Dodgers Find Some Rhythm

As is custom in baseball, the day’s starting pitcher has control of the clubhouse sound system. And as such, the Dodger clubhouse is awash in the ear-splitting sounds of merengue grooves whenever Odalis Perez is preparing to take the mound.

As he dressed Tuesday, the Dominican Republic native mouthed the words of the songs and took enough time to dance a few steps.

However, the tightrope act Perez did against the Cincinnati Reds later might have been more impressive.

Hit hard early, the left-hander had enough moves to stay alive and keep the Reds at bay until the Dodger bats awoke to deliver a 7-4 victory at Dodger Stadium.

With the National League West Division-leading San Diego Padres losing to St. Louis, the third-place Dodgers (46-54) pulled to within four games of first.

Perez (6-5) needed bullpen help from Steve Schmoll, lefty Wilson Alvarez, Duaner Sanchez and closer Yhency Brazoban, who earned his 19th save, to put the Reds away.

A pair of clutch defensive plays from left fielder Jayson Werth in the second inning, a two-run single by Cesar Izturis in the seventh and a two-out, two-strike, two-run home run in the eighth by Olmedo Saenz helped Perez’s case as well.

In fact, Perez left the game trailing by a run after seven innings, in which he gave up three runs, two earned, and eight hits while striking out three. He did not walk a batter and threw 102 pitches, the most he has thrown in five starts since returning from the disabled list July 5.

“I’m getting [closer to] 100%, that’s the main thing,” said Perez, who was on the disabled list because of a sore pitching shoulder. “My arm is coming along. When you’re hurt, it takes a while to come back from that.”

The Reds pounded Perez in the second inning with four hits -- two doubles and a pair of singles -- but could score only one run.

Werth first threw out Sean Casey at second, trying to stretch, and two batters later, Werth ended the inning by nailing Edwin Encarnacion at the plate on Jason LaRue’s single.

“I just had to find out what they were looking for,” Perez said. “All those hits, those were off-speed pitches, every one of them. So then I just thought, ‘Oh, they’re looking for the change-up? Let’s see about the fastball.’ ”

The Reds, who added solo runs in the third, fifth and eighth innings, fell to 42-58 despite home runs from starting left-handed pitcher Eric Milton, the second of his career, both of which have come against the Dodgers, and center fielder Ken Griffey Jr., his 22nd of the season and 523rd of his career.

Jeff Kent’s solo homer in the fourth inning, his team-leading 18th home run, tied the score at 2-2 and ended a Dodger homer-less streak at 53 innings.

Milton (4-11) took the loss and was chased in the seventh when the Dodgers put runners on second and third with none out after Werth’s single and Jason Repko’s double.

With one out, Izturis’ broken-bat single to left-center scored Werth and Repko, giving the Dodgers their first lead, 4-3, as Griffey had trouble coming up with the ball.

A Kent single to shallow center three batters later scored Izturis and, in the eighth, Saenz took reliever Todd Coffey deep to give the Dodgers breathing room.

“Our starting pitching, which we thought would be a strong point when we came out of spring training, is stepping up, big time,” Dodger Manager Jim Tracy said. “When our starting pitching keeps us around, we have a chance.

“We’re getting to where we’re getting contributions throughout the lineup.... We’ve got a lot of good things happening for us right now.”