Better Late Than Ever for Lo Duca

The boss wanted to give Paul Lo Duca Saturday off, in order to pace the Dodger catcher through these hot summer months, but Lo Duca still wound up in the office, punching the clock in the late afternoon and adding some punch to a sagging offense that worked overtime for a victory.

Lo Duca led off the ninth inning with a pinch-hit single, scored the tying run on Eric Karros’ double, and he singled during a two-run 11th inning to key the Dodgers’ 4-2, come-from-behind victory over the St. Louis Cardinals before 42,825 in Busch Stadium.

Miguel Cairo, a Cardinal second baseman who was inserted into the outfield in the 10th inning, dropped Jeff Reboulet’s bases-loaded, no-out fly ball to shallow right, eliminating any chance of throwing out Dave Roberts at the plate, as the Dodgers scored the go-ahead run.

Mark Grudzielanek’s sacrifice fly gave the Dodgers a two-run cushion, and closer Eric Gagne sealed the victory by striking out two of three in the bottom of the 11th for his major league-leading 32nd save.

“It was a huge win, especially coming right before the All-Star break,” Lo Duca said after the Dodgers increased their National League West lead over Arizona to 2 1/2 games. “This should give us some more momentum.”

Lo Duca was supposed to be at rest. He had caught the last 12 games, including five in the oppressive heat of Phoenix and St. Louis, and with another day game against the Cardinals today, Manager Jim Tracy wanted to give him a break Saturday.

But after St. Louis took a 2-1 lead in the eighth on Eli Marrero’s homer off reliever Giovanni Carrara--after Hideo Nomo’s splendid seven-inning, one-run, three-hit effort--Tracy turned to Lo Duca to lead off the ninth against Cardinal closer Jason Isringhausen.

The odds didn’t favor the Dodgers. They were 0-33 when trailing after eight innings before Saturday, and Isringhausen had converted 19 of 22 save opportunities.

Lo Duca lined an 0-2 pitch to left for a single, Shawn Green lined out to left, and Karros smashed an RBI double to the gap in right-center to make it 2-2.

Tracy pulled Karros for pinch-runner Hiram Bocachica, who was stranded when Brian Jordan, who homered off Cardinal starter Woody Williams in the fourth, and Grudzielanek struck out. Lo Duca remained in the game at first base.

Roberts drew a leadoff walk off left-hander Steve Kline in the 11th, Lo Duca singled to left, and Green walked to load the bases before Cairo botched Reboulet’s fly ball. Roberts has good speed, and Cairo doesn’t have a strong outfield arm, but a good throw would have made it close.

“We’re winning, things are going well, and we’re getting a lot of breaks,” Karros said. “This might be one of those years. Things have been working out for us. Hopefully it will continue.”

There is nothing lucky about Lo Duca. He’s batting .329 with five homers, 23 doubles, 38 runs batted in and 41 runs, and his .390 average with runners in scoring position is the third best in the league.

With only 13 strikeouts in 328 plate appearances, his average of one strikeout every 25.5 plate appearances makes him the second-hardest player to fan in the league. Lo Duca has put to rest any speculation that his .320 average, 25 homers and 90 RBIs in 2001, his first full big league season, was a fluke.

He also has done an outstanding job handling a pitching staff that is as diverse in style as it is in ethnicity--the Dodger rotation, which consists of two Japanese pitchers, Nomo and Kazuhisa Ishii, Dominican left-hander Odalis Perez, Venezuelan left-hander Omar Daal and right-hander Andy Ashby--leads the major leagues with 44 wins and is second in the majors with a 3.42 earned-run average.

“I’m still in the weeds, I guess, this is two years in a row and I’m still not getting noticed, but that’s fine,” Lo Duca said, referring to his All-Star snub. “My job is to catch these pitchers and to get on base for the big guys, and I’m happy with the way I’ve played.”

He even performs well on the days he’s not supposed to play.

“Nice day off for Lo Duca, huh?” Tracy said. “As much as we’ve caught him, we can’t be in that saddle riding him all the time. But I loved having him available to lead off the [ninth inning Saturday]. We had the spot we wanted to use him in. And fortunately, his spot came up twice. He’s as tough an out as there is in this league.”