Dodgers Fail to Make Noise in the Clutch

The thousands of black giveaway noise sticks intended to spur the Dodgers on against the San Francisco Giants on Saturday night at Dodger Stadium only served as the soundtrack to an especially harrowing 6-0 defeat that moved the Dodgers precariously close to elimination from playoff contention.

San Francisco starter Kirk Rueter and two relievers combined on a seven-hitter, with the Dodgers compounding their offensive woes by stranding six runners in scoring position -- including three runners who had reached third base with one out.

The Dodgers have lost two consecutive games and four of five during a gut-check portion of the schedule to fall 3 1/2 games behind the Florida Marlins in the wild-card standings. The Dodgers also trail the Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs, who had cracked the door open by losing earlier in the day, with nine games remaining.

“Now you just have to win out and hope a team collapses,” Dodger center fielder Dave Roberts said. “That’s not a good situation to be in.”

The Giants (95-58) improved to 10-4 this season against the Dodgers (81-72) and moved percentage points ahead of the Atlanta Braves (96-59) in the race for best record in the National League, which determines home-field advantage until the World Series.

The opportunistic Giants scored four runs in the sixth off Dodger starter Hideo Nomo (16-12) thanks in part to a check-swing double and a single off the bat of Rueter. Meanwhile, Rueter (9-5) gave up five hits and three walks over six innings while escaping runner-on-third, one-out jams in the first, third and sixth innings.

Fred McGriff grounded into a double play to leave Roberts stranded at third in the first, and Cesar Izturis struck out and Shawn Green grounded out with David Ross 90 feet from home plate in the third. Jolbert Cabrera grounded into a 4-6-3 double play in the sixth after Adrian Beltre had reached third.

“The only thing you can say about tonight is missed opportunities and plenty of them early in the game,” Manager Jim Tracy said. “We had a number of opportunities to get on the scoreboard well before the Giants created their opportunities, and we came up empty on all of them.”

Matt Herges and Felix Rodriguez shut out the Dodgers over the final three innings before a sellout crowd of 54,488.

J.T. Snow opened San Francisco’s decisive sixth inning with a single to right and went to second on Rich Aurilia’s single to left-center. The runners advanced on a wild pitch before Barry Bonds drove in Snow with the game’s first run on a towering fly to right that Green gloved on the warning track.

Benito Santiago then hit a check-swing double off the glove of first baseman McGriff and into right field to score Aurilia. Santiago took third on another wild pitch before coming home to make it 3-0 on Edgardo Alfonzo’s double down the left-field line.

With Paul Shuey hurriedly warming up in the bullpen, Tracy allowed Nomo to face one more batter, Marquis Grissom, whose single to left moved Alfonzo to third.

Shuey fared no better, walking Jose Cruz Jr. before Rueter poked a single through the left side of the infield to score Alfonzo with the Giants’ fourth run.

San Francisco added another run in the eighth after third baseman Beltre dropped a two-out grounder by pinch-hitter Andres Galarraga that was ruled a base hit. The Giants made it 6-0 in the ninth when Grissom dropped a run-scoring single in front of Green for his fourth hit.

The Dodgers had another scoring opportunity in the fifth when an error by Aurilia, the San Francisco shortstop, put runners on first and second with one out. But Izturis and Green again failed to deliver for the Dodgers, who have averaged two runs of support over Nomo’s last six starts.

“I can’t say I don’t care,” Nomo said through an interpreter. “I’m only starting one more game, but I’m going to try to pitch it and win.”