Relief Effort Fails for Dodgers

The Dodgers need magic, and fast. How soon can Ned Colletti turn Cesar Izturis into a relief pitcher?

They need a third baseman, sure. They need a starting pitcher too. But a bullpen that has failed the Dodgers repeatedly this season faltered again Wednesday, with Jonathan Broxton and Danys Baez giving up six runs in two innings of an 8-5 loss to the Seattle Mariners.

The Dodgers’ bullpen has lost 17 games this season, the most in the major leagues. In the National League West, in which 2 1/2 games separate top from bottom, no other team has more than 10 losses from its bullpen.

“Right now, I’m not really sure what we’re going to get,” Dodgers Manager Grady Little said of his bullpen. “We’re not seeing any consistency.”

Adrian Beltre hurt his old team again, snapping a 5-5 tie with a two-run double in the eighth inning and sending the Dodgers to their fifth consecutive loss. Beltre had three hits and a walk, so he has reached base eight times in 10 appearances in his return to Dodger Stadium.

“They sent three guys out there to pitch the last three innings and got three zeros on the board,” Little said. “We didn’t. That was the difference in the game.”

That, and a five-inning start from Chad Billingsley. The Dodgers’ starters have thrown fewer innings than any team in the NL West, and pitching coach Rick Honeycutt said the bullpen can pick up only so much slack. The Dodgers are one of five major league teams without a complete game.

“Every game we’re going to the ‘pen and asking three innings, on average,” Honeycutt said. “Tonight, we asked four. If one guy fails, it affects everybody.”

Little, asked whether the Dodgers might try a new reliever or two, said, “We’re not at that point yet.”

With Eric Gagne out indefinitely and Yhency Brazoban out for the season, the Dodgers are trying to make do with a bullpen that includes three rookies and two displaced starters.

The options at triple-A Las Vegas do not appear attractive. Lance Carter, Tim Hamulack and Franquelis Osoria all are there because they flopped here. Of the other veterans, Giovanni Carrara has an earned-run average of 4.12, Kelly Wunsch is at 12.00. Prospect Greg Miller has not given up a run but has walked 11 in 13 2/3 innings.

Yet the Dodgers might be tempted to try one, given the results of the current relievers.

After the Dodgers scored four times in the sixth inning to take a 5-2 lead, they needed nine outs from their bullpen for the victory, with Broxton set to work the seventh, Baez the eighth and closer Takashi Saito the ninth.

Broxton immediately gave one run back, on a pinch-hit home run by Carl Everett. He then gave up consecutive singles, and he was gone.

Baez replaced Broxton and got three outs, one of which was a sacrifice fly by Jose Lopez that cut the Dodgers’ lead to 5-4.

But Baez collapsed in the eighth. Jeremy Reed homered to start the inning, tying the score, 5-5. Beltre doubled home two runs, Lopez singled home another, and Baez was gone.

Billingsley, whose performance in his major league debut last week was encouraging if not dominating, appeared to regress somewhat Wednesday.

In his debut, he maintained a fastball from 93 to 96 mph. Wednesday, the Dodger Stadium radar gun had him from 87 to 92 mph.

In his debut, he needed 98 pitches for 5 1/3 innings, giving up two runs, walking two and striking out three. Wednesday, he needed 97 pitches for five innings, walking four and striking out one.

The Mariners swung and missed at his fastball once.