Dodgers Miss Big Chance

The Dodgers, with a payroll in excess of $100 million, might not be able to buy their way into the playoffs this season, but if the San Francisco Giants beat them out for a postseason berth, the Dodgers can stake a financial claim to their success.

Tom Goodwin, who was released by the Dodgers coming out of spring training and is being paid about $3.5 million by the Dodgers not to play for them, beat his former team with an RBI single in the top of the 12th inning Friday night, lifting the Giants to a 3-2 victory before a Dodger Stadium sellout crowd of 53,033.

After the Dodgers failed to score after Eric Karros’ leadoff triple in the bottom of the 11th, J.T. Snow led off the top of the 12th with a single off Dodger reliever Guillermo Mota. David Bell’s sacrifice bunt moved Snow to second, and Snow took third on Rich Aurilia’s grounder to second.

The Dodgers walked Jeff Kent intentionally to pitch to Goodwin, who replaced injured slugger Barry Bonds in the 11th, and Goodwin, who rarely showed much discipline at the plate as a Dodger, slapped an RBI single to left to break a 2-2 tie.

San Francisco closer Robb Nen then retired the side in order in the bottom of the 12th, sending the Dodgers to their ninth loss in 10 games and 11th loss in 14.

Nen worked out of what seemed like an impossible jam in the 11th. Karros led off with a long drive to the gap in left-center, a ball that center fielder Tsuyoshi Shinjo appeared to have a bead on but failed to catch on the warning track.

The ball caromed high off the wall, giving the lead-footed Karros the 10th triple of his career and first since May 26, 1998. Bonds, the Giants’ left fielder, pulled up on the play and strained his right hamstring.

Bonds walked off the field under his own power and was replaced by Goodwin, and Karros was replaced by pinch-runner Dave Roberts. Nen got Brian Jordan to bounce to third, with Roberts holding, and Marquis Grissom and Adrian Beltre were walked intentionally to load the bases.

Nen then struck out pinch-hitter Chad Kreuter for the second out and got Alex Cora to ground to first to end the inning.

The Dodgers, in their deepest hitting funk of the season, needed some superb pitching by starter Kazuhisa Ishii and relievers Giovanni Carrara and Eric Gagne to get the game into extra innings.

Ishii ended a Dodger four-game losing streak in his last start, throwing 7 2/3 innings of shutout ball in a 2-1 victory over Arizona on Sunday night, and the sellout crowd hoped for a repeat performance Friday.

Ishii didn’t disappoint, limiting the Giants to two runs and three hits in a sometimes-shaky six-inning performance, in which he walked six and struck out four, but he could do no better than a no-decision against San Francisco left-hander Kirk Rueter, who countered with his own six-inning, two-run, seven-hit performance.

Carrara and Giant reliever Jay Witasick also offset each other with two scoreless innings apiece, though the Dodgers did mount a minor threat in the eighth when Shawn Green led off with a walk.

Karros worked the count full and took what he thought was ball four, a pitch that looked low and away to Karros but was close enough for umpire Terry Craft to call for strike three.

Green, running with the pitch, was thrown out by catcher Benito Santiago at second for a double play, and Karros gave Craft an earful on the way back to the dugout.

Gagne, who hadn’t pitched in five days, relieved Carrara to start the ninth and struck out the side, including Shawon Dunston with a new-look, 73-mph curve. But Giant reliever Tim Worrell blanked the Dodgers in the bottom of the ninth, sending the game into extra innings.

The Dodgers broke a 1-1 tie in the fourth inning when Jordan doubled to the gap in right-center--the Dodgers’ first extra-base hit in three games--and scored on Grissom’s single to right, giving the Dodgers their first lead in 26 innings, dating back to the fourth inning of Tuesday’s 9-2 loss to St. Louis.