Jim Tracy doesn\u2019t like to make wholesale changes in his Los Angeles Dodgers lineup when it\u2019s struggling. Just a little fine-tuning is all it takes sometimes.
\nTracy batted Adrian Beltre third for only second time this season, and his decision turned out to be a good one.
\nBeltre and Shawn Green each hit two-run homers as the Dodgers beat the error-plagued Pittsburgh Pirates 10-5 Thursday night, tying a season high for runs in a home game.
\n\u201cI\u2019m not looking to send something out there that looks drastically different from anything that they\u2019ve seen this year, because it\u2019s not the time of the year in my opinion to do that,\u201d Tracy said. \u201cBut I do deserve the right to do subtle little things like that. And I think it was very right to have Adrian Beltre hitting third.\u201d
\nTracy also started Chad Kreuter behind the plate against left-hander Jimmy Anderson instead of Paul Lo Duca, who is in an 0-for-13 drought and hitting .200 since the All-Star break. Kreuter responded with three hits.
\n\u201cI\u2019m just going through a rut where nothing\u2019s going my way,\u201d Lo Duca said. \u201cEverybody\u2019s asking me if I\u2019m getting tired. I\u2019m not getting tired. I\u2019m just in a slump.\u201d
\nThe victory, coupled with losses by San Francisco and Arizona, put the Dodgers back in front in the wild card race by a half-game over the Giants. Los Angeles moved within six games of the Diamondbacks in the NL West.
\nKreuter doubled with one out in the sixth against Anderson (8-12) and scored when Cesar Izturis blooped a 2-2 pitch into right field with two outs for a 6-5 lead.
\nBrian Jordan and Mark Grudzielanek added RBI singles in the seventh against Sean Lowe, and Green ended the scoring in the eighth against Josias Manzanillo with his 32nd homer.
\nKevin Beirne (1-0) pitched one inning for his second career victory, despite giving up a game-tying solo homer by Craig Wilson in the sixth. Beirne\u2019s other big league win was on June 14, 2000, for the Chicago White Sox.
\nBeltre, one of the Dodgers\u2019 hottest hitters since the All-Star break, put them ahead 5-4 in the fifth with a first-pitch homer after a leadoff single by Marquis Grissom.
\n\u201cBeltre\u2019s been awesome. He\u2019s been keeping us in this race,\u201d Green said. \u201cHe\u2019s in a groove right now. He\u2019s been able to lay off that slider down and away, and he\u2019s not missing his pitch when he gets it.\u201d
\nWilson tied it with a leadoff homer in the sixth, sending Beirne\u2019s first pitch of the game to left-center for his ninth home run.
\nBefore Beltre\u2019s 16th homer, the Pirates executed spectacular inning-ending double plays in the third and fourth to preserve their 4-3 lead.
\nBut Pittsburgh\u2019s defense was atrocious in the first, when the Dodgers scored three unearned runs without a hit \u2014 using two walks, two errors, a double-steal, and consecutive sacrifice flies by Jordan and Eric Karros.
\n\u201cIt was one of those nights. It was just an ugly game,\u201d Pirates catcher Jason Kendall said.
\nSecond baseman Pokey Reese, a two-time Gold Glove winner, charged Izturis\u2019 leadoff grounder and juggled the ball trying to get it out of his glove for the first of his two errors. Two batters later, third baseman Aramis Ramirez went down on one knee to backhand Beltre\u2019s grounder, and the ball deflected off his glove as Izturis scored from second.
\n\u201cWe didn\u2019t play defense or pitch very well,\u201d Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon said. \u201cWe gave a good team too many outs, and with that combination of things it normally ends up being a long night.\u201d
\nReese and Ramirez atoned for their early defensive mistakes by driving in Pittsburgh\u2019s first two runs during a four-run third. Reese led off with his third homer and Ramirez had a two-out RBI single. Kevin Young capped the rally with a bases-loaded two-run single.
\nDodgers starter Kazuhisa Ishii allowed four runs, four hits and five walks in five innings. He walked at least five batters for the ninth time in his last 18 starts.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s frustrating, because you know this guy has tremendous talent \u2014 and we\u2019ve seen it,\u201d Jordan said. \u201cBut he\u2019s been off and on. He\u2019s either going to go out there and have a great game, or he\u2019s going to throw a lot of pitches and have a rough time. Hopefully, he\u2019ll regain his control.\u201d
\nAnderson lost his third straight start, allowing six runs \u2014 three earned \u2014 and eight hits in six innings.
\nNotes: The Pirates tied a season high with four errors. They also did it May 13 in an 11-0 loss to Arizona. … Anderson is 0-4 with a 8.59 in four starts against the Dodgers since beating them 12-1 on Sept. 4, 2000, for his first career complete game. … The Pirates are 33-24 when they don\u2019t commit an error, and 18-39 when they do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jim Tracy doesn\u2019t like to make wholesale changes in his Los Angeles Dodgers lineup when it\u2019s struggling. Just a little fine-tuning is all it takes sometimes. Tracy batted Adrian Beltre third for only second time this season, and his decision turned out to be a good one. Beltre and Shawn Green each hit two-run homers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports-news-in-the-tyrone-pennsylvania-area"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=48459"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48459\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=48459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=48459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=48459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}