Dodger Bats Look Good for Nothing

Manager Jim Tracy believes pitching could give the Dodgers an edge in the National League wild-card race.

But what about their offense?

The major leagues’ top staff couldn’t overcome the NL’s least-productive batting order again Tuesday night in a 2-0 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies before 31,099 at Veterans Stadium.

Starter Vicente Padilla pitched eight shutout innings to help the NL wild-card leaders end a four-game losing streak and maintain a one-game wild-card lead over the Florida Marlins. The Dodgers, who dropped four games behind Philadelphia, had three singles against Padilla (10-8), who also walked a batter and hit two.

Left-hander Dan Plesac retired Shawn Green to start the ninth and closer Jose Mesa got the final two outs for his 20th save. Philadelphia (58-47) had only five hits, but one was Bobby Abreu’s two-run home run (his 17th) in the second against starter Kazuhisa Ishii (9-5).

Ishii pitched well for the first time in four starts, giving up three hits and striking out seven with only two walks in six innings. However, being good often isn’t enough for Dodger pitchers.

“Kazuhisa pitched a great ballgame and our bullpen did its normal routine,” said Tracy, whose club fell into a fourth-place tie with the Colorado Rockies in the NL West, 12 1/2 games behind the first-place San Francisco Giants.

“We had some pitches to hit, we fouled ours back and we didn’t score. Three hits and no runs makes for very little to talk about.”

The Dodgers (54-51) did not have a runner advance to third base in being shut out for the eighth time this season. They are among seven teams within five games of the Phillies for the wild-card berth.

The Dodgers are focused on their backup goal with the Giants having pulled away from the pack in the division, but they are only 1-3 on what was thought to be a make-or-break, three-city, 10-day, nine-game trip. Again, offense is the problem.

“It’s not a fun thing to talk about,” Green said of the Dodger offense. “You’ve got to give some credit to the pitchers, but we still need to put up more runs.”

In their last 53 innings, the Dodgers have scored three runs, and only one spanning their previous 40.

They are batting .153 (27 for 176) in their last five games, making an already arduous season even more painful for batting instructor Jack Clark.

“I wish I could say it was Padilla, he throws the ball [well] and he’s a good pitcher, but I think we’ve seen enough that we can’t just keep saying [it’s the pitcher] all the time,” Clark said. “For a long time, we’ve been at the point where it’s about the players. They’ve got to go out there and get the job done, and they’re not getting the job done.

“There’s no [batting practice] or anything else that can take care of that. You have to go out there with pride and take care of business, and there’s nothing more that can be done. If there is, I haven’t heard from somebody that there’s more that needs to be done. I haven’t heard that from the guys that are out there in that room.”

With the Dodgers last in the NL in batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, hits, walks, homers, runs, runs batted in and total bases, Clark said it’s time to acknowledge the obvious.

“There are limits to what we’re able to do, and I guess that’s what is the most frustrating,” he said.

Pitching coach Jim Colborn also is frustrated, though he tries to remain hopeful about the ineffective Dodger offense.

“You can’t help it,” Colborn said. “You have to try to be disciplined enough not to think about the fact that we don’t score many runs, but it can have a negative impact on the pitching.

“Frankly, I’m amazed that the pitchers have been able to remain aggressive under the circumstances. I really am.”

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The Binary System

The Dodgers have scored no runs or one run in the last five games. The results and the number of Dodger hits:

* July 24: Dodgers 1, Colorado 0 (11 innings); 6 hits

* July 25: Diamondbacks 2, Dodgers 1 (15 innings); 3 hits

* July 26: Diamondbacks 1, Dodgers 0; 6 hits

* July 27: Dodgers 1, Diamondbacks 0; 9 hits

* July 29: Phillies 2, Dodgers 0; 3 hits

Note: In the five games, the Dodgers are hitting .153 (27 for 176)