Carrara, Sanchez Do In Dodgers

Two Dodgers performed as if they were making their major league debuts Saturday night, becoming flustered, making bonehead mistakes and handing a 5-4 victory to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

It’s just that the player who did make his debut -- starting pitcher Derek Thompson -- wasn’t guilty of any of it.

Instead, veteran relievers Giovanni Carrara and Duaner Sanchez let the game slip away at Bank One Ballpark.

Carrara (4-2) walked Chris Snyder with the bases loaded and none out in the ninth to force home the winning run, then gestured to plate umpire Terry Craft that three of the pitches had been strikes.

One batter earlier Carrara fumbled a bunt by Luis Terrero and his throw apparently grazed Terrero’s hand and eluded Jeff Kent, who was covering first.

The Dodgers argued that Terrero was running in fair territory, which would have resulted in an interference call. But the umpires didn’t see it that way.

“That was not the determining point of the game, but when you are a major league umpire, you need to make a call like that,” Kent said.

Compared to those who followed him on the mound, Thompson appeared as calm as a corpse. And no wonder. Cartilage from a cadaver was placed in his left knee during a surgical procedure that saved his career two years ago.

Thompson, a left-hander recalled from double A for an emergency start, gave up two runs and two hits in five innings, enough to put the Dodgers in position to win. But Sanchez made two costly mistakes and gave up a 4-2 lead in the seventh.

With one out, he tossed his glove in the air and made contact with a chopper by Terrero, who was awarded a triple. Shortstop Cesar Izturis probably could have made the play had Sanchez let the ball go.

“I know the rule,” Sanchez said. “I just reacted when I saw the ball.”

Terrero scored on a groundout and Sanchez made another mistake, grooving a slider to pitcher Javier Vazquez, who drove it into the left-field stands for his first career home run to tie the score.

Thompson, who threw 95 pitches and walked four, could have learned a lesson of his own from Vazquez. Arizona runs in the first and second innings came courtesy of leadoff walks.

Meanwhile, Vazquez extended a remarkable streak by walking none in seven innings. He hasn’t allowed a walk since April 25, facing 183 batters over 46 innings since issuing his last free pass.

Only the bottom half of the Dodger batting order gave him trouble. J.D. Drew, the No. 5 hitter, had three hits, including a two-run home run in the sixth. Antonio Perez, who batted sixth, had three hits and scored in the sixth on a double by pinch-hitter Mike Edwards. Jason Phillips, the No. 8 hitter, brought in Drew with a single.The Diamondbacks hit only one ball hard against Thompson, a first-inning double by Luis Gonzalez. The other hit was a bunt that Perez did not field cleanly at third. He probably deserved better, something to which Dodger pitching coach Jim Colborn and player personnel executive Roy Smith could attest.

Colborn’s debut came with the Chicago Cubs in 1969. Like Thompson, he was brought up during the season. Unlike Thompson, he was extremely nervous, dropping the ball on the mound while warming up and kicking it as he tried to pick it up.

He survived balking in a run in the first inning, surrendered three runs in 5 1/3 innings and got the win. So did Smith, who in 1984 gave up a grand slam in the second, then settled down to last 6 2/3 innings in a win over Seattle.

Thompson left after the game without talking to the media. He had family and friends waiting and a Dodger spokesman said he didn’t realize he was supposed to wait.

“Hats off to him and the job he did,” Manager Jim Tracy said. “He put us in a position to win.”

Once he cooled down, Carrara realized he might have been the one who responded like a rookie.

“I’m about 100% sure I threw three pitches for strikes, and I didn’t even get one,” he said.

“But that’s no excuse. It shouldn’t be that close.”