Ishii Is a Complete Success in Victory

Kazuhisa Ishii usually speaks to the media with the aid of an interpreter, but he needed no assistance to understand and answer the question of whether he kept the ball from his first major league shutout.

“No,” he said in English. “Encarnacion threw it.”

To a fan, that is. No problem. Outfielder Juan Encarnacion caught the last out and flipped the game ball into the stands, and Ishii said he could live without it.

“I might lose it,” he said with a smile, this time through an interpreter.

There were smiles all around the Dodger clubhouse Sunday after Ishii pitched a four-hitter and Milton Bradley hit two home runs in a 9-0 victory over the San Francisco Giants, a rout so complete that the Giants gave Barry Bonds the last four innings off. After losing 13 of 19 games to San Francisco last season, the Dodgers have won five of the first six games against the Giants this season.

“It’s a great feeling, after what they did to us last year,” outfielder Dave Roberts said.

The Dodgers exacted plenty of revenge on an unsuspecting Brian Cooper, who was minding his own business last year, pitching in triple-A games for the Chicago White Sox.

Cooper, a last-minute substitute when scheduled starter Dustin Hermanson was scratched because of back spasms, gave up six runs in three innings, including home runs to Bradley, Alex Cora and Cesar Izturis.

In his last start, Ishii fared no better than Cooper did Sunday, and Ishii’s inconsistency had become so pronounced that some teammates wondered whether the Dodgers might be better off with long reliever Wilson Alvarez in the starting rotation. But Ishii rewarded Manager Jim Tracy and pitching coach Jim Colborn for their support, retiring the first 11 hitters and giving the bullpen its first day off this season.

Ishii made 128 pitches, one day after fellow starter Jeff Weaver made 127.

“It’s nice to see the starters realizing their responsibilities,” Colborn said.

The Giants didn’t advance a runner beyond second base Sunday. Ishii walked three batters, perhaps the most encouraging statistic from a pitcher with dominating stuff but erratic command of his fastball.

“If he can establish his fastball, his curveball is almost unhittable,” catcher David Ross said.

“Ross has never encouraged me as much as he did today,” Ishii said through the interpreter.

The smiles extended across the room. Roberts, the leadoff man, had three hits and stole another base. Cora and Izturis had two hits apiece, with Izturis extending his hitting streak to 13 games. Bradley hit two home runs for the first time in his career.

Bradley, saluted as the big bat when the Dodgers acquired him from Cleveland on the eve of the season opener, has four home runs in 18 games. He had 10 last year, in 101 games.

“I’m not weak by any means, but I’ve never considered myself a power hitter,” he said.

Bradley, ejected from Saturday’s game after disputing a called third strike, said the incident did not fire him up for Sunday. If anything, he said, he was more peaceful, after attending pregame chapel services for the first time this season and listening carefully to the Bible reading.

“It seemed like the dude was speaking right to me,” Bradley said.

He wore a smile too, as he headed to his mother’s Long Beach residence, capping his special day with a home-cooked chicken dinner.

“What’s better than that?” he said. “And the Lakers won!”

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Crowded House

A Dodger Stadium three-game-series attendance record was set over the weekend. The most-attended three-game series in Dodger Stadium history:

*--* Date Opponent Attendance April 23-25, 2004 San Francisco 163,653 May 21-23, 1999 St. Louis 162,376 Sept. 5-7, 1966 San Francisco 162,122 June 20-22, 2003 Angels 161,078 Sept. 19-21, 2003 San Francisco 160,684 Sept. 27-29, 1996 San Diego 159,541

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