Unraveling

The Dodgers come home with their tails between their legs after getting smoked by the St. Louis Cardinals in three out of four games at Busch Stadium. The 2005 Dodger team bears little resemblance to the one that captured the NL West for the first time in a decade—Cesar Izturis and Milton Bradley are the only remaining everyday players; Odalis Perez and Jeff Weaver are the only holdover starting pitchers.

But this team does have one thing in common with the 2004 team: It can’t beat the Cardinals. In four straight games, St. Louis toyed with the Dodgers, resting a key player in each game, yet still pounding the Dodger pitching staff for 32 runs. From the Dodgers’ perspective, the most disturbing part of the trip was how everything started to unravel all at once. In the opener, Los Angeles hung with St. Louis up until the fifth, when Albert Pujols blew open the game with his second homer of the night.

In game two, the Dodger frittered away a 3-0 lead, then allowed a four-run fifth to put the Cardinals ahead 7-4. They showed resolve by coming back and winning the game, with a six-run inning of their own, but you never had the feeling they were confident about it. In game three, Brad Penny had two outs in the fifth inning of another 3-3 tie, but came unraveled after the opposing pitcher singled to start a six-run outburst.

And in yesterday’s debacle, a bad call by the second base umpire allowed the tying run to score, causing Derek Lowe to come unglued and give up three more runs after that. It was reminiscent of Lowe’s previous start against Cincinnati, in which he held the Reds to one hit over the first five, then self-destructed in the sixth, allowing six runs before being relieved.

I’ve given the Dodgers offense credit for never quitting no matter how far behind they get. But the pitching staff hasn’t shown that kind of grit so far. The minute adversity strikes, the starters seem to implode, turning one- and two-run innings into full-fledged rallies. It’s also becoming apparent that the Dodgers’ comeback-ability may have a lot to do with the fact that they keep falling behind.

The bullpen has shown a great talent in shutting down the opposition after they build a big lead, allowing the Dodgers to mount comebacks. In fact, this is the only part of the team that remains largely intact from last year’s championship club, returning Giovanni Carrara, Duaner Sanchez, Yhency Brazoban, Wilson Alvarez, and Eric Gagne to their accustomed roles. It’s time for the starters to start following their example.