All at Once, Dodgers Look a Little Short

Already short-handed, the Dodgers were left to hope that their only significant loss Wednesday night came against a Washington National team that is starting to bear little resemblance to its previous incarnation as the Montreal Expos.

Shortstop Cesar Izturis crumpled to the ground in agony in the fifth inning after fouling a pitch off his right ankle, and for the second consecutive night a member of the Dodger infield had to leave a game prematurely because of injury.

Third baseman Jose Valentin could be sidelined until August after partially tearing three ligaments in his right knee Tuesday. It remains to be seen whether Izturis will miss any time after suffering an injury that was described as a mild sprain during the Dodgers’ 5-2 loss in front of an announced 33,081 at Dodger Stadium.

Just as Valentin had the night before, Izturis initially stayed in the game after suffering his injury during his fifth-inning at-bat. Izturis played defense for two innings before being replaced by Norihiro Nakamura, who shifted over from third base.

“They taped it, and I tried to play the game, but later on it was too sore,” said Izturis, who was listed as day to day. “I just want to get it iced and see how I feel tomorrow.”

The Nationals won the third and deciding game in the series after Livan Hernandez picked up a complete-game victory and contributed with his bat during a four-run outburst in the seventh off Odalis Perez.

The Dodger left-hander was trying to tie Florida’s Dontrelle Willis and the Chicago White Sox’s Jon Garland with his major league-leading fifth victory. Instead, he was hit hard for the second time in three starts, giving up seven hits and five runs in 6 1/3 innings, and suffered from a sudden lack of offensive support from a team that had averaged 6.6 runs over his first five starts.

The Dodgers were to depart for Cincinnati, where they will begin a two-city, seven-game trip Friday, with their lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League West reduced to half a game. Of larger concern was a sudden lack of infield depth.

Izturis fouled a pitch off his angle and twisted it when he went down. He walked, but was stranded.

With the score tied, 1-1, Jose Vidro led off the seventh with a single and put the Nationals ahead for good when he scored on Vinny Castilla’s one-out double to right-center. Castilla went to third when second baseman Jeff Kent’s relay throw squirted past catcher Jason Phillips and Perez backing up home plate.

Nick Johnson ripped an RBI single past a drawn-in infield, making it 3-1, and went to third on Jeffrey Hammonds’ hit-and-run single to right-center. After Wilson Alvarez replaced Perez, Gary Bennett drove in Johnson with a sacrifice fly to right and Hammond went to third on Hernandez’s bloop single to left-center. Endy Chavez capped the inning with a run-scoring double that nicked center fielder Milton Bradley’s glove as he tried to backhand it after a long run.

“Once Livan Hernandez gets a cushion like that, he’s very, very tough,” Dodger Manager Jim Tracy said. “You get one, maybe two opportunities when he’s on his game. Tonight we couldn’t get the hit to get the lead before they had their big inning.”

The Dodgers drew to within 5-2 in the seventh when Ricky Ledee hit a leadoff double to right, moved to third on Phillips’ groundout and scored on Nakamura’s groundout. Hernandez got Nakamura to ground into a game-ending double play.

“That guy’s tough,” Phillips said. “He keeps the ball off your barrel. If we had been able to get anything going against him, I think Odalis would have cruised.”

Perez (4-2) had faced only one batter over the minimum before yielding a solo homer to Johnson with one out in the fifth. Johnson’s blast to right-center, which tied the score, 1-1, landed just over the outstretched glove of leaping right fielder J.D. Drew.

After being set down in order the first three innings, the Dodgers broke through in the fourth to score first for only the fourth time in 15 games. Izturis grounded a leadoff single to right field and stole second. He moved to third and scored on groundouts by Choi and Drew.

The Dodgers loaded the bases in the fifth with two out for Choi, who had hit his first grand slam last Friday. Choi couldn’t repeat the feat, popping out to short.