Green Enjoys the Gift of Gap

The news on one scoreboard at Dodger Stadium late Wednesday night was bad. Both the NL West-leading Arizona Diamondbacks and the San Francisco Giants, battling for the wild-card spot, had already won.

The news on the other scoreboard was frustrating.

The Dodgers and Florida Marlins were tied, 3-3, in the 10th inning.

But with two out, the frustration quickly turned to elation when Shawn Green followed an Adrian Beltre walk by lining a 2-2 pitch from reliever Braden Looper into right-center field for the game-winning double. Beltre, tender hamstring and all, raced home with the winning run in a 4-3 victory in front of a crowd of 31,281.

“I held my breath all the way from first,” Dodger Manager Jim Tracy said of Beltre’s burst, “but I said, ‘Run like crazy.’ ”

The Dodgers had to rally for a ninth-inning run to prevent the Marlins, who had come to Dodger Stadium with a 60-64 record, from winning their second consecutive game in the three-game series.

The key figure in the series for Florida has been outfielder Juan Encarnacion, who had three hits and three RBIs Tuesday, and three more hits and the RBI that gave the Marlins a 3-2 lead in the eighth inning Wednesday.

But ultimately, Green had the deciding RBI, giving the victory to reliever Paul Shuey (2-2) and handing the loss to Looper (0-5).

“I wasn’t looking for the ball in any particular spot,” said Green, who has 94 RBIs. “I just went up there to take my shots. I wouldn’t say I am hot or cold right now with the bat. Sometimes you just go out there with what you have.”

Said Dodger outfielder Dave Roberts, “I’ll take Greenie any time in that situation.”

The Dodgers had taken the early lead. With Brian Jordan sitting out his fourth consecutive game because of back stiffness and Marquis Grissom in center, Tracy gave Mike Kinkade his first start of the season in left and his third start overall.

Kinkade quickly took advantage of the opportunity, hitting the third pitch he saw from Florida starter Michael Tejera into the seats in left-center in the third inning to open the scoring.

It was Kinkade’s first home run as a Dodger and he celebrated by doing away with the traditional trot and racing most of the way around the bases.

Kinkade’s homer was followed by a Cesar Izturis single. When Omar Daal laid down a sacrifice bunt, Tejera tried to get the lead runner at second, but Izturis beat the throw. And even if he hadn’t, shortstop Mike Mordecai was unable to hold onto the ball.

Up came Mark Grudzielanek, leading off for only the second time this season. He smacked a single to left to give the Dodgers a 2-0 lead.

It held up until the fifth, when Charles Johnson and Mordecai knocked in runs.

Daal, who had been 3-0 with a 1.89 earned-run average over his previous five starts, settled down after that, holding the Marlins to the two runs through seven innings despite giving up nine hits.

But the Dodgers weren’t having any greater success against Tejera, who was making his first start in Dodger Stadium. He held them to two runs through eight innings.

To pitch to the Marlins in the eighth, Tracy brought in Paul Quantrill, who has been almost as reliable as closer Eric Gagne. In his previous seven innings over a span of nine appearances, Quantrill had not given up an earned run while collecting a win and a save. A key to his effectiveness was his ability to retire the first man he faced. He had done so in 48 of his 68 appearances. But not Wednesday.

Quantrill gave up a single to Kevin Millar, but that didn’t seem to matter when the next batter, Preston Wilson, grounded into a double play.

But Quantrill then walked Derrek Lee, bringing up Encarnacion. After Lee had stolen second, Encarnacion hit a broken-bat single on a 3-2 fastball. The top half of the bat made it all the way to the infield dirt. More importantly, the ball made it into left field, Lee scoring.

With reliever Vladimir Nunez on the mound in the ninth, Green opened with a walk, went to second on Paul Lo Duca’s sacrifice bunt and to third on a passed ball.

Up came Eric Karros, who had sat out the last game, was ejected in the third inning of the game before that, was 0 for 3 Wednesday and looked overmatched when he swung late on a 92-mph fastball from Nunez.

But all that was forgotten a moment later when Karros lined a ball past second baseman Homer Bush to drive in Green.