Dodgers lose wild one in 10th, 3-2
The Dodgers were handed their first run on a silver platter in the first inning Wednesday night when Colorado Rockies starter Jason Hammel threw two wild pitches.
Three hours later, Dodgers reliever Octavio Dotel did him one better, handing the Rockies the winning run on a golden platter with three wild pitches in the 10th inning that gave Colorado a 3-2 victory at Dodger Stadium.
With one out, Dotel walked Melvin Mora, who then stole second base. With Dexter Fowler up, Dotel threw a wild pitch that moved Mora to third base, and with Jason Giambi pinch-hitting, Dotel threw yet another wild pitch and Mora scored the winning run.
The Dodgers nearly tied the score in their half of the 10th inning when Reed Johnson singled and Scott Podsednik hit a fly to shallow center field that Fowler couldn’t handle. But as Johnson tried to score, he was thrown out at home plate to end the game.
The loss dropped the Dodgers 12 games behind National League West leader San Diego and eight back of NL wild-card leader Philadelphia.
“It’s just tough, that’s all I can tell you,” Dodgers Manager Joe Torre said. “We’ve got to put something together, we’ve got to win a handful of games in a row.”
A dejected Dotel said it was the worst case of wildness in his 12-year career in the big leagues. “I was just trying to get the guys coming up and kind of lost my control,” he said.
Added Torre: “He was just wild, and unfortunately it cost us. We came away empty and wasted good pitching.”
That came from starter Hiroki Kuroda, who gave up two runs and six hits in seven innings while striking out seven, and Jonathan Broxton and Hong-Chih Kuo, who blanked Colorado in the eighth and ninth innings, respectively.
Just as he did last week, Torre started new addition Jay Gibbons, a left-handed hitter, in the outfield in place of Kemp to face right-handed Colorado starter Hammel.
Gibbons went one for three and scored a run, and Kemp replaced him in the eighth inning. Fowler then singled to center field and tested Kemp by trying to stretch the hit into a double, but Kemp threw him out at second.
The Dodgers’ first run came as a gift from the 6-foot-6 Hammel in the first inning. After Podsednik singled and moved to second base on Ryan Theriot’s sacrifice bunt, Hammel uncorked two wild pitches while Andre Ethier was at bat, enabling Podsednik to reach third base and then score.
Colorado tied the score in the second inning. After Seth Smith and Ian Stewart singled, Miguel Olivo hit a shallow fly to left field and Gibbons tried to make a diving catch. But the ball fell out of his glove as he hit the grass and Smith scored.
Jamey Carroll, playing for injured shortstop Rafael Furcal, stroked a double down the right-field line to score Gibbons in the Dodgers’ half of the inning.
The Rockies tied it in the fourth inning when Smith scored from third base on Olivo’s groundout.
There was a scary moment in the sixth inning when Casey Blake hit a deep fly that Rockies right fielder Carlos Gonzalez caught an instant before he slammed face first into the padded wall.
Gonzalez dropped to the warning track and, after lying there several minutes, gingerly walked off the field. The Rockies said he suffered a contusion on his right knee and was listed as day to day.
james.peltz@latimes.com
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