Dodgers lose to White Sox in a hurry
The remedy for the knee that absorbed the impact of Joe Torre’s fall in the dugout was on its way.
“The ice,” Torre said, “is coming.”
How about a cure for whatever is wrong with the Dodgers’ offense?
Torre still didn’t know what that was.
The Dodgers lost, 6-1, to the Chicago White Sox at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday night in a game in which Derek Lowe limited Chicago to two runs over the first seven innings before tiring in the eighth, while the offense could manage only one run of support.
“It’s not any different than it’s been,” Torre said of his team’s overall approach at the plate.
If watching what was essentially a repeat of recent losses wasn’t bad enough, Torre lost his footing and fell in the eighth inning as he walked along the railing in front of the Dodgers’ dugout on his way to making a pitching change. Unlike his players, Torre was able to recover, as he was helped to his feet by pitching coach Rick Honeycutt and a batboy, and made his way out to the mound.
The scene marked the end of the night for Lowe (5-7), who battled White Sox starter Mark Buehrle on almost even terms for seven innings, only to unravel in what turned out to be a four-run eighth for the visitors.
Lowe made Jermaine Dye look foolish by striking him out in two of his first three at-bats, but Dye took Lowe deep in the eighth for a two-run home run that spelled the beginning of the end.
“He made me look foolish at the end of the game,” Lowe said.
Nick Swisher singled to right in the next at-bat and Lowe’s night was over. His final numbers: Five runs and nine hits in 7 1/3 innings.
Lowe started the game by loading the bases in the first inning but gave up only one run. The White Sox doubled the lead in the second inning to 2-0 but were prevented from further extending the margin in the fourth, when they had men on second and third with no outs.
The two-run cushion was enough for the quick-working Buehrle (5-6), who held the Dodgers to a run and six hits in his fourth consecutive eight-inning start.
Disrupting Buehrle’s pace by stepping out of the batter’s box was something Torre and his coaches implored his players to do but little could be done. Buehrle delivered only 95 pitches, his up-tempo style contributing to the brevity of the game, which lasted only two hours and five minutes.
“If you look at his pitch count, we didn’t have many opportunities to stop it,” Torre said.
Buehrle recorded the 1,000th strikeout of his career when he retired pinch-hitter Mark Sweeney in the eighth.
“With guys who work quick, the only way you can slow them down is to get men on,” Juan Pierre said. “We didn’t get anyone on base tonight.”
There were no baserunners in the fifth inning when Delwyn Young crushed a changeup by Buehrle into the stands over the left-field wall.
Of the Dodgers’ 51 home runs, 32 have been hit with the bases empty. The team has hit only five three-run home runs.
More disconcerting to Torre was seeing many of his players step to the plate without a plan, which he said was particularly fatal against Buehrle, who changes speeds and has a wide arsenal of pitches.
“You can’t be looking for all of them at the same time,” Torre said.
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He’s missed
The Dodgers with Furcal before he got injured and without him. Furcal’s last game was May 5:
Los Angeles Times
WITH FURCAL
* Record: 18-14 (.563)
Seventh-best record in baseball
* Runs per game: 5.38
Furcal’s stats:
* Average:... .366
* On base pct.:... .448
* Slugging pct.:... .597
* Steals:... 8
* Runs scored:... 34
WITHOUT FURCAL
* Record: 17-27
Third-worst in baseball since May 5
* Runs per game: 3.32
Shortstop stats (Hu, Maza, Berroa)
* Average:... .185
* On base pct.:... .248
* Slugging pct.:... .229
* Steals:... 1
* Runs scored:... 21
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