Dodger Pitching Is on Its Last Legs

The victories don’t tell the story, but the defeats sure do. The Dodgers’ start to the season: 12-2 last year, 12-16 this year.

Not that last season turned out well, but this one might go sour in a hurry. The Dodgers lost 91 games last year, but they never fell into last place in the National League West. That’s where they find themselves this morning, after an almost comical bullpen meltdown and Manager Grady Little’s first postgame team meeting this season.

Tim Hamulack and Franquelis Osoria gave up three home runs in the span of five batters in the seventh and eighth innings of an 11-5 loss to the San Diego Padres on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. With Joe Beimel and Danys Baez pitching in as well, the bullpen gave up 10 runs and 12 hits in three innings.

“We couldn’t stop the bleeding,” Little said. “It wasn’t pretty to look at.”

The Dodgers lost their fourth consecutive game. They ought to slap a moratorium on talk of how they can capitalize on the good fortune of playing in a mediocre division, since they’re 5-7 against the rest of the NL West.

And, to add injury to insult, the Dodgers’ starting rotation suddenly appears in flux. Before the game, Little said he might remove Odalis Perez from the rotation. Several hours later, Jae Seo left the game with a split nail on the index finger of his pitching hand.

Little closed the clubhouse after the game for a brief meeting. First baseman Nomar Garciaparra said earplugs were not required.

“We needed to re-instill the confidence we have in them,” Little said.

He said his level of dissatisfaction was “not as high as it could be,” since the season has five months left. Catcher Dioner Navarro said he was “a little frustrated,” but infielder Olmedo Saenz said he was not. “It’s too early to get frustrated,” Saenz said. “Nobody is frustrated in here. Nobody. How can you be frustrated on May 3? You can go home if you’re frustrated.”

The Dodgers shook up their bullpen earlier in the week, demoting two relievers and promoting two more. On this night, the result was the Dodgers’ most lopsided loss of the season.

Hamulack inherited a 1-1 tie in the seventh inning, but Mark Bellhorn tagged him for a three-run home run. After Saenz answered with a three-run homer of his own in the bottom of the inning -- the Dodgers’ first pinch-hit homer this season -- Osoria fell apart in spectacular fashion.

He faced five batters, and all got hits. He gave up five runs, including consecutive home runs to Josh Barfield and pinch-hitter Geoff Blum. His earned-run average soared from 3.77 to 6.91.

Osoria was booed off the mound, and Little was cheered when he finally emerged from the dugout to remove him. Beimel replaced Osoria and allowed both inherited runners to score, one on a wild pitch. Baez, the closer attempting to mop up in the ninth, gave up five hits to seven batters.

“It just kind of caved in,” Little said.

After Seo retired the Padres in the sixth inning, television cameras caught him in the Dodger dugout, shaking his right hand up and down, in visible discomfort. He did not return.

Little said Seo was removed because he had thrown a season-high 101 pitches, not because of the split nail. In six innings, Seo gave up one run and five hits, with four walks

After the game, Seo said he had cracked the nail while warming up in the bullpen and said the discomfort got progressively worse. He said he had pitched with a split nail previously, while playing for the New York Mets, and he said he expected to make his next start.

In the end, the Dodgers had a moment to celebrate. With two out in the ninth, on his second day in the majors, Andre Ethier hit his first homer.

As the Dodgers left the field, A Martinez took Ethier aside for the postgame radio show, but Jose Cruz Jr. told him to hustle inside for the meeting. The interview would have to wait.