Gagne Doesn’t Get Job Done

The Dodgers have too many games remaining against National League West opponents to panic about another wasted home stand, but they’re definitely doing things the hard way.

The club that returned to Chavez Ravine energized after a successful trip is stumbling again and lost Friday night to the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-1, before 45,172 at Dodger Stadium.

The Cardinals pounded -starter Eric Gagne in the opener of the three-game series, chasing him after only four innings in his second consecutive troubling start. The Dodgers dropped to 1-3 on the six-game home stand, going in the wrong direction after seemingly finding the right path while out of town.

“You can’t afford to waste any chances you get at this time of the year because you’re not going to get many,” left fielder Gary Sheffield said. “We got going [on the seven-game trip], but we haven’t done what we needed to here at home.

“We talked about taking care of business [at Dodger Stadium] because you know every series is going to get tougher from here on out. You can’t sit back and worry about it, you just have to move on, but you have to move on with results.”

Friday’s results were not good for the Dodgers (73-62). They dropped back in the West and NL wild-card races with their seventh loss in the last 10 games at Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers trail the leading Arizona Diamondbacks by five games in the division and the Chicago Cubs by 21/2 in the wild-card standings. With Mark McGwire sitting out because of a severely strained right hamstring, Jim Edmonds provided the power for the Cardinals (73-61) The former Angel all-star center fielder hit his 23rd homer in the third against Gagne (4-7) as the Cardinals staked starter Woody Williams to a 4-0 lead through the fourth.

“I don’t know what to say ... it was brutal,” said Gagne, who threw 44 strikes in 75 pitches. “I just didn’t do it today. It’s hard to play catch-up when you give up four runs.”

Gagne gave up five hits and four runs after having given up nine hits and five runs in his last start, taking another step backward at the worst time for his club.

“He made some mistakes early in the game,” Tracy said. “We’re just at a point in the season where we can’t sit around and wait [if a starter struggles].

“Whether it’s inexperience or not, these are mistakes, that at this juncture of the season ... it just can’t happen.”

Williams was outstanding in his sixth start for the Cardinals. The right-hander, acquired from the San Diego Padres in an Aug. 2 trade, pitched his first complete game of the season and seventh in his career.

Eric Karros’ 14th homer was one of only four hits Williams gave up. He also tossed his previous complete game against the Dodgers last September at Dodger Stadium while with the Padres.

“I was able to spot my fastball early,” Williams said. “That really helped me set the tone tonight.”

The Cardinals are six games behind the leading Houston Astros in the Central, and two games behind the Cubs for the wild-card berth.

Williams helped himself with a run-scoring double in the second.

With two out, Gagne walked No. 8 batter Eli Marrero with Williams on deck, and Williams doubled into the gap in left-center to drive in the game’s first run. From that point, Gagne was on shaky ground, and his situation would quickly worsen.

He retired the first two batters in the third before giving up a single to Albert Pujols, considered the leading candidate for the league’s rookie-of-the-year award. Then, on a 1-and-2 count, Edmonds homered to right to increase the Cardinals’ lead to 3-0 and stir boos in the crowd.

Gagne retired Craig Paquette to end the inning, but it was apparent he was out of sync and would not work much longer. He walked Marrero again in the fourth with one out, and Fernando Vina’s run-scoring double gave Williams a four-run cushion.

“Everyone thinks we will just turn it on during the games against Arizona and San Francisco,” Paul Lo Duca said. “But we have to put ourselves in position to make those games important for us.”

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