Marathons Straining Bullpen

While Hideo Nomo was throwing a complete game in the Dodgers’ season-opening victory over Arizona on March 31, there was a festive, is-this-awesome-or-what? kind of mood in the Dodger bullpen.

“We were grinning and crowing down there,” Dodger right-hander Paul Shuey said. “The next thing you know, it’s like, ‘Am I getting up again?’ ”

Underworked in the opener and cruising at a reasonable pace the first six games, the Dodger bullpen was stretched to the limits Sunday and Monday, and now wonders if it will ever get a breather.

Dodger relievers combined for 6 2/3 scoreless innings in Sunday’s 13-inning victory over San Diego and followed that with 5 2/3 innings Monday, getting rocked for five runs in the Dodgers’ 6-4, 12-inning loss to the Diamondbacks.

Guillermo Mota, who threw two scoreless innings and 33 pitches, many in the 97-mph range, Sunday, was not as crisp Monday, giving up Tony Womack’s single and Craig Counsell’s RBI triple in the seventh, as Arizona pulled to within 3-2.

Left-hander Tom Martin, who struck out two of three batters Sunday, gave up a game-tying home run to Luis Gonzalez in the eighth.

Closer Eric Gagne, who threw two scoreless innings Sunday, threw a perfect ninth, but Paul Quantrill gave up a run in the 10th, and Andy Ashby gave up a game-winning, two-run homer to Lyle Overbay in the 12th.

Shuey, who has already appeared in four of the Dodgers’ eight games, was the only reliever who didn’t pitch Monday, and Manager Jim Tracy will look to give several relievers, especially Mota and Gagne and probably Martin and Ashby, tonight off.

But with left-hander Kazuhisa Ishii, who is not exactly a pitch-efficient innings eater, starting tonight, the Dodger bullpen could again find itself in a taxing situation.

“It’s a little bit of a concern,” Dodger pitching Coach Jim Colborn said. “It’s real tough on the bullpen, but we have a few options. One, we can have a starting pitcher throw a complete game. Two, we can get about 15 runs so there isn’t much pressure on the pitchers. There are probably other options too, I just can’t think of them.”

Sunday in San Diego, the bullpen relay keyed the Dodgers’ victory.

Martin struck out Sean Burroughs and Ryan Klesko to end the ninth, and Gagne and Mota were virtually untouchable over the final four innings.

Monday, the Dodgers dropped the baton.

Mota was ineffective in the seventh, and Tracy went to Martin to face the left-handed Gonzalez to start the eighth.

Martin fooled Gonzalez badly on April 1, striking out the Diamondback slugger with a breaking pitch, but Gonzalez won the rematch, sending a fastball into the right-center field pavilion for a 3-3 game.

“It was a two-seamer that was supposed to sink, but it cut,” Martin said.

“If it had sunk, he wouldn’t have gotten good wood on it. Instead of diving down, it came back to him just enough.”

Quantrill retired the first two batters in the 10th before walking Gonzalez.

Danny Bautista singled to center, and Quantrill jumped ahead of Steve Finley with a 1-and-2 count, both strikes coming on inside pitches.

“Then I made a bad pitch away, which is my side of the plate,” Quantrill said. “I screwed it up. The pitch had good sink to it, but he slapped it.”

Finley lined an RBI single to left-center, giving him six hits in eight career at-bats against Quantrill, to put Arizona ahead, 4-3. The Dodgers pulled even on Brian Jordan’s RBI single in the bottom of the 10th, but after giving up a leadoff single to Counsell in the 12th, Ashby was tagged by Overbay.

The rookie first baseman’s two-out, two-run shot was his first major league homer.

“I haven’t faced him, and he hasn’t faced me, but it doesn’t matter -- when you throw a pitch down the middle, it has a good chance of getting hit,” said Ashby, a converted starter. “The bottom line is when you get on the field, whether it’s the beginning, middle or end of a game, you’ve got to get guys out.”