Dodgers Get a Handle on Win

Luis Gonzalez might have unwittingly completed Yhency Brazoban’s apprenticeship as a closer by providing an already impressive ninth-inning routine with an anthem: Hit me with your best shot.

Gonzalez inadvertently flung his bat into the infield while chasing three consecutive pitches in the ninth inning Sunday afternoon, raising the ire of a Dodger Stadium crowd that has grown protective of Eric Gagne’s temporary replacement.

Tensions escalated further when Brazoban plunked the Colorado Rockies’ next hitter, Dustan Mohr, squarely in the back, prompting Mohr to glare at Brazoban as he walked slowly up the first base line.

But chaos has rarely resulted in a more serene feeling than it did for Brazoban, who retired Todd Greene for the final out to polish off a 2-1 Dodger victory that completed a three-game sweep in which the budding closer notched a save in every game.

Derek Lowe pitched six impressive innings on a day he battled flu-like symptoms, and Jeff Kent drove in both Dodger runs with a bases-loaded single and a sacrifice fly.

But the most intriguing story continued to be the 24-year-old rookie who has converted eight of nine save opportunities.

“If he’s on my squad, maybe I like him,” Colorado shortstop Desi Relaford said of Brazoban. “I just don’t like the way he handled it.”

Brazoban opened the ninth on a shaky note by walking Brad Hawpe, then survived a lengthy standoff with pinch-hitter Gonzalez, who lost the handle on the bat on the final three pitches. The bat landed on the mound after Brazoban’s final pitch, which resulted in a strikeout and, ultimately, a double play. Hawpe tried to steal second base on the pitch, but Gonzalez stepped in front of catcher Jason Phillips and was called for interference, resulting in Hawpe’s being called out.

“I was just trying to make contact, to get a ground ball,” Gonzalez said.

Although the crowd of 46,243 vociferously booed Gonzalez, the sentiment in the Dodger clubhouse was that Gonzalez did not try to hit Brazoban with his bat.

“He was just overmatched. He was just trying to stay alive,” Phillips said. “Nobody’s trying to throw a bat with two strikes. He’s just trying to protect [the plate] and hopefully flare one in.”

After the double play, Mohr was immediately plunked with a two-seam fastball that Brazoban, speaking through an interpreter, said he simply couldn’t control.

“He was just erratic that whole inning,” Phillips said of Brazoban. “He was bouncing sliders on the other side of the batter’s box and throwing fastballs up and in. He was excited out there.”

Mohr took second on a wild pitch that brought the count to Greene to 2-and-2, but Brazoban retired Greene on a fly ball to left to seal the Dodgers’ third consecutive victory, which preserved their 1 1/2 -game lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League West.

Lowe (2-2) turned in an admirable performance considering he wasn’t feeling well, giving up five hits and one run that might not have scored if Phillips could have blocked a first-inning changeup in the dirt. Aaron Miles, who reached base on the wild pitch despite striking out, eventually scored on Hawpe’s single to right.

Kent tied the score, 1-1, in the third with a single to left against starter Shawn Chacon (1-1), but the Dodgers left the bases loaded when Ricky Ledee and Jose Valentin struck out to end the inning.

Kent got his team-leading 20th RBI in the fifth with a sacrifice fly that drove in Cesar Izturis just ahead of a strong throw by center fielder Cory Sullivan.

Lowe lasted one more inning after his teammates gave him a one-run lead, recording his second strikeout on the final pitch he threw, an 84-mph fastball to Garrett Atkins to end the sixth.

“Everyone goes to work sick; you just pitch through it,” said Lowe, who also had a blister on the thumb of his pitching hand. “I wasn’t throwing as hard as I normally do, but games like this sometimes are good. It goes to show you that it’s not velocity, it’s location and changing speeds, the basic theory of pitching.”

Something Brazoban seems to have mastered pretty well.