Little Things Add Up to a 3-2 Dodger Defeat

Maybe it was the lethargic feeling that often accompanies a day game after a night game in the Eastern time zone, but the Dodgers seemed to be in a bit of a haze Thursday in their 3-2 loss to the Pirates, and it had little to do with Pittsburgh starter Josh Fogg.

Dodger pitcher Hideo Nomo issued six free passes in six innings--five walks and one hit batter--and three eventually scored. Nomo also failed to get a sacrifice bunt down after Chad Kreuter’s leadoff double in the fifth.

First baseman Paul Lo Duca’s throwing error in the third keyed the Pirates’ two-run inning, Cesar Izturis was thrown out in the eighth inning on an ill-advised attempt to advance to third on a grounder to the hole at short, and the Dodgers went one for 10 with runners in scoring position.

Those were far too many shortcomings for the Dodgers to overcome against seven Pirate pitchers before 16,264 in PNC Park.

“We should have won this game,” Lo Duca said. “We had some good at-bats, but we didn’t get the hits when we needed them. It was one of those games where we weren’t shut down. We could have scored eight or nine runs, and we only scored two.”

That’s two more than Lo Duca felt the Pirates should have scored in the third inning. Pittsburgh had runners on first and second with one out after Jack Wilson was hit by a pitch to lead off, Fogg bunted him to second and Adrian Brown walked.

Abraham Nunez grounded to Lo Duca, the Dodger catcher who was making his second start of the season at first base. Lo Duca fielded the ball cleanly and took one step toward first before shifting gears and throwing low and away to second for an error that allowed the Pirates to load the bases.

Nomo got Jason Kendall to pop to second for the second out, but Brian Giles ripped a two-run single to right for a 2-0 lead.

“It’s plain and simple, I throw the ball 80 feet--it’s not that hard--we win the game,” Lo Duca said. “My first inclination was to step on first base to get the second out, but I turned and threw to second. I didn’t set my feet, and my mechanics weren’t good. As soon as I showed indecision, I should have gone to first.”

Lo Duca would not cite inexperience at the position as a factor.

“I played 30 games there last year and made only one error, and it wasn’t a throwing error,” Lo Duca said. “It’s not that hard of a play. The bottom line is it cost us the game.”

Lo Duca may have been too hard on himself. His error was costly, but it was not the only play that cost the Dodgers the game and a chance for a three-game sweep of the National League Central Division-leading Pirates.

Though Manager Jim Tracy would not criticize Izturis’ decision in the eighth, his attempt to take third was certainly questionable. With the Dodgers trailing, 3-1, the speedy 22-year-old opened the inning with a flare to right field that Rob Mackowiak dropped for a two-base error.

Lo Duca followed with a slow roller to the left side. The general rule for a runner on second is to hold on a grounder in front of you, but Izturis took off for third. Wilson, the Pirate shortstop, shoveled to third baseman Mike Benjamin, who applied the tag.

Had Izturis held, Lo Duca might have beat out the grounder for a single. At the very least, instead of a runner on second with one out, the Dodgers had a runner on first.

“I’m not going to berate a guy for doing that,” Tracy said of Izturis. “He felt he could make it, and it was a slow-hit ball. It wasn’t a negative in this game.”

Lo Duca was forced at second on Shawn Green’s fielder’s choice, Brian Jordan was hit by a pitch, and Adrian Beltre’s RBI single pulled the Dodgers within 3-2. But Pirate first baseman Kevin Young made a nice stab of Mark Grudzielanek’s hard grounder down the line to end the inning.

Nomo (2-3) emerged from Thursday’s game with a 2.35 earned-run average in five starts, but control problems have been a recurring theme--in his three losses, Nomo has walked 15 and hit a batter.

A leadoff walk to Armando Rios in the sixth was also costly Thursday. Craig Wilson bunted Rios to second, and Jack Wilson’s two-out RBI single gave Pittsburgh a 3-1 lead and its eventual winning run.

“Giving up walks is something that can’t be helped,” Nomo said through an interpreter. “I’m not really bothered by them. I’m more bothered by the fact we lost the game. Walks are part of the game, but one reason we lost today is I failed to get a bunt down.”