Beltre Knocks Down Seattle

Jim Tracy has been preaching to his players the need to leave behind negative experiences at the plate when their next at-bat presents itself.

Apparently, Adrian Beltre has been listening to the Dodger manager.

After being spooked--knocked to the ground by a pitch near his chin and having his knees buckled by a breaking ball while striking out looking in the seventh inning, then seeing Paul Lo Duca hit in the head an inning later--Beltre hit a game-winning solo home run with one out in the ninth to give the Dodgers a 2-1 interleague victory over the Seattle Mariners Saturday afternoon.

Beltre’s seventh home run of the season went over the wall in left-center field and came on an 0-and-1 fastball from Seattle reliever Jose Paniagua (3-2). It made a winner of Dodger reliever Matt Herges (7-6) in front of 40,937 at Dodger Stadium.

“I think what we’re talking about here is the growth of a young player,” Tracy said of Beltre.

“I really hope the home run he hit today to win a ballgame for us is an earmark for him because Adrian Beltre is a very good offensive player when his swing stays short. When he starts to get long with his swing, when he starts to get lifting with his swing, is when he runs into problems.”

And while Beltre was mobbed at home plate by his teammates after his trip around the bases, he apparently didn’t feel like sharing his feelings with anyone else as he disappeared from the clubhouse before the media could ask him about it.

Lo Duca was nowhere to be found either, though he could be excused if he was merely sitting in the trainer’s room with a steak to his left eye.

Seattle reliever Jeff Nelson, who had just learned he was named as a replacement to the American League All-Star team, hit Lo Duca on the bill of his helmet, the ball also catching him just under his eye.

Lo Duca spent a few anxious moments in the dirt before jumping up and running to first base. After he moved to second two batters later, Lo Duca’s eye began to swell and he was replaced by pinch-runner Hiram Bocachica.

Lo Duca has been diagnosed with a bruise and most likely will be unavailable today.

Nelson expressed remorse.

“My ball was running a lot today,” said Nelson, who struck out five of the seven Dodgers he faced. “Even the one that [nearly hit] Beltre missed [the strike zone] badly. I wanted to come in for a strike and it just so happened my ball ran a bit. I nodded at Lo Duca a couple of times to make sure he was all right.

“You don’t ever want to hit anyone in the head. I tried to come inside. My ball was just moving a lot today.”

Herges, meanwhile, hit Bret Boone on the right thigh with a 93-mph fastball in the ninth inning with two out.

Tracy said that had nothing to do with the Beltre and Lo Duca incidents as it put the potential go-ahead run on second base in Ichiro Suzuki.

The Dodgers and Mariners were involved in an ugly brawl at Dodger Stadium two years ago.

Herges was not with the Dodgers then and neither was starter Terry Adams, who had his best start yet.

In his seventh career start, Adams gave up one run on three hits in seven innings. He struck out four and walked one while throwing 103 pitches, 64 for strikes.

“I’m not trying to step in and be some kind of hero,” Adams said. “My main goal is just to keep the team in the game, give us a chance to win.

“I’m just trying to take advantage of a good situation.”

Adams’ lone mistake was the 2-and-0 fastball John Olerud launched halfway up the right-field pavilion for a solo home run in the fourth inning. It was Olerud’s 11th homer of the year.

The Mariners (62-24) would not get another base hit the rest of the day.

The Dodgers (48-39) tied the score in the bottom of the fourth with a solo shot by Gary Sheffield.

Twelve of Sheffield’s 18 home runs have either tied the game or given the Dodgers a lead.

“As you look across the field at this club that we’re playing,” Tracy said, “it goes without saying that one of the main trademarks of their club is that they’re not going to beat themselves. They’re going to make you come out there and beat them, which is what we did today.”

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