Dodgers Lose Ishii, Game

Sometime today, the Dodgers will try to focus on their rapidly shrinking one-game lead over the San Francisco Giants in the National League wild-card race.

But Sunday, the memory of pitcher Kazuhisa Ishii writhing on the grass and bleeding after a line drive had fractured his skull was too vivid for players to think of anything but the trivial nature even the biggest games can take on.

“It’s ironic,” a shaken Alex Cora said, the memory of his Aug. 26 concussion and ambulance ride replaying in his mind. “Bad things have to happen to people to put everything in perspective. Right now our prayers and thoughts are with Ishii.”

Ishii was struck on the left side of his forehead by a drive off the bat of Houston’s Brian Hunter in the fourth inning of the Dodgers’ 6-2 loss to the Astros at Dodger Stadium. With home plate in the shadows--start time had been pushed back to 4:10 p.m. to accommodate the Los Angeles Triathlon--Ishii apparently didn’t see the ball screaming toward him and couldn’t defend himself.

The ball struck him so hard it ricocheted to the backstop while he fell in a heap in front of the mound. Conscious and able to respond to questions and move his limbs but bleeding from cuts on his scalp and complaining of a bad headache, he was put on a stretcher and taken by ambulance to Good Samaritan Hospital while the crowd of 42,934 watched fearfully.

A CT scan found the small fracture on top of his forehead and determined he has a concussion. Ishii, who turns 29 today, was to remain in the hospital under the observation of neurologists for at least 24 hours.

“With that starting time, it was very difficult to see the ball,” said Chad Kreuter, Ishii’s catcher Sunday. “It was not safe conditions, the way the shadows were. He didn’t see the ball at all. You can see on the replay. He did not get his glove up. He did not lift his head up.... We as players have always complained about starting times at 4, 5 or 6 o’clock. The shadows take away from your depth perception of the ball.”

Dodger Manager Jim Tracy said he was told Ishii was stable and not in danger but said the pitcher will be out indefinitely and will certainly miss his next start. Tracy said he hadn’t decided who would take Ishii’s next scheduled start, or how the rotation might be reconfigured for the final 20 games of the season.

“That’s the furthest thought from my mind,” Tracy said.

Dodger players, held in check on the field during seven strong innings by Astro right-hander Roy Oswalt (19-6), were somber as they dressed and packed for a trip to San Francisco and the start of a three-game series.

The frustration they might otherwise have felt after losing two of three games to the Astros--which ended their nine-series winning streak--was absent. Real life had intruded on baseball.

“Any time the ball comes back like that, everybody worries about the pitcher,” said second baseman Mark Grudzielanek, who had one of three Dodger hits off Oswalt. “It was an awful sight. I just hope everything works out for him. It’s tough when you’ve got one of your guys in a situation where you don’t know what’s going to happen. We’ve got to use it as a motivator, to try and get us going.”

Ishii (14-10) struggled from the outset, giving up home runs in the first inning to Craig Biggio and in the third to Hunter. He walked Jason Lane and Oswalt before Hunter drilled a 3-and-2 pitch at him; Lane scored before time was called.

Consecutive doubles by Jose Vizcaino and Brad Ausmus in the fifth off Kevin Beirne gave Houston a 4-0 lead. In the meantime, the Dodgers were being subdued by Oswalt, who struck out nine and gave up one hit through seven.

Oswalt was relieved by Octavio Dotel in the eighth after giving up singles to Tyler Houston and Grudzielanek. Dotel walked pinch-hitter Dave Hansen and gave up a double to Cora that scored Houston and Grudzielanek, but with runners on second and third he got Adrian Beltre to pop up to end the inning.

Ishii’s condition, however, was of paramount importance to the Dodgers. “I started praying, doing the same things my teammates did for me two weeks ago,” Cora said. “When we come out [today], we’ll be ready. But right now, it doesn’t even matter.”