Dodgers Meekly Retreat

The Dodger pitching staff has been as good as expected and the best in the National League statistically.

The offense?

That also has performed as expected, which is bad news for the Dodgers, who Tuesday night dropped out of first place in the West after the Montreal Expos’ 2-0 victory at Olympic Stadium.

Javier Vazquez pitched a two-hitter in out-dueling Chan Ho Park before a crowd of 4,714.

Vazquez (4-4) struck out nine without a walk in a smooth 121-pitch, 84-strike performance. He gave up only Mark Grudzielanek’s single in the first inning and Shawn Green’s single in the fourth.

No Dodger runner reached second base, and Vazquez retired the last 11 batters.

“It would be difficult for me to do much better than that,” Vazquez said. “I had my control and it was good.”

Park (4-4) was good too--but he needed to be great with the way the Dodgers are swinging.

And missing.

Park gave up six hits and two runs while striking out eight with two walks, though he also hit a batter with a pitch, contributing to the Expos’ second run.

“Seven innings and two runs is not bad, but a walk and a hit by pitch [contributed to the Expos’ runs],” Park said. “I can’t give runs from a walk and a hit by pitch. I don’t feel good about it.”

Orlando Cabrera’s run-scoring triple in the third was all the support Vazquez would need, and Vladimir Guerrero’s double in the fourth provided an insurance run.

That was enough--combined with the San Francisco’s 7-4 victory over Florida--to put the Dodgers in second place in the division for the first time since April 26.

The Dodgers’ run atop the division ended after 17 consecutive days, and they know why.

“We didn’t do anything wrong tonight other than hit. We just didn’t hit,” Manager Jim Tracy said. “You’ve got to give Javier Vazquez a hell of a lot of credit, he pitched outstanding, but there’s very little else to say other than the fact that we just didn’t hit.

“Our pitching staff has been nearly invincible, but when we’re in a situation like we’ve been in, you can’t ask them to go out and shut out every opponent every single night. Sooner or later we’re going to have to start swinging the bat with some consistency.”

The Dodgers are atop the league with a 3.68 earned-run average, but their .243 batting average is higher than those of only the Expos, Atlanta Braves and Pittsburgh Pirates in the 16-team league.

“Everyone is pressing a little bit,” said Grudzielanek, batting .308 and one of the few consistent everyday players. “We’re going up there knowing we haven’t scored runs much in the last few games, so let’s get some things going here.

“Maybe it’s a little pressure getting to us, trying to do too much out there. But no question, with our lineup, we’re going to start hitting.”

The Dodgers haven’t scored since their three-run first inning in Sunday’s 3-1 victory over the Braves, and they have mustered only 22 runs in their last 11 games.

“We’re trying,” third baseman Adrian Beltre said. “Nobody wants to get beat 1-0, 2-0, and we’re trying the best we can.”

Despite their recent history, Tracy believes the Dodgers will hit, he’s just not sure when.

“Having been a hitter myself, you can’t look at 100 at-bats and say, ‘Hey, this club is not going to hit,’ ” he said. “You just can’t do that. That’s unfair to them. . . . What we need is some more time to continue to look at the situation, evaluate it and see where it’s going to go from there. But 100 at-bats is not a barometer to look at guys and say they’re not going to get it done.”