Dodgers aren't hitting in stride

SAN FRANCISCO — Closer Eric Gagne has doused his share of fires this season, earning several of his 35 saves in heroic fashion, but unless the Dodgers find some way to ignite their offense,

their playoff hopes will flame out like the embers of a dying campfire. The Dodgers have lost 11 of 14 games since the All-Star break, their 2 1/2-game lead over Arizona in the National

League West turning into a four-game deficit entering a critical three-game series against the San Francisco Giants starting tonight in Pac Bell Park. The Cincinnati Reds, New York Mets,

Montreal Expos and Houston Astros have also closed a considerable amount of ground on the Dodgers and Giants in the wild-card race. While the Dodger starting pitchers, particularly

left-hander Odalis Perez and right-hander Andy Ashby, have wobbled in the last two weeks and the bullpen in front of Gagne and set-up man Paul Quantrill has faltered, it’s the offense that

has taken the most hits--far more than it has dished out--during the Dodgers’ slump. A team that averaged six runs a game from mid-May to mid-June has scored more than four runs once in the

last 14 games. The Dodgers have scored 37 runs in the second half, an average of 2.6 runs a game, and have been held to two runs or fewer nine times. Ten times in the last 18 games, the

Dodgers have fallen behind during the first two innings, a trend that has further pressured a pitching staff that is beginning to feel it must shut out an opponent to give the Dodgers a

chance to win. The heart of the Dodger lineup--Paul Lo Duca, Shawn Green, Eric Karros and Brian Jordan--has combined to hit .210 (42 for 200) with two home runs and 12 runs batted in since

the break. The cleanup spot has not produced an RBI in that span. Lo Duca, the team’s most consistent hitter, has had a particularly rough time, going 10 for 56 (.179) with one homer and

five RBIs, his average falling from .326 on July 7 to .303. And Green, whose remarkable power binge resulted in 23 home runs in 38 games from May 21 to July 3, is batting .208 (11 for 53)

with one homer and two RBIs since the break and is getting fewer and fewer prime pitches to hit. Green hasn’t had an extra-base hit in 12 games. The low point may have come Wednesday, when

the Dodgers suffered their league-leading 11th shutout at the hands of the San Diego Padres and failed to advance a runner to second base. “It’s been frustrating,” Green said. “We played a

good game Tuesday night [an 8-6 victory over the Padres], and you start to think things are going to get better. We’re having better at-bats. Hopefully some balls will fall in, we’ll have

some big innings, string together some good wins, and we’ll be on our way.” The Dodgers struggled to score in the first six weeks, the depths of their futility coming May 14-15, when they

were shut out in consecutive games by the New York Mets. A 4-3 victory over Montreal the following night jump-started the offense. Green went on his tear, which included his memorable

four-homer game on May 23 in Milwaukee, and the Dodgers, fueled by a higher-octane offense, won 30 of 43 games from May 16-July 2 to improve from 22-18 to 52-31. But the Dodgers haven’t

received a similar spike from any of their second-half wins, losing five in a row after a July 14 victory over Arizona, two in a row after a July 20 win over San Francisco and getting shut

out after Tuesday’s win over San Diego. The addition of utility player Tyler Houston, acquired in a trade with Milwaukee on Tuesday, could help. Houston, who bats left-handed, hit .302 with

seven homers and 33 RBIs in 76 games for the Brewers. Houston will join the Dodgers tonight, and he should get plenty of at-bats, most of them in a third-base platoon with Adrian Beltre and

several off the bench as a pinch-hitter. At the very least, Houston should light a fire under the underachieving Beltre, who has had virtually no competition at third base since he made his

Dodger debut in 1998 and has not been able to lift his average above .240 since June 28. General Manager Dan Evans felt strengthening the bench and bullpen before Wednesday’s non-waiver

trade deadline would be best for the club, but he did make a run at Philadelphia third baseman Scott Rolen last week. According to baseball sources, talks heated up between Evans and

Phillies’ General Manager Ed Wade, but Evans backed off when Wade requested Beltre, a major league pitcher and a minor league pitcher in return for Rolen, who is owed an additional $2.9

million this season and will be a free agent next winter. Evans got Houston instead. “My objectives haven’t changed because I don’t think our needs have changed,” Evans said. “I think this

[offensive slump] is going to end soon, and we’re going to be OK. I don’t want to do something in reaction to what’s happened the last two weeks.” MORE TO READ