Wins Over These Giants Were Only Minor Feats

The Dodgers win, the Dodgers win, and the Dodgers don’t have a chance of winning the pennant.

Ordinarily two consecutive wins over the Giants on enemy ground would be uplifting, but these were the best the Dodgers had to offer going against the Fresno Grizzlies the last two days, and while it came at a season-saving time after a colossal collapse after the All-Star break, it’s fool’s gold.

The Dodgers need to do something meaningful before Wednesday’s trading deadline, or the only reason to spend time in Dodger Stadium the next two months will be to watch the scoreboard and see how the Angels are doing.

“Are the Angels for real?” Shawn Green wanted to know after the Dodgers’ 5-1 victory Saturday, and I have no idea about that, but watching the Dodgers try to recapture the magic--and magic can be the only explanation for such a good start to the season--is going to be a waste of time.

“I don’t buy that,” said Manager Jim Tracy. “I’m going to be defiant with you on this one. I like the way my team has played the last two games, which is in the same manner we played when we were doing so well the first half of the season.”

So what we have here is a basic difference of opinion, with Tracy already demonstrating earlier in the day he has no idea what he’s talking about when looking down the road: “I think the Washington Redskins are going to finish first or second in their division this season.”

A few days ago he didn’t know who was in the Redskins’ division, but no matter, he said, Coach Steve Spurrier has the secret to success.

Spurrier, however, has three stiffs at quarterback in Danny Wuerrfel, Shane Matthews and Sage Rosenfels, which isn’t much different these days than asking Terry Mulholland, Guillermo Mota and Giovanni Carrara to save the day. I can see how Tracy relates.

We’ll see if the Redskins can score; we already know the Dodgers won’t score much as long as Cesar Izturis bats left-handed, Brian Jordan hits cleanup and Green remains out of rhythm.

So far they’ve only proven they can score more than the Grizzlies.

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THE LAST time the Dodgers won two in a row was July 5-6, which explains why Tracy, the dreamer, was so giddy after beating the Grizzlies.

“You get a wave and you ride it,” said Tracy, who grew up in Ohio and probably saw his first wave on “Baywatch.”

You’re supposed to beat the Giants when they’re helpless, and the Dodgers have done that, but is this really a turnaround?

“I think we’ve turned the corner,” said Green, who has not hit a home run in 15 games. “We’ve put a bunch of hits on the board and made things happen, which is different than the past few weeks when there was no sign of life.”

It took Tyler Houston in his first game as a Dodger to ignite this so-called resurrection, and a series of very helpful rulings from first base umpire John Hirschbeck and the Little League arm of Tom Goodwin to propel the Dodgers to another victory.

We might be checking for a pulse again in a few days.

The next series could be even more important than this one--a three-game series in Cincinnati against the wild card-minded Reds coinciding with the trading deadline. Where are you, Dan Evans?

The Dodgers fell out of first on Aug. 11 a year ago, and lost the wild-card lead on Sept. 8. They’re ahead of schedule this year, falling from first on July 16.

They have a two-game lead in the wild-card hunt now, and if nothing happens by Wednesday to bolster a team light on offense and shaky in middle relief, the guess here is the Dodgers and Redskins will have the same kind of season.

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WHY NOT play Adrian Beltre at shortstop and Houston at third on occasion to add some pop to the lineup? Izturis is now hitting less than .200 left-handed.

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ERIC KARROS found himself on the bench because Tracy elected to stay with Houston, who went four for four in his Dodger debut. Before anyone could start referring to Karros as Wally Pipp, however, Houston demonstrated he is no Lou Gehrig, going 0 for 5.

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KARROS AND his wife, Trish, had a baby to be named later Friday. Eric suggested Kyle for the boy’s name, Trish likes Garrett, so I’m guessing the child will be named Garrett.

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THE CRITICS who suggest Ryan Leaf was one of the biggest busts in NFL history are not giving him his due. I can’t think of a bigger bust, and I even took Cade McNown into consideration.

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WHEN I first heard the allegations that a company led by former Hollywood Park chairman R.D. Hubbard flew prostitutes from Los Angeles to Indiana to mix with high rollers at a casino-sponsored golf tournament, I called Hubbard to express my surprise.

“I didn’t know Los Angeles had hookers.”

Hubbard said he couldn’t talk then, but said I’d learn more later. The Times reported that Indiana officials determined the hookers were from Nevada. I didn’t think they could be from L.A.

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MICHAEL IRVIN says his problems in life have stemmed from his addiction to sex, but he’s reformed now. I just have one question: Did he express an interest in working on “The Best Damn Sports Show Period” before or after Lisa Guerrero had posted her open-blouse picture on foxsports.com?

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TODAY’S LAST word comes in e-mail from Jason Hand:

“You make fun of Doug Flutie, calling him a shrimp. I don’t think that’s right. Do you know what it’s like to be really short? I’m probably no taller than Doug ... “

It’s a small, small world.

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T.J. Simers can be reached at t.j.simers@latimes.com.