Dodgers Take a Walk Backward

Bunts, bloops and bleeders did in the Dodgers on Saturday.

And one especially ill-timed walk.

Reliever Giovanni Carrara threw four balls in a row to pinch-hitter Marlon Anderson to lead off the seventh inning, then Jose Reyes tripled to bring home the tying run in the New York Mets’ 7-5 victory at Shea Stadium.

Reyes twice tried to bunt before driving a pitch at his shoelaces down the right-field line for his fourth hit. He scored on a single by Carlos Beltran against Wilson Alvarez.

“I let the team down,” Carrara said. “I take full responsibility for this loss.”

There were other culprits, to be sure.

The Mets stole five bases against catcher Jason Phillips, whose below-average arm is well-known to the Mets because they traded him to the Dodgers this spring.

Phillips has thrown out only 12 of 76 base-stealers. Twice with runners on first and third Manager Jim Tracy instructed Phillips not to throw to second on steals.

“If we throw the ball away or they attempt a double steal, we give up a run,” Tracy said. “They have to earn their runs with the bat.”

The Mets executed bunts for hits to both sides of the diamond and twice bunted runners to third who scored on groundouts. The victim was Dodger rookie starter D.J. Houlton, who was touched for four runs in six innings despite not giving up a hard hit until David Wright doubled to lead off the sixth.

It added up to enough offense for Pedro Martinez (12-3) to win despite not having his best stuff. He came in holding opposing batters to a .181 average and notched strikeout No. 2,800 in the seventh inning, but the Dodgers scored five runs against him, including three in the first.

Olmedo Saenz struck the big blow, doubling in two runs with a fly ball that center fielder Carlos Beltran lost in the sun. Saenz also homered in the sixth for the last Dodger run, his first home run since June 3.

An even more welcome sight was center fielder Milton Bradley, who played for the first time since May 29. He showed that the torn ligament in his right ring finger is healed, doubling in the third inning against Martinez and bunting for a single in the seventh.

“I felt more confident and comfortable than ever,” he said. “Watching games during the time I sat out let me learn more and understand situations better.”

Bradley didn’t arrive until 6:30 a.m. from Colorado because of travel problems, but the only indication that he was tired came when his calves cramped.

Tracy compared Bradley’s return to an acquisition at the trading deadline.

“Obviously it enhances our leverage,” he said. “Phillips is batting eighth instead of fourth or fifth. You have a chip back you didn’t have. It can be a shot in the arm.”

Reyes supplied the jolt the Mets needed, scoring three runs, driving in two, including an insurance run in the eighth, and stealing two bases.

“He was extremely disruptive,” Tracy said. “But that leadoff walk in the seventh was the key moment.”

Control problems have plagued Carrara (6-4). In 44 1/3 innings he has walked 26, including 14 in his last 18 1/3 innings.

He said he had warmed up well enough and could not pinpoint the reason for the walk.

“I was trying to throw the first pitch right there and I couldn’t even get it near home plate,” he said.

The Dodgers (44-53) had a three-game winning streak end and lost a chance to pick up another game on San Diego in the National League West. The Padres lost their sixth in a row.

“Everybody feels like we are the best team in the division,” Bradley said. “We just have to put some wins together.”