Strain Is Catching Up to the Dodgers

Anything less than a total calamity is interpreted as great news these days for the Dodgers.

How else to explain the smiles when word spread that outfielder J.D. Drew will miss only eight weeks because he will not need surgery on the wrist he broke three days ago.

Otherwise, reports ranged from grim to bleak, with a dash of dreary.

Second baseman Jeff Kent left the game Tuesday night after five innings because of a strained left hamstring. Shortstop Cesar Izturis was put on the 15-day disabled list before the game because of a nagging hamstring injury.

And there was the relatively minor matter of a thoroughly one-sided 6-1 loss to the lowly Colorado Rockies before an announced 20,063 at Coors Field.

The Dodgers (39-44) fell behind early and continually sputtered with runners on base, wasting 12 hits and stranding 10 runners.

When Kent, the Dodgers’ best hitter, exited early, he left a lineup with a combined 24 home

runs to try to battle back from a 4-0 deficit against left-hander Jeff Francis (8-5), who inexplicably is more effective in the thin air at home than on the road.

The altitude was cited by Kent as a reason for the strained hamstring, which he felt chasing a pop fly in the fourth.

He also blamed the schedule, saying the late-night flight that followed a rare Sunday night game at Dodger Stadium took a toll.

“That fireworks game, then getting in here at 5 a.m. fatigued me enough to do a little damage,” he said. “A lot of guys were stressed because of that Sunday night game.”

He caught the injury early enough to prevent serious damage, he said, but the Dodgers won’t know until he tries to run today whether he can play. He has had hamstring injuries in the past, most recently last season with the Houston Astros when he missed more than a week.

“The hamstrings are the most uncontrollable muscle in the body,” Kent said. “It’s a reaction muscle that you can’t really baby. It’s unpredictable.”

The fact that Izturis, Drew and several other key Dodgers are hurt won’t change impact Kent’s availability.

“It’s got nothing to do with the team and the players we have,” he said. “It has everything to do with me and what I can contribute.”

Said Manager Jim Tracy: “He would have to significantly improve from what I heard in the dugout for me to feel comfortable putting him out there.”

One Dodger actually returned from the disabled list. Left-hander Odalis Perez made his first start since May 14 and looked rusty. In the second inning he broke late to first base on a groundball by Brad Hawpe that was scored a single, and two pitches later he left a changeup high in the strike zone to the .206-hitting J.D. Closser, who smacked a three-run home run.

Perez (4-5) gave up another run in the fifth and the Rockies (29-53) scored two against Elmer Dessens in the seventh on Todd Helton’s 258th home run, which tied him with Larry Walker for the Rocky record.

The Dodgers scored only on a groundout by Jason Phillips in the eighth, squandering two doubles by Jayson Werth and three hits by Oscar Robles.

“We are definitely taking our lumps and bumps,” Werth said.

With the prospect of both Dodger All-Star middle infielders being sidelined along with power-hitting outfielders Drew and Milton Bradley, Werth could do nothing but quietly laugh at the outrageous misfortune.

“I spent the first two months on the disabled list, so I can’t say much,” he said. “We just have to find a way to pick up the slack. Any way you look at it, we have a ballgame [today].”