Sweeping Pill Is Bitter for Dodgers

Three games might not be enough to make sound judgments in comparing potential playoff opponents.

On the other hand, it appears the St. Louis Cardinals are ahead of the Dodgers, who lost again, 6-5, in 11 innings Sunday and were swept in a three-game series at Busch Stadium.

The Cardinals improved to a major league-best 92-44, reenergizing a crowd of 43,611 in the 11th after closer Jason Isringhausen failed to preserve a three-run lead in the ninth. Isringhausen gave up a two-out, run-scoring single to pinch-hitter Jayson Werth and a tying two-run double to Jose Hernandez, who was stranded at third, but the Cardinals played it cool and struck quickly in the 11th against Giovanni Carrara.

Hector Luna connected on Carrara’s first pitch, driving the ball over right fielder Shawn Green and to the wall for a leadoff triple. Pinch-hitter Reggie Sanders then capped the Cardinals’ ninth consecutive victory, singling to center against a drawn-in infield on Carrara’s second pitch to end a 3-hour 20-minute game.

“They were fastballs I just left around the plate,” said Carrara, who dropped to 4-2. “After we battled like that, I just take the blame. I let them down.”

The National League West leaders finished 6-7 on their longest trip of the season, a four-city, 13-game, 14-day journey. The Dodgers (78-58), who left Los Angeles with a 4 1/2 -game lead, are now 3 1/2 games ahead of the San Fransisco Giants, who gained three games in the last three days by sweeping the last-place Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Dodgers eagerly approached the series, figuring they needed to be tested against the best. They also play host to St. Louis next weekend at Dodger Stadium, hoping the second round of exams is better for them than the first.

“Any time you lose it’s not good, but you have to look at the positive side of it,” said third baseman Adrian Beltre, who moved into second place on the Dodger single-season home run list with his 44th, five behind record-holder Green.

“We were struggling to score runs this series, and we came back in the ninth and scored three runs. But it’s getting close to the end, and [the Giants] are getting close to us. We better get on a good run here and start winning.”

More support for Beltre would help.

The cleanup hitter batted .400 with six homers and 14 runs batted in on the trip, but no other everyday player made a major contribution. Green was two for four Sunday, but batted .214 overall.

Steve Finley, who fouled out to end the ninth with Hernandez on third, was hitless in 12 at-bats against the Cardinals and batted .207 on the trip. Milton Bradley batted .214 with 14 strikeouts, increasing his team-high total to 103.

On Sunday, the Dodgers had 10 hits for the second time in as many games. And again, too few of them were timely.

“We got base hits,” Tracy said. “We just didn’t get big hits.”

The Cardinals took a 5-2 lead after five innings as starter Jeff Weaver, who leads the majors with 22 quality starts, struggled in a six-inning, five-run performance.

The Dodgers got Weaver off the hook in the ninth when Isringhausen suffered his sixth blown save, and Wilson Alvarez, Yhency Brazoban and Eric Gagne combined to work four scoreless innings.

Carrara entered after Gagne had pitched two perfect innings in the ninth and 10th, striking out three. Luna had a two-out, full-count, bases-loaded single in the fifth against Weaver, driving in two runs to stake starter Woody Williams (seven strong innings) to a three-run lead.

Luna’s drive to right in the 11th eluded Green.

“I ran full speed and was probably a couple of steps from getting to it,” Green said.

Sanders, hitting for catcher Mike Matheny, singled sharply. Ray King (5-2) worked a one-two-three inning in the top of the 11th for the victory.