Ishii Has a Rocky Outing

Kazuhisa Ishii has been a master escape artist this season, pitching his way out of numerous jams and winning nine of his first 12 decisions despite leading the major leagues in walks, but not even the Houdini of the Hill could slither out of the colossal mess he got himself into Wednesday night.

After managing only one run despite loading the bases in the second and fourth innings, the Colorado Rockies teed off on Ishii after loading the bases with no outs in the sixth, scoring seven runs on seven hits in the inning en route to an 8-3 victory before 33,589 in Dodger Stadium.

Winning pitcher Darren Oliver’s broken-bat two-run double to left field turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 Colorado lead in the sixth, and Preston Wilson added a two-run double off reliever Guillermo Mota in the inning.

The Dodgers fell 4 1/2 games behind Philadelphia in the National League wild-card race and 11 1/2 games behind San Francisco in the NL West with the ugly loss, most of which Manager Jim Tracy did not witness in person; Tracy was ejected in the fourth inning for arguing with plate umpire Rob Drake.

But Tracy got busy with several roster moves after the game, the most significant of which was to send struggling reserve outfielder/first baseman Daryle Ward to triple-A Las Vegas. The Dodgers also sent reliever Steve Colyer to Las Vegas and recalled outfielder Bubba Crosby and right-handed reliever Rodney Myers.

Ward, who has a guaranteed $1.35-million contract, has been one of the Dodgers’ biggest disappointments, hitting .183 in 109 at-bats, with no home runs, one double and nine runs batted in. The Dodgers framed the move as an opportunity for Ward to find his swing, not to feel like a scapegoat.

“The Dodgers are not quitting on Daryle Ward, and the feeling I get from Daryle Ward is he’s not quitting on the Dodgers,” General Manager Dan Evans said. “Rather than having him languish on the bench here, he’s going to play first base and left field [at Las Vegas] and get as many at-bats as he can.

“He needs to turn things around so he can come back here and help us win some games later in the season. Sometimes adversity brings out the best in you.”

Ward, who had 12 homers and 72 RBIs in 453 at-bats in 2002 and 20 homers and 47 RBIs in 264 at-bats in 2000 for Houston, has three days to report to Las Vegas. Because Ward does not have five years of big league service time, he can not reject the demotion.

“He’s a proven major league hitter who has been unable to get on track, and the only way to do that is to get him a series of at-bats on a daily basis,” Tracy said. “We were unable to do that here. We have to give him a chance to regroup his swing.”

Ward slowly packed his belongings after the game as a group of reporters congregated around his locker. Asked if he was stunned by the move, Ward excused himself and walked away.

Ishii (9-4) also left without talking to reporters, a rarity for the left-hander, but after Wednesday night’s performance, who could blame him?

Ishii gave up his first run when he hit three batters and walked another in the fourth. The Dodgers, who fell to 17-28 against NL West opponents, scored twice in the bottom of the fourth, on Shawn Green’s RBI single and Paul Lo Duca’s RBI double, to take a 2-1 lead.

Ishii retired the heart of the Colorado lineup, Todd Helton, Wilson and Larry Walker, in order in the fifth, but disaster struck in the sixth.

Rene Reyes opened the inning with a single, and Mark Bellhorn, trying to sacrifice, reached on catcher David Ross’ throwing error. Charles Johnson singled to load the bases, and Oliver doubled for two runs.

Ronnie Belliard’s RBI single made it 4-2, Ishii was pulled, and Juan Uribe greeted Mota, who was making his fourth appearance in five days, with an RBI single to right-center. Helton grounded to second for the first out. Wilson’s two-run double made it 7-2, and Reyes’ RBI single made it 8-2.

A Dodger offense that was so aggressive and efficient in Tuesday night’s 5-2 win managed only six hits, four of them in seven innings against Oliver, who struck out nine and walked one to improve to 8-6.

Rickey Henderson went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts and is now hitless in his last 12-bats.