Dodgers Facing a Stark Reality

Like a panicky rock climber who can’t seem to find a nook or crevice to dig his fingertips and toes into, the Dodgers have lost their grip on the National League wild-card race.

They slipped and stumbled badly in a 1-0 loss to the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night, falling three games behind the San Francisco Giants with five games to play, and they’re going to need FEMA-like assistance from the San Diego Padres, Houston Astros and possibly the Atlanta Braves to keep their fading playoff hopes alive.

A somber Dodger Stadium crowd of 30,332 saw Colorado right-hander Denny Stark (11-3) outduel Odalis Perez, giving up one hit over seven shutout innings, and relievers Todd Jones and Jose Jimenez closed out the eighth and ninth innings, handing the Dodgers their 12th shutout of the season.

The Dodgers must win their final five games--one against the Rockies tonight and four against the Padres--and the Giants must lose three of their last five to the Padres, Astros and Braves to merely force a tie and one-game playoff between the Dodgers and Giants in Pacific Bell Park Tuesday.

“It’s prayer time,” Dodger left fielder Brian Jordan said. “We have to win out and hope the worst for San Francisco.”

The odds of both are long. The Dodgers, who haven’t been to the playoffs since 1996, are scrambling to put a rotation together and score runs, while the Giants, who have reached the playoffs twice in the last five years, are 21-8 since Aug. 25 and playing their best baseball down the stretch.

“San Francisco has the experience, they’re turning it on at the right time,” Jordan said. “We haven’t done that, though it’s not for lack of effort.”

If anything, the Dodgers tried too hard Tuesday night. They seemed a little too eager at the plate, swinging at first pitches eight times. Three times they put the ball in play on the first pitch, and all three resulted in outs.

They also seemed to lack the intensity that was apparent in San Diego, where the Dodgers pulled out two ninth-inning wins over the weekend.

“It was sort of one of those after an off-day downers--we didn’t come out like it was do or die,” Jordan said. “Guys were looking at the scoreboard and getting tighter and tighter, trying to be the hero. The Giants, they’ve relaxed more down the stretch. They’re not trying too hard, swinging too hard. You get in trouble that way.”

The Dodgers made a little noise in the ninth when Eric Karros doubled with two out off Jimenez, but Jimenez struck out Adrian Beltre on three pitches for his 41st save, as the Rockies continue to thrive in their role as spoilers--they took three of four games from the Dodgers in Denver on Sept. 12-15.

The Dodgers had only two other decent scoring chances, putting runners on first and third with two out in the first and a runner on third with two out in the eighth.

After Shawn Green reached on a fielder’s choice and took third on Jordan’s single in the first, Karros popped to second to end the inning.

With two out in the eighth, Grissom’s blooper off Jones fell inches inside the right-field line and inches away from the glove of diving right fielder Gabe Kapler.

Grissom raced all the way to third with a triple, and up stepped Paul Lo Duca with a chance to tie the game. Lo Duca, who had struck out only 28 times this season, tried to bunt on the first pitch, fouling it off. He then took a called strike and swung through a third pitch for a strikeout.

The Rockies scored in the first when Kapler smacked Perez’s first pitch into right field for a single. Perez then got Terry Shumpert to fly to center and Jay Payton to fly to right.

But Kapler stole second with two out and scored on Todd Zeile’s end-of-the-bat bleeder.

Perez (15-10) was strong the rest of the way, giving up only five hits, striking out eight and walking none in eight innings.

“It’s tough to take when you get as fine a pitching performance as you’ve gotten all year from Odalis Perez,” Dodger Manager Jim Tracy said. “Now, obviously, our hopes are slim. We’re not eliminated, but we pretty much have to win out, that’s all there is to it. And we’re going to need help even if we do win out.”