Torre says slump is only human

Manager Joe Torre is the first to acknowledge that the Dodgers’ once-torrid offense has eased in recent games, but he doesn’t see it as a serious problem.

The team’s power “hasn’t been around lately,” he said before Friday’s game against Philadelphia. “You go through cycles like that.”

The Dodgers entered the game still holding the National League’s best team batting average, .282, but the club had scored two runs or fewer in six of its last eight games before rallying to beat the Phillies.

“Over the course of the year you’re going to go through the flat spots,” Torre said. “You just have to keep working at it. With the lack of consistent offense, I’m certainly satisfied with what the results have been up to now.

“When human beings play the game like this, you get a little overanxious, you get out of what you do [well], you don’t score runs and guys try to do too much. That happens. I know we haven’t changed anything.”

What did change, of course, was the suspension of slugger Manny Ramirez for 50 games.

And the Dodgers hope that right fielder Andre Ethier -- who hit well behind Ramirez but cooled considerably when the suspension began -- is getting his stroke back.

Ethier came into Friday’s game having hit safely in eight consecutive games and batting .333 over that stretch, lifting his overall average to .263 from .250.

“I hope he is” breaking out of his slump, Torre said before Ethier’s game-winning hit against Brad Lidge. “It’s easier on his helmets, it’s easier on everything. He just looks more comfortable right now. And we need him.”

Manuel’s take

Even without Ramirez, the Dodgers have a lineup that can take them to the playoffs if everyone plays to their potential, Phillies Manager Charlie Manuel said.

“I look for them to be in the postseason . . . with or without Manny,” but the other Dodgers players “have to be consistent,” he said.

“You’ve got [Orlando] Hudson at second base, [Rafael] Furcal at shortstop and [Juan] Pierre in left field and those guys are burners, those are guys you can play hit-and-run with, you can bunt them, you can definitely play little ball, you can steal bases with them,” he added. “Plus the speed they’ve got on the field makes their defense good.”

Manuel said Ethier, Matt Kemp and Casey Blake “can hit the ball out of the ballpark, so you’ve got a combination there.”

And with Hiroki Kuroda returning to the rotation, the Dodgers’ “pitching will definitely hold for them. They’re going to play good baseball for the rest of the season.”

Weather-proof

The scattered showers around Southern California this week brought to mind the rarity of a rainout at Dodger Stadium.

Friday’s game against the Phillies marked the Dodgers’ 754th consecutive home game without a rainout.

The Dodger Stadium record is 856 consecutive games, which ended April 11, 1999. (The last five rainouts occurred in April.)

Bill Clinton was president and the price of gas was $1.75 in Southern California the last time a game was called for rain at Chavez Ravine: April 17, 2000, against the Houston Astros.

In the 48 seasons since Dodger Stadium opened, only 17 games have been rained out.

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james.peltz@latimes.com