Little fills in blanks for win

CINCINNATI -- Grady Little tried coaxing and cajoling. He tried pleading and prodding. None of that, however, could snap his Dodgers out of a downward spiral that threatened to take them out of the playoff race.

So Thursday the manager gave his players written notice, taping to the clubhouse wall a lineup that featured Juan Pierre batting seventh and Russell Martin batting second. Delwyn Young and Olmedo Saenz both had spots; Luis Gonzalez and Nomar Garciaparra didn’t.

As written ultimatums go, it may not rank up there with Martin Luther nailing his 95 Theses to the door of the Wittenberg church. But if Little was trying to deliver a message, it worked: Young responded with a career-high four hits, Martin had three and Saenz drove in a run with a sacrifice fly, helping the Dodgers end a six-game losing streak with a 5-4, 11-inning victory over the Cincinnati Reds.

And, Little pledged, this wasn’t a one-day experiment. Although the Dodgers won’t use the same lineup tonight when they open a three-game series in St. Louis, they may not be going back to the old one any time soon.

“The bottom line is the people that we’re depending on throughout the winter, through spring training, coming into the season are not getting it done,” Little said. “If that doesn’t work maybe some of the bodies in [the clubhouse] will be different than the bodies you see in there now.”

The Dodgers made good on that promise Thursday as well, acquiring veteran first baseman Mark Sweeney in a postgame trade with the San Francisco Giants.

“Something,” Little said, “has got to start happening different around here.”

The differences started in the first inning against the Reds when a walk, back-to-back singles by Martin and Saenz and Jeff Kent’s scoring fly ball gave the Dodgers their first run in 29 innings -- and their first lead in seven games. And the differences continued through the 11th inning, when Rafael Furcal broke a 4-4 tie with a booming home run to right field, the Dodgers’ first homer in five days.

In between the Dodgers got two runs batted in from Ramon Martinez -- who was starting in place of Garciaparra -- a solid effort from starter Brett Tomko, and two scoreless innings from recently acquired reliever Scott Proctor, who wound up with the win.

“He’s trying to . . . make something happen,” Furcal said of Little’s lineup. “The way we’re playing right now, we needed that game.”

Whether Little acted too late, however, remains to be seen. Although Thursday’s victory pushed the Dodgers back to four games over .500, a game ahead of last year’s pace when they made the playoffs, the team was in second place, half a game out of first then. This morning they woke up trailing two teams, tied with another, and five games behind the division-leading Arizona Diamondbacks.

“Maybe this game,” Little said “will get us going.”

In announcing the lineup changes, Little was most critical of Pierre. Although he’s hitting .278 and leads the team in runs, hits and stolen bases, Pierre’s .323 on-base percentage as a No. 2 hitter ranks 24th in the majors among players with at least 100 plate appearances.

“It’s a pure numbers thing,” Little said. “To score runs you’ve got to have guys on base. I’m writing [the lineup] down, but the numbers dictate this.”

Pierre, the only Dodger to play in every game, said he was disappointed with the move but understood why it was made.

“It’s frustrating,” he said. “If I was batting .330 and had an on-base percentage of .400 I’d be at the top of the lineup. So ultimately it’s my bad. It’s my fault that I’m down there.

“It’s crunch time and patience is running thin around here. Guess I’m the first glimpse of it.”

kevin.baxter@latimes.com