Dodgers Sizzle, Then Fizzle

It was time to grab the underachieving Dodgers by the scruff of the neck and give them a good shake.

So Grady Little did the managerial equivalent. He shook up the lineup.

With the first five batters in different spots, the Dodgers responded, hitting three triples in the first two innings and jumping out to a six-run lead after four. But the Arizona Diamondbacks turned the Dodgers upside down, scoring seven runs in the fifth inning against Odalis Perez and winning, 10-8, Tuesday night at Chase Field.

“Too many times we’re squandering five- or six-run leads,” Little said. “It’s starting to get old.”

Even with a new lineup. Rafael Furcal and Kenny Lofton switched places at the top of the order, Nomar Garciaparra moved from fifth to third and J.D. Drew and Jeff Kent moved down a notch to fourth and fifth.

The five batters teamed for eight hits, six runs and seven runs batted in, including two home runs by Drew, triples by Lofton and Garciaparra and a double by Furcal.

“I’m not a big advocate of repeating things that aren’t working,” Little said. “I don’t fear change.”

Then why didn’t he change pitchers when it was apparent Perez was gassed in the fifth inning?

The left-hander whose conditioning has been questioned threw only 70 pitches, but he doesn’t normally score from first base on a triple and belly flop onto home plate to beat a relay throw, as he did in the second inning.

Perez made it through the next two innings, but fell apart in the fifth. Shawn Green led off with a homer, then came a bunt single, a walk, a force out at second that Perez nearly threw into center field and two singles.

Tracy came up and missed a grand slam by inches with his first swing. Moments later he didn’t miss. For the second time in three games, the Dodgers had blown a big lead.

“He’s got to get the guy out,” Little said.

Perez said he has been distracted by his mother’s illness. She is in a hospital in the Dominican Republic.

“I still have to go out there and do my job,” he said.

Little said Perez is not in danger of losing his spot in the rotation -- yet.

“I guess there are things we can do,” Little said. “But he’ll be out there five days from now.”

One Dodger who seems to have lost his job is left fielder Jose Cruz Jr. Andre Ethier made his major league debut in left Tuesday, but he had been here before. He was a huge Diamondback fan and watched Game 7 of the 2001 World Series -- the one in which Luis Gonzalez hit a bloop single to bring home the winning run in the ninth inning -- from the upper deck.

“My uncle stood in line for tickets for hours,” he said.

Ethier, 24, lives in nearby Chandler, attended Arizona State and starred at St. Mary’s High in downtown Phoenix.

“You can see the basilica from outside this stadium,” he said. “It’s a neat deal playing my first game here. It was tough getting to sleep last night.”

He rose through the Oakland Athletic farm system until being traded to the Dodgers last off-season for Milton Bradley and Antonio Perez.

Although Ethier was batting .349 at Las Vegas, he did not expect the midnight call from triple-A Coach Steve Yeager.

“Yeager said pack your bags and I thought maybe I’d been traded,” he said.

Far from it. Ethier, who doubled and walked, will play against right-handed pitching at least until Ricky Ledee returns from the disabled list.

“When you make a move with one of those kids, it’s to play,” Little said. “Ethier didn’t come up to sit and watch.”

Little plans to platoon him with right-handed hitting Jason Repko, leaving Cruz in limbo, also known as the end of the bench. The switch-hitting Cruz is batting .231 with one home run and four runs batted in, and is batting only .180 left-handed.

“He’s been doing a lot of hard work in batting practice and he needed to improve, especially left-handed,” Little said.