Weaver Crawls Under Radar

It was that kind of day for Jeff Weaver. Moments after he was bombarded by the Florida Marlins in the sixth inning, the Dodger right-hander barely avoided being hit in the head by teammate Paul Bako’s foul popup that landed in the dugout.

After pitching five strong innings, Weaver gave up three home runs in the sixth in an 8-3 loss Wednesday in front of an announced 34,441 at Dodger Stadium.

He dismissed suggestions by his catcher and pitching coach that his shoulder is bothering him, but the radar gun indicated his fastball was about 5 mph below normal.

“I don’t know why they are bringing up health reasons,” he said. “There are some days you have it and some you don’t. Pitching is a grind.”

Surrendering the long ball has become an epidemic for Dodger pitchers lately and Weaver (4-3) hasn’t been immune. The most frustrating part for him is that the bolts against the Blue have been bolts out of the blue, coming in starts that are going smoothly.

He gave up a grand slam to Adam LaRoche of the Atlanta Braves in the eighth inning of his last start after throwing seven scoreless innings. And against the Cincinnati Reds on May 8, he gave up two solo homers in an otherwise impeccable 6 2/3 innings.

Weaver’s fastball registered only 84 mph against the Marlins (21-16), who handed the Dodgers (22-18) their seventh loss in 10 games. After the Dodgers took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth, Paul Lo Duca singled and left-handed Carlos Delgado was able to drive a fastball low and outside the strike zone over the left-field fence for the first home run.

Delgado is 16 for 35 against Weaver, so the blast wasn’t totally unexpected.

“He’s either got ungodly wrists or a nice set of horseshoes,” Weaver said. “That was pretty impressive.”

Miguel Cabrera followed with a home run on a two-strike count, again nothing to be ashamed of because Cabrera is batting .370 with eight homers. But the Marlins weren’t done.

Damion Easley homered with two out to make the score 5-2, and when Alex Gonzalez doubled, Manager Jim Tracy summoned Duaner Sanchez. Weaver threw his hands up in frustration, although he made it clear afterward he wasn’t second-guessing his manager.

Weaver was accused of doing just that after the start against the Braves, seemingly suggesting that Tracy should have taken him out before LaRoche’s at-bat. However, Weaver said Wednesday he meant no disrespect, that he was “very frustrated about not getting the job done.”

He was upset after this game too, giving a group interview, then waving off another group of reporters several minutes later before consenting to a one-on-one interview. Meanwhile, Bako and pitching coach Jim Colborn questioned Weaver’s health.

“He’s battling without his plus-fastball and giving everything he’s got,” Bako said. “He’s battling without his ‘A’ stuff. I don’t think he’d admit it. He’s a competitor.”

Dodger officials would not make the team’s medical staff available, leaving Colborn to try to explain Weaver’s status.

“He did a good job getting by with less than his best stuff,” Colborn said. “He’s not 100% healthy. He has a tender shoulder. He’s trying to compete on six cylinders rather than eight.”

A Dodger spokesman amended Colborn’s assessment, saying Weaver “does not have a tender shoulder. It’s a little bit weak. It’s tight.”

All the talk was baffling to Weaver, who has never been on the disabled list in seven major league seasons and has averaged more than 200 innings over the last six years.

“I’m not exactly sure what direction they are trying to go with that,” he said. “Some days you are not where you should be. You have to go out there and battle anyway.”

Weaver’s counterpart, Josh Beckett (6-3), battled at the plate in the fifth, knocking in the first run of the game with a two-out single.

Colborn said there will be better days for his pitcher. He has no worries about Weaver’s frustration level, either.

“I read it as an extreme desire to win,” Colborn said.