Dodgers Making a Wild Pitch

The National League wild-card race is getting tighter by the day, and the Dodgers are still in the mix.

They continued to gain ground and made a strong opening statement against another member of the pack Friday night in a 3-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs before a sellout crowd of 52,911 at Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers pulled within 3 1/2 games of Philadelphia and Florida -- the wild-card co-leaders -- with their fifth consecutive victory.

They got five solid innings from starter Andy Ashby, a two-run home run from Adrian Beltre and a typically dominant performance from the major leagues’ top bullpen. Guillermo Mota (2 1/3), Tom Martin (one-third) and Paul Quantrill (one-third) were perfect in three innings following Ashby.

Then All-Star closer Eric Gagne capped the evening with a record-setting performance.

After striking out Sammy Sosa and Moises Alou, Gagne completed his 39th save and established a record for consecutive saves to start the season when Aramis Ramirez flied out to left.

Gagne broke the record he had shared for a day with Jose Mesa, who converted 38 consecutive saves in 1995, with his fourth save in as many games and fifth appearance in the team’s last five games.

“That’s another example of fantastic pitching,” Manager Jim Tracy said. “The game was completely set up by the job Andy Ashby did tonight.

“Gagne has been sharper in the last two days than he was on Wednesday; he seems to get better.”

The group made an impression on Cub Manager Dusty Baker.

“I thought we had a chance to get Ashby, but their bullpen did a great job,” said Baker, whose team trails the Houston Astros by 2 1/2 games in the NL Central. “They’re not on top of the league in pitching for nothing.”

The majors’ top pitching staff also contributed to ruining the return of Cub first baseman Eric Karros to Dodger Stadium.

The Los Angeles franchise leader in homers, traded to the Cubs in December, received a warm ovation when his name was announced in the starting lineup, and before his first at-bat.

But Karros went 0 for 3, and the Cubs and Dodgers are tied in their pursuit of the wild-card prize at 59-55.

“It was not as big a deal as I thought it would be,” said Karros, a fixture at Chavez Ravine for 11-plus seasons. “Whether that’s good or bad, I don’t know, but I wasn’t nervous at all.”

Ashby (3-9) was effective in ending a five-start losing streak and winning for the first time since June 21.

The right-hander gave up only one run -- on Ramirez’s 14th homer -- and two singles. Ashby had five strikeouts and two walks while lowering his earned-run average from 5.49 to 5.20.

“It’s nice to be on the other end of it,” Ashby said. “It’s been a little frustrating. ... I haven’t been throwing the ball real well lately, so it’s really nice.”

With the score tied, 1-1, in the fifth, Jeromy Burnitz walked to start the inning.

Beltre then connected on a 2-and-1 pitch from Cub starter Shawn Estes (7-9), sending the ball over the wall in left-center for his 11th homer.

“I don’t know what it is, I don’t know why I swing the bat better in the second half, but I guess I do,” said Beltre, who already has five homers in 66 at-bats since the All-Star break after hitting only six in 306 at-bats in the first half.

“I’ve been saying I’ve been swinging the bat better, and I’ve been feeling good at the plate. I just have to keep it up.”

Consistency isn’t a problem for Gagne.

He has retired the last 22 batters he has faced -- 13 by strikeout. The right-hander has a streak of 47 saves dating to last August, and has converted 91 of 95 save opportunities in his two years anchoring the bullpen.

“I wasn’t really more fired up, just maybe a little more nervous,” said Gagne, who has an ERA of 0.47 and 67 strikeouts in 38 2/3 innings in save opportunities. “It was fun.”

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Old Reliable

The month-by-month statistics of Eric Gagne, who Friday broke Jose Mesa’s 8-year-old record for most consecutive saves without a blown save to open a season:

*--* Month G IP ERA SV BB SO Mar/Apr 13 14.1 0.00 8 3 24 May 13 12.2 4.97 11 3 24 June 13 12.1 1.46 10 3 21 July 12 12.2 0.71 6 4 17 August 5 5.0 0.00 4 0 10 Totals 56 57.0 1.58 39 13 96

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22 Skiddoo

Eric Gagne has retired 22 batters in a row since walking Luis Gonzalez in a July 27 appearance against Arizona. A look at Gagne’s streak:

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-- Roy Jurgens