Fill-in Is Fine for Dodgers

Ah, freedom. Paul DePodesta woke up to Independence Day liberated from the expectation that he must trade prized prospects for veterans who may or may not enable the Dodgers to make the playoffs.

The potentially season-ending wrist injury to outfielder and No. 3 hitter J.D. Drew provides a raison d’etat for pursuing an alternate course -- roster moves designed to make the Dodgers contenders in 2006 and beyond.

Publicly, however, the general manager continues to say he plans to bolster the team, not dismantle it. How long he maintains that refrain could depend on whether the Dodgers make up ground on first-place San Diego in the last week before the All-Star break.

They did their part Monday night, defeating the Colorado Rockies, 4-3, in 11 innings before an announced sellout of 48,538 at Coors Field behind five hits by rookie Oscar Robles, who was filling in for injured shortstop Cesar Izturis for the fourth game in a row.

Robles singled to score Jason Grabowski with two out in the 11th, capping a comeback from an early 3-0 deficit. The Dodgers, 5-0 in extra-inning games on the road, gained a game on the Padres and second-place Arizona.

And they did so a day after being crushed by Arizona, losing Drew and arriving at their hotel at 4:30 a.m.

“When we fell behind, I don’t think anyone thought that things are going so bad we can’t overcome a three-run deficit,” said Kelly Wunsch, one of four relief pitchers who held the Rockies scoreless after the sixth.

Robles’ contract was purchased from the Mexican League on May 9 and only recently did the Dodgers make the final payment, ensuring he would not be sent back. After a slow start he is 11 for 22 during a six-game hitting streak and is batting .316.

“I’m trying to replace one of the best shortstops in the game, just trying to do my job,” he said. “When they bought my contract for the rest of the year I relaxed.”

Batting leadoff, he had as many hits as the slumping Izturis has had since June 21, drove in two runs and saw 34 pitches from four of the Rockies’ six pitchers.

The game ended with obligatory fireworks -- and nearly began with some when Jeff Kent was hit in the back by a pitch in the first inning and took several steps toward pitcher Byung-Hyun Kim. The benches and bullpens cleared but no punches were thrown.

The Dodgers (39-43) and Rockies (28-53) must have memories like elephants. The last time the teams met May 1, Yhency Brazoban plunked Rocky outfielder Dustan Mohr in the ninth inning, apparently because Brazoban was perturbed that the previous batter, Luis Gonzalez, had thrown his bat on three swings.

And the last time the Dodgers were at Coors Field, on April 24, Rocky pitchers hit four batters. So it went, with Jeff Weaver hitting the first batter he faced in the first, Cory Sullivan, although it appeared unintentional because Sullivan was hit on his rear elbow as he checked a swing.

Kim, who began the game with a 6.04 earned-run average, pitched six scoreless innings for the first time in his career and the Rockies scored in the first, fourth and sixth.

The third run was particularly galling, coming on a play normally seen only in youth baseball. Eddy Garabito appeared to try to steal second with two out, but when catcher Jason Phillips threw to second, he stopped and retreated, enabling Desi Relaford to dash home from third before Kent tagged Garabito.

The Dodgers jumped on relievers David Cortes and Bobby Seay to tie the score in the seventh. Chin-Feng Chen, called up to replace Drew, drove in two runs with his first major league hit and Robles brought in the tying run with his third hit.

Everyone is waiting for DePodesta to make a splashy trade, but it is small decisions that have helped the Dodgers maintain a pulse. He asked Robles to play outfield for a few games before purchasing his contract from Mexico City.

With Drew and outfielder Milton Bradley out indefinitely, that foresight could help Robles gain more playing time when Izturis returns.

“I don’t like to talk about it because we have good outfielders here, but I was working on it in Mexico,” Robles said. “I’m just trying to help us win games.”