Fetters Fails Dodgers Again

The Dodgers are desperately seeking a formula for road success after stumbling repeatedly outside Chavez Ravine.

Their search continued Friday night in a sloppy 10-9 loss to the Houston Astros at Enron Field, capped by Richard Hidalgo’s leadoff home run in the ninth inning off struggling reliever Mike Fetters.

Hidalgo hit his 10th homer on a 2-and-0 pitch, sending the ball above the yellow-tape marker in left-center for his fourth hit, completing a series-opening victory before 34,131.

The Dodgers almost overcame three errors--third baseman Adrian Beltre committed two--rookie starter Luke Prokopec’s poor outing and numerous mistakes in execution.

Trailing, 7-4, in the seventh, the Dodgers scored five runs--four on Mark Grudzielanek’s first career grand slam--to take a 9-7 lead.

But Beltre’s one-out error in the eighth helped the Astros tie the score at 9-9, setting the stage for Hidalgo’s game-winning blast off Fetters (1-1).

“I’m just not getting the job done, I’m struggling to find my command, and I can’t put my finger on it,” said Fetters, who has given up nine hits--including two homers--and seven earned runs in his last four innings.

“If I knew what was going on I would correct it. Right now, I’m still searching. It’s not fun going out there when you can’t throw the ball where you want it to go.”

Trips are not fun for the Dodgers.

In addition to wasting Grudzielanek’s grand slam, they also squandered Shawn Green’s 12th homer and Alex Cora’s second, both two-run shots. The Dodgers also stranded Green at third after he doubled to start the ninth.

Octavio Dotel (2-3) worked two scoreless innings for the Astros, who pounded 16 hits against four Dodger pitchers and have won three in a row.

They got started against Prokopec, who gave up a season-high 11 hits and seven runs (four earned). He balked in a run and hit a batter.

“Just one of those nights where you go out there and don’t quite have the same stuff,” Prokopec said. “The slider wasn’t working tonight. I just couldn’t make the big pitches and get out of the inning.”

The Dodgers lost their ninth consecutive road opener and dropped to 9-16 away from Dodger Stadium.

“We just didn’t play well enough defensively tonight to win the baseball game,” Manager Jim Tracy said. “We showed a tremendous amount of character in getting back into the game . . . but we didn’t play well defensively early, and we made some mistakes late in the game that hurt us.”

Beltre’s last error hurt the Dodgers most.

Beltre and Cora committed errors on the same play in the first that contributed to three of the Astros’ four runs in the inning being unearned.

With Matt Herges on the mound and the Dodgers leading, 9-8, in the eighth, Beltre booted Jeff Bagwell’s grounder.

Bagwell advanced to third on Lance Berkman’s single, and scored the tying run when Grudzielanek’s relay on Moises Alou’s grounder, after Berkman was forced at second, was too high for first baseman Tim Bogar. Bogar caught Alou off the bag for the final out, but the run had already crossed the plate.

Then after Green doubled to right, Marquis Grissom fouled out, Beltre grounded out, moving Green to third, and pinch-hitter Hiram Bocachica flied out.

“It was just fundamentals that got us,” Grissom said. “I came up in the last inning where I had to get the guy over. Like I said, it was just the fundamentals because we played our butts off.

“We’ve got to be able to put teams away and finish them when we take the lead. We’re coming back and we’re playing good, but we still have to stick to fundamentals and put teams away when we get in those situations.”

The Dodgers do that at Dodger Stadium, compiling the National League’s top home record at 21-8.

So what happens on the road?

“It’s just one of those things,” Grissom said. “You’re supposed to play well at home, better than you do on the road, for some reason just because you’re at home.”

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