Dodgers Wouldn’t Mind a Return Trip

Our Boys of Summer had a little stumble Saturday, but according to Manager Grady Little, it wasn’t a fall.

The Mets beat the Dodgers, 3-2, and in baseball, the losing clubhouse sees these events differently from the guys down the hall.

“We just turn the page and go on,” Little said. “We have 20 games left, and nobody expects us to win all 20.”

Frank McCourt was not there to comment.

The Mets and the Dodgers will play the last of this four-game series today, and the Dodgers can aim for two things with a win: a mathematical split and a psychological return of service.

It is certain that the Mets will be playing after the regular season. It is likely the Dodgers will be too. Depending on which playoff team gets to take on the winningest team in baseball, the 88-victory Mets, today’s game may not be goodbye to Shea Stadium for the Dodgers in 2006.

That’s why Greg Maddux, the Dodgers right-hander and Hall of Famer in waiting, smiled somewhat devilishly when asked about his desire to have another shot at the Mets after taking the loss Saturday.

“Absolutely, I’d like that,” he said. “It would be an honor and a privilege to pitch against them after the end of the season.”

That’s why Jose Valentin, Mets second baseman and former Dodger, said he saw this series as more than going through the motions.

“They are good, real good,” Valentin said. “You can’t close your eyes on these guys. We may very well see them again, and a win Sunday would send them a message. Everybody starts these playoffs 0-0. You play a team like the Dodgers, you make a mistake, you pay.

“But we have lots of guys who, if you make a mistake, they will make you pay too.”

So for the Mets, with a magic number of five and no pressure to win, this series seems to be a combination of testosterone flexing and advance scouting. For the Dodgers, who have a ways to go for a single-digit magic number, it is still about scuffling for wins.

Sometimes, that scuffling backfires. Case in point, the sixth inning.

The Dodgers’ Russell Martin singled and Maddux came to bat with the Mets infield in and those in the crowd of 47,062 who were paying attention expected a bunt. Instead, Maddux, 40, slapped a ground ball to the right of Mets pitcher Orlando Hernandez, estimated age 41. Shortstop Jose Reyes, apparently discombobulated by Maddux’s non-bunt, threw badly to first and both Martin and Maddux were safe. After Rafael Furcal sacrificed, Kenny Lofton singled to center to score Martin, tying it, 1-1.

Maddux was held at third on Lofton’s single -- baseball is badly devoid of 40-year-old, Hall of Fame pitchers who also run the 100 in 9.6 -- and so when Nomar Garciaparra hit a sharp grounder to third, Maddux was caught a few steps off the bag and was chased around long enough in the rundown to possibly affect the final outcome for the Dodgers. For those scoring at home, the play went 5-2-5-1. Little said afterward that Maddux did the right thing by keeping the Dodgers out of a double play. But even after J.D. Drew singled Lofton home for a 2-1 lead, the long-term damage had been done.

In the bottom of the sixth, Valentin doubled with one out. Surprisingly, Little left the dugout to visit Maddux, who was low in his pitch count, had given up only five hits and looked quite in control. They didn’t talk about dinner plans. Carlos Beltran was walked intentionally and Little took another intentional walk of his own. Maddux came out for left-hander Tim Hamulack, who pitched to left-handed hitter Carlos Delgado, who sent Lofton to the warning track in center field and moved the runners to second and third.

In came right-hander Brett Tomko to pitch to the right-handed David Wright, who already was two for two. What ensued was the ballgame.

Tomko got Wright to 2 and 2, then had Wright looking at a pitch hauntingly near the strike zone.

Afterward, Little, wonderfully understated, said of the pitch, “On the field, it certainly appeared to be a strike. Then when we got to the clubhouse and watched it on video, we certainly were able to see that our eyes were right.”

Tomko said, “I threw it right where I wanted to throw it, and we got beat.”

Naturally, as these things go, Wright banged the 3-and-2 pitch into center, and the two runs that scored held up for the win.

And the rationale for Maddux’s departure? He was tired from all that baserunning.

“We saw what he did the inning before on the bases,” Little said. “We knew his limitations.”

What did Maddux say to Little in their visit on the mound? “I told him I was tired,” Maddux said.

So, today will be a day of atonement for the Dodgers. Also, a day of rest for Maddux.

Bill Dwyre can be reached at bill.dwyre@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Dwyre, go to

latimes.com/dwyre.