Dodgers Miss Extra Relief They Need

Before Sunday night’s game, Davey Johnson was philosophical about the differences between last year’s club and his current team. The Dodger manager was talking about the positive problem of having so many fresh arms in the bullpen, as opposed to the “dead arm” season of 1999.

“It’s funny. When we started the year, I was really concerned because in the spring a lot of my one-inning guys I had going two innings,” Johnson said during batting practice. “I carried 12 pitchers because I was worried about [too many] innings [for not enough guys]. Now, I’m praying for extra innings.”

Ask and ye shall receive.

The Dodgers, though, couldn’t hold on to a three-run seventh-inning lead and fell to the Houston Astros, 14-8, in 10 innings in front of 52,806 at Dodger Stadium.

In a game that lasted 4 hours 31 minutes and saw the Dodgers use five pitchers (the Astros needed seven), two of the premier closers in the game had to duel it out at the end.

The Astros’ Billy Wagner (1-1) picked up his first win of the season while Jeff Shaw (2-2) took the loss after being charged with five runs on three hits in an inning-plus.

Houston sent 13 batters to the plate in the 10th and scored seven runs, including a three-run homer by former Dodger outfielder Roger Cedeno off Alan Mills.

Obviously, it wasn’t the type of extra-inning affair Johnson envisioned.

“Not really. But I thought [Antonio] Osuna threw the ball OK,” Johnson said of the reliever, who underwent elbow surgery last year and came off the disabled list Friday. “He looked like he’s back. That’s a good thing.

“We had a good homestand. I was happy with this homestand.”

The Dodgers, who had won six of last eight entering the game, embark on a 12-game trip over 14 days, traveling to division-leading Arizona, St. Louis, Chicago and Florida. It will be the longest trip of the season for the Dodgers, who played 16 of their first 21 games on the road.

For the Dodgers, the difficult part was that the homestand ended with a loss, but considering the way Sunday’s game began, it was no surprise the way it finished.

Neither starter lasted long.

Eric Gagne went 3 2/3 innings for the Dodgers and gave up four runs on five hits while walking three, striking out two and hitting a batter. He threw 97 pitches, 57 for strikes.

For Houston, a distracted Jose Lima, who found out Friday that his father, Francisco Rodriguez, had been diagnosed with throat cancer, gave up seven runs, four earned, in four innings on six hits, including three home runs, and a walk with two strikeouts.

Gagne started the game off by walking leadoff man Craig Biggio and, two batters later, hit Jeff Bagwell by grazing his helmet.

Three pitches later, Ken Caminiti turned on a Gagne changeup and drove the ball into the Astro bullpen in right field for a three-run homer.

Gagne then went up and in on the next batter, Richard Hidalgo, who had already been hit four times this season by Dodger pitchers and would get nailed again in the 10th inning.

Hidalgo made Gagne pay when he drove a 2-2 fastball to the bleachers in the left-field pavilion for a solo home run, marking the third time Houston had hit back-to-back home runs this year.

Things looked bleak enough for Orel Hershisher to start warming up in the Dodger bullpen. He would replace Gagne in the fourth.

The Dodgers answered in the first inning with five runs, three unearned, courtesy of three Houston errors, and also batted around, sending 10 batters to the plate in a comical first inning.

Todd Hollandsworth got the Dodgers on the board when he drove Lima’s second pitch of the day over the right-center wall for the second leadoff homer of his career.

A series of Astro errors ensued--Hidalgo misplayed an Eric Karros popup and Bagwell and Lima threw the ball away on separate plays--and resulted in the Dodgers taking a 5-4 lead after the first inning.

Karros put the Dodgers ahead, 6-4, when he took Lima to the left-field pavilion in the third inning for his eighth homer of the year.

Grudzielanek gave Hershiser some breathing room with his solo shot to left-center.

Hershiser ran out of gas with two outs in the seventh, giving up three consecutive singles before hitting Biggio for the second time of the night, prompting Johnson to replace Hershiser with Osuna.

Osuna hit 96 mph on the radar gun and worked a full count to Bill Spiers before he singled to center to tie the score and set the stage for the Astros’ explosive 10th inning.

“I felt strong, but the next time I hope to be better and relax,” Osuna said. “I was a little nervous against the first batter. It’s been a year.”