Gagne Makes Past Go Away

Well, that sure didn’t take long.

A night after watching his major league record end at 84 consecutive saves, Eric Gagne got back on the mound and might have begun a new streak Tuesday night in a 4-1 victory against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium.

The pesky Diamondbacks on Monday handed Gagne his first blown save since his previous one against them in 2002, scoring twice in the ninth inning against him in the Dodgers’ 6-5 victory in 10 innings.

On Tuesday, Gagne got a measure of payback.

Roberto Alomar had a two-out bloop single to right-center against Gagne, but the All-Star closer struck out pinch-hitter Tim Olson to record his 22nd save in 23 opportunities while also tying Jeff Shaw for the all-time franchise record with 129 career saves.

A crowd of 25,139 saluted Gagne with a standing ovation during the game’s last at-bat, cheering loudest when Olson failed to catch up to a two-strike fastball.

“That’s why I love this job so much, closing so much, because you don’t have to worry about today. You have to worry about tomorrow,” said Gagne, who has suffered only five blown saves in two-plus seasons, including three against Arizona.

“Every day is ‘Groundhog Day.’ You have to start over every day. It doesn’t matter what you did yesterday.”

The Dodgers also received a strong seven-inning rebound performance from starter Jose Lima.

Lima (7-3) had one of his best starts of the season in limiting the Diamondbacks to a run and seven hits. After failing to provide quality starts in his previous two outings, Lima, who also singled and had a run batted in, pitched deep into the game and gave the bullpen a break.

“He kept the ball down, moved the ball around and kept us off balance very well,” Arizona interim Manager Al Pedrique said. “We had chances to score but couldn’t get that good hit.”

Adrian Beltre hit his team-leading 22nd home run and productive reserve infielder Jose Hernandez connected for his fifth as the Dodgers (44-37) won their fourth in a row as they reached the halfway point of their schedule in second place in the National League West.

The Dodgers remained a game behind division-leading San Diego but moved a half-game ahead of San Francisco. They go for the sweep tonight against Arizona comforted to know that Gagne is back on track.

“I thought he was going to go his whole career without blowing a save, so [Monday] night was a fluke to me,” said Lima, who won for the third time in four decisions.

Gagne wasn’t as razor sharp Tuesday as the Dodgers have become accustomed to, but he was better than in Monday’s blown save.

Fans stood and applauded in the ninth as “Welcome to the Jungle” introduced Gagne as the bullpen doors opened.

Gagne did his part to keep the crowd stirred up, getting Quinton McCracken on a fly ball for the first out after quickly falling behind, 2-and-0. Robby Hammock popped up to second on Gagne’s second pitch, and the crowd stood and clapped in anticipation of a 1-2-3 inning.

Alomar didn’t cooperate, sending a blooper into right-center on the second pitch. But pinch-hitter Olson, batting .211, was no match for Gagne.

“Gagne is no human,” Lima said. “He makes pitching look easy. It’s not so easy.”

Steve Finley staked Arizona starter Casey Fossum to a 1-0 lead in the third with his 21st homer, and that was it for the Diamondback offense. Hernandez’s homer in the bottom of the inning tied the score.

The Dodgers then did the “little things” well in a three-run sixth, utilizing well-placed bunts from Alex Cora and Lima to take a 4-1 lead and chase Fossum (2-7).

Beltre’s first-pitch leadoff homer broke a 1-1 tie. With one out, Olmedo Saenz singled and Jayson Werth doubled to put runners in scoring position.

The Diamondbacks brought the infield in and Cora laid down a squeeze bunt toward third base, driving in Saenz from third with the go-ahead run as third baseman Chad Tracy couldn’t cleanly field the ball.

Werth went to third on Cora’s single and scored on Lima’s sacrifice bunt, giving the Dodgers a three-run lead that setup man Darren Dreifort and Gagne preserved.