Dodgers Go Into Wild

With the pennant race in its final days, these are five words Dodgers fans dread to hear: Nomar Garciaparra is hurt again.

But, amid the good times of the Dodgers’ 11-4 romp over the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday, there were those five words.

Might be a big deal, might not, too soon to tell. After Garciaparra hit two walkoff home runs on the Dodgers’ last homestand, he hit a home run here too. Marlon Anderson hit a 437-foot home run, Russell Martin tripled and drove in four runs, and the Dodgers reclaimed the lead in the National League wild-card race.

The San Diego Padres won, so they kept a two-game lead over the Dodgers in the West Division. But the Philadelphia Phillies lost, so the Dodgers lead the Phillies by one game for the wild card. The Dodgers, Padres and Phillies have five games left.

At a time Garciaparra’s bat is heating up, his body is not holding up. He has six home runs this month, two more than he hit in July and August combined. But he can barely run, hampered by a strained left quadriceps muscle.

On Tuesday, after he homered in the fifth inning, he left the game. Dodgers Manager Grady Little said Garciaparra had a strained right oblique muscle that felt “pretty bad” on the swing that produced the home run.

Garciaparra said he felt no discomfort on that swing but did experience “a spasm” in the first inning, when he swerved to avoid a tag while running the bases.

“I’ve had a little knot there for the past few days,” he said.

He said he left the game as a precaution, particularly because the Dodgers led at the time, 6-1, and said this injury is not related to the strained muscle on the same side that forced him onto the disabled list in April. He also sat out two weeks in late July and early August because of a sprained knee.

Little and Garciaparra expressed optimism that the latest injury would not keep him from playing tonight. The training staff will evaluate him this afternoon.

“I’ve just got to deal with it,” Garciaparra said. “I’ve been dealing with other stuff.”

In the game, the Dodgers dispensed with the Rockies early and left the suspense to the scoreboard. Trevor Hoffman and the Padres finished off the St. Louis Cardinals four minutes before the Dodgers got their final out.

But, as the Dodgers built on a 5-1 lead in the fifth inning, the Washington Nationals finished off the Phillies. The Dodgers acquired Anderson from Washington last month -- and he’s hitting .392 since then -- but he still holds one position of responsibility with the Nationals.

“I’m actually commissioner of their fantasy football league,” he said. “I’m going to post tonight, and I’ll tell them, ‘Thank you, and keep up the good work.’ ”

Greg Maddux did some good work for the Dodgers, six innings and 76 pitches for the victory. The Dodgers presented him with a three-run lead before he made his first pitch, courtesy of a run-scoring triple by Kenny Lofton and run-scoring singles by Garciaparra and Martin.

The Dodgers blew the game open by scoring three runs in the fifth inning and five more in the sixth, so Little cleared the bench and afforded his starters a few innings of rest. The Dodgers collected 17 hits off seven Colorado pitchers, including three hits apiece by Anderson and Rafael Furcal and the home run from Garciaparra, who leads the team in homers with 20.

On Sunday, with a bum leg, he homered. On Tuesday, with an aching side, he homered. Is he prepared to suffer a new injury every day if he can hit a home run every day?

“Sure,” he said. “Why not? I’ll suffer anything as long as we keep winning.”

bill.shaikin@latimes.com