Reds Steal One From Dodgers

There are two distinct games this time of year, the one on the field and the one in the front office. With the non-waiver trading deadline four days away, the pitches General Manager Paul DePodesta makes and swings he takes are as important as the ones by the players.

If he can pull off a heist as brazen as what the Cincinnati Reds accomplished Wednesday night, the Dodgers would be dramatically improved.

Ryan Freel set a Red record with five stolen bases, including two in the ninth that enabled him to score on a sacrifice fly, sinking the Dodgers, 7-6, at Dodger Stadium.

The loss pushed the Dodgers (46-55) five games behind first-place San Diego, which ended an eight-game losing streak.

It has become embarrassingly easy to steal against the Dodgers, and this time it cost them the game. Freel walked with one out against reliever Yhency Brazoban, stole second despite a pitchout, stole third and scored when Felipe Lopez lifted a fly ball to center.

“I just got good jumps and took advantage of slow deliveries,” Freel said. “I’m a base stealer. That’s what I do.”

DePodesta should be so bold. He has talked to numerous teams about trades, but there are more buyers than sellers.

“There is no question there are fewer players available than usual,” he said. “It is forcing us to be more creative.

“A couple things we were chasing didn’t seem to be working out, but teams have come to us with some other things. Some are three-way deals. Some depend on deal A coming together before we can make deal B.”

For the first time all season, the entire Dodger braintrust sat in a cluster in dugout club seats -- owner Frank McCourt, his wife, Jamie, and son Drew along with DePodesta and his top advisors, Kim Ng and Roy Smith.

What they saw was a tension-filled contest that included a two-run single by Milton Bradley to pull the Dodgers even in the seventh after the Reds had scored four in the top of the inning to erase a 4-2 deficit.

It’s possible this was Weaver’s last start as a Dodger. The Baltimore Orioles have inquired about trading for the right-hander, who is in the last year of a contract that pays him $9.25 million this season.

The New York Yankees and other teams have asked about the availability of left-hander Odalis Perez and right-hander Derek Lowe, but DePodesta said an offer would have to overwhelm him to break up the starting rotation -- considered the team’s strength.

“Our starting pitching has really settled down,” he said. “Any deal would really have to make us better.”

Weaver has said he wants to remain a Dodger, and in any event he wouldn’t want his last start to end this way. The seventh inning was a disaster. Jacob Cruz hit a two-run, pinch-hit home run with two out, Freel singled and stole second, and Felipe Lopez doubled.

Ken Griffey Jr., who earlier had homered, singled to drive in Lopez against left-handed reliever Wilson Alvarez. The Dodgers rebounded, though, when Bradley’s single scored Hee-Seop Choi and Cesar Izturis, who batted leadoff for the first time in two weeks.

Dodger first baseman Olmedo Saenz hit a two-run home run in the first inning that was only the 15th homer to land in the loge section at Dodger Stadium..

But the game was won by stealth, not brawn. Catcher Jason Phillips has thrown out only 12 of 82 base stealers and there have been 85 stolen bases total against the Dodgers.

“It came down to me,” Phillips said. “It’s something I have to improve on.”

Phillips is only half the problem. Base stealers get huge jumps on Brazoban, Weaver and several other Dodger pitchers, most notably Lowe and Perez.

Afterward, DePodesta had a closed-door meeting with Tracy and pitching coach Jim Colborn, presumably discussing how to prevent stolen bases or how to pull off a potential steal of their own.