Drive Time, D.J. Fuel Dodger Win

Dodger efforts to acquire a starting pitcher in a trade will proceed with vigor. Concern remains that the current rotation is woefully inadequate to face the long summer ahead.

But on a historic night, the unexpectedly splendid performance of rookie D.J. Houlton was as welcome as crisp sheets and a soft pillow for a team struggling to avoid sinking below .500.

Houlton and four relief pitchers stifled the Milwaukee Brewers in a 2-1 victory Saturday in front of an announced 46,287, who had the distinction of being present for the Dodgers’ 3,448th regular-season game at Dodger Stadium, surpassing the total the team played at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn.

J.D. Drew and Jeff Kent hit back-to-back home runs for the second time in three games, and for the first time in a long while that was all the offense the Dodgers (28-27) needed.

It hadn’t been thousands of games since they held an opponent to one run or fewer, it just seemed that way. Actually, the last time was May 1 against the Colorado Rockies.

Who could have guessed the drought would end with Houlton making his first major league start? Opposing batters had a .403 average against him in 13 relief appearances. In other words, he turned every hitter into the equivalent of Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby, circa 1925.

But Houlton (1-0) held the Brewers to one run and four hits in 5 1/3 innings. The performance couldn’t have come at a better time for the Dodgers, who for the second time in three days could have dipped under .500.

“I was able to throw my fastball in and out,” Houlton said. “I was nervous but less so as the game went on.”

Nothing helped like the home runs by Drew and Kent in the fourth inning to put the Dodgers ahead, 2-1. Ricky Ledee flied out to the warning track and Jayson Werth hit a double off the center-field fence, but Brewer starter Victor Santos (2-5) pitched out of the jam and kept the Dodgers quiet for the rest of his seven-inning outing.

Although Houlton allowed the leadoff batter to reach base in each of his last four innings, he paid a price only in the third when a walk to Damian Miller was followed by singles by Junior Spivey and Santos to load the bases with none out. Brady Clark hit into a 6-4-3 double play, and Miller scored, but the play enabled Houlton to avert a disastrous inning.

“The key moment in the game was getting out of the jam in the third,” Manager Jim Tracy said.

Left-hander Kelly Wunsch struck out Geoff Jenkins with one out and one on in the sixth, Duaner Sanchez pitched 1 1/3 strong innings, Yhency Brazoban sailed through the eighth and Eric Gagne allowed a double and allowed the tying run to reach third with one out in the ninth before notching his fifth save.

Nevertheless, General Manager Paul DePodesta will be back on the phone today, trying to trade for another starting pitcher.

“I’ve already put a lot of calls out there and had initial conversations,” he said. “It takes a willing partner to make a deal and it might be more likely to happen in late June or July. A lot of teams are still trying to figure out where they are” in the pennant race.

Acquiring another hitter might be prudent as well. Dodger frustration peaked when third baseman Antonio Perez and Tracy were ejected after the seventh inning.

Perez struck out and was tossed for barking at plate umpire Marty Foster, who two pitches earlier had ruled that a pitch Perez believed hit him on the hand was a foul ball. Tracy was ejected for continuing the argument.

Tracy’s conduct met the approval of injured outfielder Milton Bradley, who shook the manager’s hand and patted his rear end when he returned to the dugout.