Dodgers Lock In and Unload

Instead of Game Over, it was Game Persisting and Protracted and Prolonged.

But even without closer Eric Gagne, eventually it became the fourth Dodger victory in a row after their opening-day loss.

Jeff Kent continued his torrid start, driving in three runs with a double in the 11th inning to key the rollicking 12-10 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday night at Bank One Ballpark.

A one-run lead in the ninth inning called for Gagne and his famed Game Over routine, but he is on the disabled list because of a sprained elbow. Yhency Brazoban wobbled in his place, allowing the Diamondbacks to tie the score in the ninth and nearly win in the 10th when they loaded the bases with one out.

Brazoban buckled down, however, striking out Troy Glaus and Shawn Green.

That gave Kent, who is 10 for 19 and started the scoring with a two-run home run in the first, the opportunity to finish off the Diamondbacks, a team with even worse bullpen problems than the Dodgers.

The Diamondbacks scored twice in the bottom of the 11th against Giovanni Carrara, but rookie Steve Schmoll induced Jose Cruz Jr. to hit into a game-ending double play with runners on first and third.

“You want to talk about character,” Manager Jim Tracy said. “With what we’ve faced in five games, it’s evident.”

Pitching was problematic for both teams throughout. The Dodgers finally examined Javier Vazquez. It might have held little more than curiosity value, but suffice to say, let the buyer beware. They also observed their own Scott Erickson for the first time in a regular-season game. He could be damaged goods, which would be of serious concern because there is a vested interest.

Vazquez refused to report for a physical when the Dodgers were trying to acquire him from the New York Yankees in December. He ended up a Diamondback, and the Dodgers knocked him around for six runs in five-plus innings Saturday night, his earned-run average after two starts settling in at 15.43.

Erickson, who earned a berth in the Dodger rotation with an excellent spring, was worse, surrendering four home runs and six runs in 4 1/3 innings.

Erickson, 37, seemed reborn in the spring, pitching 36 innings, more than any other Dodger. He had an ERA of 2.00, and the batting average against him was only .228; he pitched so effectively that the Dodgers were comfortable trading Kazuhisa Ishii for Jason Phillips to fill a need at catcher.

But the last time Erickson pitched well for any length of time, Bill Clinton was president.

In 2000 Erickson had a 7.87 ERA in 16 starts for the Baltimore Orioles. He didn’t pitch the next year because of injury.

In 2002 he was 5-12 with a 5.55 ERA in 29 games for the Orioles. He didn’t pitch the next year because of injury.

In 2004 he gave up 15 hits and nine runs in eight innings with the New York Mets and 23 hits and 13 runs in 19 innings with the Texas Rangers.

The Erickson who posted those frightening numbers was back against the Diamondbacks. Tony Clark and Chris Snyder hit home runs in a three-run second inning, former Dodger Green hit his first homer for his new team in the third and Glaus homered in the fifth.

The Dodgers scored three in the sixth to pull within 7-6, and have scored three or more runs in an inning seven times in the last four games.

A single by Hee-Seop Choi that scored pinch-runner Jeff Weaver from second with two out in the eighth put the Dodgers ahead, 8-7, capping a comeback that began in the sixth with Arizona ahead, 7-3. was the first hit of the season for Choi, who had struck out seven times in his first 11 at-bats.

Preserving the victory was less about pitching than defense. With runners on first and third and two out in the eighth, and reliever Duaner Sanchez struggling, Milton Bradley made a sprawling catch of a shallow fly by Glaus, preventing the tying run.

It all set the table for Kent, who at 37 has seen many games as wild as this one.

“It’s a long season and you can’t get caught up in the ups and downs,” he said. “After six months, you hope you are good enough.”