L.A. Needs Swing Shift

Grady Little says it’s a matter of semantics.

“When you win 3-2,” the Dodgers manager said before Friday’s game, “it’s a hard-fought battle. When you lose 3-2, it’s a struggling offense.”

On this night, it was a struggling offense, the Dodgers losing 2-0 to the St. Louis Cardinals at Dodger Stadium.

As a matter of fact, it’s been a struggling offense since the All-Star break; no other words more aptly describe the Dodgers’ dismal performances.

Friday night’s loss was their eighth in nine games. Over that span, they have scored a total of 15 runs and have been shut out three times.

Dodgers starter Brad Penny (10-4) gave up only two runs in 6 2/3 innings, but, considering the team he pitches for, that was two too many.

“Right now we’re not hitting,” Little said. “It doesn’t matter who is pitching. Very few times do you see a starting pitcher give up two runs and lose the game.”

Said Penny: “Unfortunately, with the way we are playing right now, you make a couple of mistakes and you are going to pay for them.”

Jeff Suppan (7-5) got the victory for the National League Central-leading Cardinals.

About the only good news for the Dodgers was that the NL West-leading San Diego Padres also lost, leaving the Dodgers 3 1/2 games out.

The calm of a warm, lazy summer night at Dodger Stadium was shattered in the fourth inning on one swing by Chris Duncan. The Cardinals left fielder connected on a 2-0 pitch from Penny with such force, the ball cleared not only the right-field fence, but nearly the bullpen behind it, landing at the base of the back wall of the ‘pen, 431 feet from home plate. It was the fifth home run for Duncan, in his 30th game for St. Louis.

The Cardinals scored again in the sixth after Duncan walked and Albert Pujols singled to left. When Scott Rolen flied out to center, the runners tagged up. Kenny Lofton threw to cutoff man Rafael Furcal, who flipped to second baseman Willy Aybar in an attempt to get Pujols. But although the ball arrived first, Pujols slid in safely before Aybar could apply the tag.

Denied the double play, Penny intentionally walked Jim Edmonds to load the bases and right fielder Juan Encarnacion followed with a single to right to produce his 50th run batted in and the Cardinals’ second run of the night.

The Dodgers suffered a painful loss early in the game when right fielder J.D. Drew was hit on the right knee by a Suppan pitch. The initial diagnosis was a bruise, and Drew was listed as day to day.

“It hit him square on the knee,” Little said. “Of course it looked serious, but we’ll wait until [today] to see.”

Drew, who has appeared in 85 of the Dodgers’ 97 games, has been injury-prone in his nine major league seasons. Wrist and knee injuries limited him to 72 games for the Dodgers last season.

When Suppan batted in the third inning, he was retired without incident on a grounder to shortstop. But in his second plate appearance, in the fifth, he was hit on the left side by a Penny pitch.

The Cardinals did their best to give the ailing Dodgers offense a boost in the ninth. Closer Jason Isringhausen walked leadoff batter Andre Ethier. With one out, a ground ball by pinch-hitter Olmedo Saenz went under the glove of third baseman Scott Rolen for an error.

But Russell Martin struck out. That left it up to seldom-used Sandy Alomar Jr., the Dodgers’ 40-year-old third-string catcher, who flied to left to end it.

The struggle continues.