Bitter Ending for Dodgers

PHOENIX —  The impressive showmen matched each other for eight stirring innings, providing a good time for the fans.

Then the bullpens took over, and the show turned ugly again for the Dodgers.

Tony Womack’s ninth-inning, run-scoring single off Dodger reliever Terry Adams gave the Arizona Diamondbacks a 2-1 victory Wednesday night in a game featuring a marquee matchup between starters Kevin Brown and Randy Johnson.

The National League West-leading Diamondbacks didn’t do enough with Johnson on the mound to help the left-hander earn his eighth victory in as many starts, but they did sweep the three-game series and won their seventh in a row before 43,345 at Bank One Ballpark.

On a 1-and-2 count, Womack sent a towering drive to deep right-center and Andy Fox easily scored the winning run from third. Fox singled to start the inning against Adams (2-3) and advanced to third on a single by Travis Lee with Womack on deck.

Adams also struggled in the eighth inning of the Diamondbacks’ 11-7, 12-inning victory Tuesday. The Dodgers’ primary setup man gave up three hits and two runs in that game as the Dodgers squandered a 6-3, eighth-inning lead.

Byung-Hyun Kim (1-1) fared better in relief of Johnson. The Dodgers stranded runners at first and second in the top of the ninth against Kim, who struck out the side swinging.

Brown gave up six hits, the only run against him coming on Luis Gonzalez’s run-scoring double in the seventh that tied the score, 1-1. He struck out six and walked three while throwing 76 strikes in 118 pitches.

“Brownie pitched a great game,” Dodger Manager Davey Johnson said. “We had the other guy one the ropes and we couldn’t get any more runs for him. It was just a tough series.”

The Big Unit gave up eight hits--including switch-hitter Todd Hundley’s second-inning home run. Johnson had the edge in strikeouts, but that’s business as usual.

He had 13 to match his season-high, and has struck out at least 10 in seven of his eight starts. Johnson has 132 double-digit strikeout games in his career, second only to Nolan Ryan.

“You can’t go up there trying to strike out people. It just doesn’t work like that,” Johnson said.

“It would be like Mark McGwire trying to go up there and hit home runs. You can swing hard, but that’s all you can do. It’s the same thing [with pitching], you can throw hard, but you don’t try to strike anyone out.”

The Diamondbacks had Brown in jams early, but didn’t get a big hit until Gonzalez’s run-scoring double tied the score, 1-1.

Brown walked Jay Bell with two out in the inning and Gonzalez on deck. Gonzalez doubled into the gap in left-center and Bell scored from first.

Otherwise, Brown set the tone. The Diamondbacks failed to score in the second with runners at second and third and one out, and left the bases loaded in the third.

“It’s real frustrating,” Hundley said about his batterymate.

“Brownie did everything he could but we just couldn’t get any more runs for him.”

The Dodgers had issues with plate umpire Doug Eddings, left fielder Gary Sheffield in particular.

Sheffield got upset after striking out looking in the first. He argued about the strike zone with Eddings and expressed his feelings throughout the game.

Leadoff batter F.P. Santangelo also thought Johnson got too many breaks. The little-used utilityman shouted at Eddings when he struck out looking leading off the fifth, and then Davey Johnson shared his thoughts with the umpire.

Randy Johnson has been especially dominant against left-handed batters. They had only two hits in 25 at-bats against him before Wednesday, but Shawn Green got that many in his first two at-bats.

Green singled to right in the first, third and eighth innings. That might not seem like much, but Green’s hits were a good sign for a team seeking encouragement against an overpowering opponent.

Hundley gave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead in the second with his one-out blast off Johnson.

The homer--estimated at 408 feet--was Hundley’s fourth in his last five starts, and his third of the season batting right-handed.

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THE PITCHERS

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Category Brown Johnson Innings 8 8 Pitches 118 127 Strikes 76 85 Balls 42 42 Strikeouts 6 13 Walks 3 1 Earned runs 1 1 Hits 6 8 Batters faced 34 32

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HERSHISER STUCK IN A CATCH-22

Orel Hershiser, struggling in the Dodger bullpen, knows he needs more work to pitch better, but he needs to pitch better to get more work. Page 5