Loss Leaves Hung-Over Feeling

At this rate, the shrill sounds of William Hung might reverberate through the Dodger clubhouse before every game the rest of the season.

The Dodgers had popped the improbable “American Idol” star’s CD into the clubhouse stereo while stretching before their last four games and cackled in glee as Hung crooned off-key renditions of Ricky Martin’s “She Bangs” and the Eagles’ “Hotel California.”

The Dodgers won four consecutive games to move into sole possession of first place in the National League West and rewarded themselves with more Hung tunes after each victory.

Alas, the Dodgers did not listen to Hung before Sunday’s game and suffered a 4-2 loss to the Colorado Rockies in front of 27,076 at Dodger Stadium. The clubhouse silence afterward was broken only by conspiracy theories.

“Maybe that’s why we lost,” joked Paul Lo Duca, who played left field and extended his hitting streak to six games with an eighth-inning double. “I’m just waiting for the first guy to go up there and break that stereo.”

It might be a futile attempt if the player swings the way the Dodgers did Sunday against Colorado starter Shawn Estes and two relievers, who limited them to six hits and worked out of several jams.

Estes, who went 13-23 the previous two seasons with three teams, improved to 2-0 after giving up three hits and one run in seven innings. The left-hander experienced a bout of wildness in the fourth, walking two and hitting Shawn Green with a pitch on the back of the right hand.

Adrian Beltre got his team-leading eighth run batted in with a two-out single to shallow center to score Milton Bradley and put the Dodgers ahead, 1-0, but Jose Hernandez flied out to the warning track with the bases loaded to end the inning.

“He had a little hiccup in one inning,” Colorado Manager Clint Hurdle said of Estes, “but they did not have one pitch they could sit on.”

That was not the case with Dodger starter Odalis Perez, who gave up three runs in the sixth on homers by Vinny Castilla and Jeromy Burnitz.

Castilla hit a two-run homer on a high-and-inside changeup and Burnitz followed two batters later with a solo shot to right on a low-and-inside changeup that Perez described as “a good pitch.”

Perez was a bit steamed that a 2-and-2 pitch to Castilla that he considered “right there over the middle of the plate” was not called a strike by umpire Larry Poncino. Castilla hit the next pitch into the left-field bleachers.

“In a situation like that when you’re late in the game, you’ve got to get those calls,” Perez said. “It was a good pitch. The next pitch was a mistake up and he hits it out.”

Perez (0-1) had a solid outing on the whole, striking out eight and retiring 13 of the first 15 batters he faced before giving up a single to left in the fifth that might not have fallen if Lo Duca had not momentarily hesitated before charging forward.

“Of the 115 pitches he threw,” Dodger Manager Jim Tracy said, “just two kept him from throwing six scoreless innings.”

The Dodgers (4-2) put together a couple of threats in the fifth but came up short after Perez hit into a 3-6-4 double play instead of attempting to lay down a sacrifice bunt and Bradley flied out to left with runners on first and third.

“We had some two-out opportunities today offensively, there’s no doubt about that,” Tracy said.

“Unfortunately, as we’ve done a lot of during this first homestand, we just weren’t able to get the hit.”

The Rockies (2-4), who ended a nine-game losing streak against the Dodgers dating to last season, extended their lead to 4-1 in the ninth against reliever Duaner Sanchez when Luis Gonzalez ripped a single just out of the reach of second baseman Hernandez, scoring Denny Hocking.

Beltre drew the Dodgers a run closer in the ninth when he hit a leadoff double to right, took third on a wild pitch and scored on another wild pitch.

The Dodgers brought the potential tying run to the plate after Hernandez singled up the middle with one out, but David Ross popped out to first in foul territory and pinch-hitter Robin Ventura struck out.

The Dodgers have Green to thank -- or curse -- for allowing Hung to infiltrate the clubhouse after the first baseman downloaded the songs. .

“It just keeps everybody loose,” said Lo Duca, whose favorite Hung song is a rendition of Elton John’s “Rocket Man.”

Said Tracy: “I’ll listen to it all year long, believe me. Hopefully, we’ll get to play it about 95 to 100 times.”