-leading Atlanta Braves, hoping to overcome their problems before the Diamondbacks and Giants leave them in the dust.

“We just can’t get further out than where we’re at right now,” right fielder Shawn Green said. “[The Dodgers, Diamondbacks and Giants] are going to be playing each other a lot the last month, and you’ve got to figure we’re going to be beating each other up.

“But they’re playing better than we are right now, so we don’t want to be in a position where we have to make up even more ground. We’re obviously in a bad stretch. It seems like we’ve lost that feeling we had, and it happened really fast.”

The Dodgers led the Diamondbacks and Giants by 1 1/2 games Aug. 8, the day the Diamondbacks (72-51) began a nine-game winning streak.

Starters Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling have powered Arizona while waging a Cy Young-award showdown.

Johnson is 6-0 with a 1.53 earned-run average in eight starts since the All-Star break, and opponents are batting .186 against the three-time Cy Young winner, who has 85 strikeouts in 59 innings.

Overall, Johnson is 17-5 with a 2.35 ERA and 287 strikeouts in 191 2/3 innings.

Schilling leads the majors in victories at 18-5, has a 2.87 ERA and 224 strikeouts in 197 2/3 innings.

The right-hander has been almost as good in the second half as his left-handed counterpart, going 6-1 with a 1.99 ERA.

Schilling has 64 strikeouts in 54 1/3 innings and opponents are batting only .222 against him.

The Dodgers acknowledge the Diamondbacks’ 1-2 punch gives them an edge.

“Those guys are two of the best in the business, and you know they’re going to give you a dominating outing almost every time,” left fielder Gary Sheffield said. “You know you’re not going to have long losing streaks with them, and that picks up everyone when you’re fighting for a pennant.”

The Giants (70-54) have won 18 of their last 23, led by left fielder Barry Bonds, who leads the majors with 54 home runs.

First baseman Andres Galarraga also has provided a spark in 20 games since he was acquired from the Texas Rangers, hitting .308 with 20 runs batted in.

“The thing about [the Diamondbacks and Giants] is that they’ve been a lot healthier than us,” Sheffield said. “Like we’ve said all long, we’re not going to make excuses, but we’ve had a lot of injuries, and our key players have been hit with them.

“It’s one thing if Johnson and Schilling and Barry went down, but then those teams wouldn’t be in contention for anything. We lost Kevin Brown, [Darren] Dreifort and [Andy] Ashby.

“I’ve been on [the disabled list] and on and on. That’s a lot to overcome, and we’re still at the point we’re at. Just think where we’d be if we’d been healthy.”

Injuries have forced Manager Jim Tracy to shuffle the pitching staff, and it has struggled recently after exceeding expectations.

The Dodgers are sixth in the league with a 4.23 ERA, but are 6-11 with a 4.62 ERA in August.

The bullpen has the second-worst ERA in the league at 4.59, and right-hander Mike Trombley and left-hander Terry Mulholland have not bolstered the group as interim General Manager Dave Wallace and Dan Evans, his top assistant, had hoped.

Trombley is 0-2 with a 6.52 ERA in eight appearances, having given up 10 hits in 9 2/3 innings.

Mulholland is 1-0 with a 6.48 ERA in eight games, and opponents are batting .351 against him.

Trombley is sharing setup duties with overworked right-hander Matt Herges, against whom opponents are batting .354 in the second half.

“Our pitching has been great all year, but we’re just in a little rut right now,” catcher Paul Lo Duca said. “You go through it at times.”

Batters do too.

Lo Duca, Sheffield and Green are having outstanding seasons, but they’re not getting much help.

First baseman Eric Karros is batting .207 with five homers and 16 RBIs since the break, and outfielder Marquis Grissom .175 with four homers and seven RBIs.

Tom Goodwin, bumped from the leadoff spot, is batting .133 with a .182 on-base percentage.

“This club, from a momentum standpoint, can do it again,” Tracy said. “We just [have to] get to a point where, offensively, we feel comfortable, where it’s just not Green and Sheffield and Lo Duca. Those extra couple of hits have to be picked up somewhere.”

The Dodgers have seven games against the Diamondbacks in their final 10, including a season-ending, three-game series at Bank One Ballpark.

“We can still do this, but we need to stop worrying about what the other guys are doing and take care of our business,” shortstop Alex Cora said. “It’s about what we do, that’s what matters.

“The Giants and Diamondbacks . . . we know they’re playing well, but that doesn’t do anything to help us. We’re going to play them a lot at the end, but we have to get ourselves right first.”

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Times staff writer Paul Gutierrez contributed to this story.