Pirates Walk Plank in L.A.

Like any memorable reunion, this took the work of many people.

Cesar Izturis set the table. Brett Tomko cleaned up. Jeff Kent turned out the lights.

For the guests of honor, though, an evening that began with hugs and handshakes must have ended in heartburn.

The Dodgers drubbed the Pittsburgh Pirates, 10-4, Friday night to spoil the return to Dodger Stadium of Jim Tracy and three coaches whose five years of memories in L.A. ran the gamut from playoff berth to complete collapse.

Tracy, the Pirates’ manager, waxed nostalgic with the media beforehand and greeted so many former players and team employees that Dodgers Manager Grady Little joked, “Tomorrow we’ll just move our whole locker room over there.”

Then the game started and the Pirates looked every bit the last-place team they have been under the new staff.

Left-hander Oliver Perez walked seven in 3 2/3 innings and let the game get away in the fourth when Kent followed four walks and a sacrifice fly with a three-run home run for a 7-0 lead.

The Pirates were the ideal antidote for Tomko (6-6), who had posted a 10.80 earned-run average in his last six starts, five of them losses. He tossed five scoreless innings before departing because of a strained left oblique muscle and Jae Seo recorded the last 12 outs despite giving up a two-run homer to Craig Wilson in the seventh and two runs in the ninth.

Tomko’s off-speed pitches were especially effective. His injury will be evaluated today.

“It’s not something we want to take chances with,” Little said. “We’ll check on it. Hopefully, he’ll be OK.”

Said Tomko: “The second-to-last pitch in the fourth, something grabbed me, and on the last pitch it grabbed me a little more. I hadn’t won in six weeks, so I wanted to go out there in the fifth and get the win.”

Izturis, in his second game as the regular third baseman, singled twice, walked twice, scored two runs and made a diving play on Jason Bay’s grounder in the fourth. He is batting .750 since coming off the disabled list.

The Dodgers have won two in a row after losing five, but they shouldn’t be too euphoric. Tracy and former Dodgers coaches Jim Colborn, Jim Lett and John Shelby vividly recall this point a year ago.

The season hadn’t gone down the tubes by June 23. The Dodgers were 35-37, having recently returned from an 0-6 trip at Kansas City and Chicago that hinted at the calamity to come.

And they were coming off two victories against the first-place San Diego Padres that turned out to be fool’s gold.

There are similarities. The Dodgers were 1-5 at San Diego and Oakland before the current homestand. Injuries have piled up at an alarming rate. The Padres again are in first place.

But there is a completely different feeling in the clubhouse. A big reason is that the young players replacing injured veterans are top prospects making a profound impact.

Tracy knew most of them when he was here. They were coming through the farm system and weren’t ready for prime time.

“I saw players like Russell Martin, Matt Kemp, Jonathan Broxton and Chad Billingsley, and we knew what we had,” Tracy said. “I see a lot of similarities with this team.”

Frankly, the youthful Pirates (26-49) have a long way to go; they’ve lost nine in a row. Between Perez’s wildness and the rash of poor at-bats against pitchers who had been struggling for weeks -- Tomko and Seo -- Tracy’s new crew was barely competitive.

The Dodgers had no sympathy; they aren’t picky when it comes to victories and still trail the Padres by one game in the NL West.

This is the type of performance it will take to ensure there is no repeat of last season -- every Dodger in the starting lineup had at least one hit. Sure, they relished visiting with old friends, but took greater satisfaction in pulling the welcome mat out from under them.

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Bouncing back

Brett Tomko’s numbers during his five-game losing streak, and Friday night’s victory:

*--* Date Opponent IP H ER SO BB May 26 Washington 4.2 9 6 5 2 May 31 Atlanta 3.0 6 5 4 2 June 5 N.Y. Mets 5.1 9 4 0 1 June 10 Colorado 3.2 6 7 2 2 June 16 Oakland 5.0 9 5 0 1 June 23 Pittsburgh 5.0 2 0 1 0

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Source: MLB.com