Beltre Finally Locates His Clutch in Win

Benched and booed in a nightmarish start, Dodger third baseman Adrian Beltre hasn’t had much fun this season.

He was upbeat for a change Tuesday night after delivering a clutch hit for the hot Dodgers in a 3-1 victory over the Colorado Rockies.

The .192 hitter broke a 1-1 tie in the seventh inning, connecting on a two-out, two-run single to center against Colorado reliever Justin Speier to cap a three-run inning that also featured pinch-hitter Ron Coomer’s run-scoring double.

After booing Beltre throughout, a crowd of 27,251 at Dodger Stadium apparently enjoyed his closing act.

“The hit tonight was huge for me,” said Beltre, batting .190 with runners on base and .200 with runners in scoring position.

“The last couple of games, I’ve been hitting the ball well but right at people.

“Eventually, they’re going to start falling.”

One did for Coomer as well.

Coomer’s hit, a liner down the left-field line, chased Colorado left-hander Darren Oliver, who had confounded the Dodgers for 6 2/3 innings, and helped starter Kevin Brown (5-1) earn his fourth victory in his sixth consecutive superb outing.

Brown gave up three hits and had nine strikeouts in seven innings. He also singled in the sixth.

One of those hits was a home run by Jose Hernandez with one out in the seventh.

“I made a mistake, a bad pitch, I’m just glad it didn’t cost us the game,” said Brown, who threw 66 strikes in 105 pitches. “I knew I couldn’t afford to make any more mistakes.”

In his last 42 innings, Brown has given up only seven earned runs (a 1.50 earned-run average) and has 38 strikeouts.

“I don’t think pitching gets much better than that,” said Manager Jim Tracy, whose club’s season-high winning streak is at five games. “Kevin Brown was phenomenal and, as we’ve been doing lately, we’re getting one opportunity in one inning, and we’re capitalizing.”

Said Colorado Manager Clint Hurdle: “He’s back as advertised. He’s as good a competitor as you’ll ever [face].”

Setup man Paul Quantrill cruised through the eighth, leaving the Rockies to face Eric Gagne in the ninth.

Gagne displayed some of his sharpest pitches yet in another 1-2-3, strikeout-the-side save that gave him 16 in as many opportunities this season, and 24 in a row spanning two seasons. The Dodgers (25-20) have moved five games above .500 for the first time, winning 16 of 22.

Although the second-place Dodgers didn’t gain ground on the San Francisco Giants in the National League West, remaining three games back, they continued to move in the right direction.

If Beltre gets going, the Dodgers’ positive pace could quicken.

“It’s an at-bat like that, not just a base hit, but a base hit that wins a game for us, that could get him started,” Tracy said of Beltre. “I’ve seen guys use things like that to get going.”

It appeared Beltre, batting leadoff again with Dave Roberts sidelined, would have another forgettable night after striking out in the first.

He had a better at-bat while flying out in the fourth, sending left fielder Jay Payton a step from the wall, but flied out on the first pitch in the sixth after Brown’s single. The fans were not pleased, booing Beltre again.

However, it didn’t take him long to get the crowd back.

After retiring Brian Jordan and Mike Kinkade on fly balls to start the seventh, Oliver (1-3) walked Jolbert Cabrera and Cesar Izturis singled up the middle to put runners on the corners. Tracy summoned Coomer, who now has four pinch-hits in 11 at-bats, to hit for Brown, and Cabrera easily scored the tying run on Coomer’s double.

“It’s not the first time he’s delivered like that,” Tracy said. “There’s a reason he’s on this ballclub.”

Beltre can still help too.

Hurdle brought in Speier to face Beltre. The right-hander had limited Beltre to two hits in 10 at-bats, but Beltre won Tuesday’s battle, singling on an 0-and-1 count to close the scoring.

“It’s been hard, but I’ve kept believing in myself,” Beltre said.

“I’m not going to give up. Never.”

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No Gag in Gagne

Eric Gagne has converted all 16 save opportunities this season and has a save in four consecutive games. In those games, he has pitched four perfect innings, striking out nine, including the last eight in a row. National League save leaders:

John Smoltz, Atlanta -- 18

Eric Gagne, Dodgers -- 16

Rocky Biddle, Montreal -- 13

Tim Worrell, San Francisco -- 13

Armando Benitez, New York -- 12

Mike Williams, Pittsburgh -- 12

Jose Mesa, Philadelphia -- 12

Note: Smoltz led the NL last year with 55 saves; Gagne was second with 52.