Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly adamantly comes to Rafael Furcal’s defense

Reporting from Phoenix — Don Mattingly rarely speaks in authoritative tones, but it turns out that all one need do to awaken the Dodgers manager’s inner orator is raise questions about Rafael Furcal.

Reflecting on the previous night, when he was asked whether he’d considered removing a slumping Furcal from the lineup, Mattingly said Sunday, “I thought about it last night, when you guys were getting on Fookie so much. I said, ‘Why is it all on Fookie? We have a whole club here that really doesn’t score runs and it’s all Fookie.’ It kind of touched me a little bit.”

Mattingly said he still believed in Furcal, who was out of the lineup Sunday because the Dodgers played a day game following a night game. Furcal flied out in a pinch-hit at-bat in the eighth inning, dropping his batting average to .168.

The manager drew comparisons between Furcal and New York Mets outfielder Carlos Beltran, who sat out more than half of last season because of injuries.

Mattingly recalled how he and hitting coach Jeff Pentland watched Beltran swing the bat last year and told each other, “He’s still got bat speed.”

“Then you see this guy, all of a sudden, catches back on, gets his feel again and then he’s rolling,” Mattingly said. “Fookie’s in the same boat. Fookie’s still got bat speed.”

Mattingly was only getting started.

“The one thing I can’t ever get away from is that this guy plays with energy every day he plays,” he said. “He gives you everything he has every time he goes out there. There’s never a doubt that he’s not trying. I believe in Fookie in what he can still do. He might not be the player he was five, six years ago. He’s had a lot of injuries. But that doesn’t mean he can’t play.”

What about Juan?

Mattingly was asked whether he would offer a similar defense of Juan Uribe, about whom questions are also being asked.

“I will come to Juan’s defense from the standpoint that I know he’s still working,” Mattingly said. “I know guys don’t want to hit .200. He’s not going home going, ‘What do I care?’ He’s going home being bothered by this. He might not give you the impression of that, but there’s no doubt in my mind it bothers him.”

Uribe was one for three, raising his average to .206.

Short hops

Matt Kemp, who was one for four Sunday and scored the Dodgers’ only run in a 4-1 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks, is batting .347 on the road, third-best in the majors. . . . The Dodgers’ new leadoff hitter, Tony Gwynn Jr., has hit safely in seven of his last eight games. . . . Before the game, Mattingly was asked whether, if he were a fan, he would watch the Dodgers’ game or the Women’s World Cup final between the U.S. and Japan. His reply: “If I was a baseball fan? I’d watch soccer today.” What if the Dodgers had a better team? “I’d still watch soccer.”

dylan.hernandez@latimes.com