http://www.msnbc.com/news/644878.asp?0tt=-31671624


Dodgers pitcher Kevin Brown has rebounded well from back surgery, compiling
a 6-1 record with a 1.74 ERA. He has won his last four in a row.

Dodgers are winning arms race with ease

Quality pitching key to L.A.’s success while offense sputters

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May 29 — The Los Angeles Dodgers are winning the old-fashioned way —
with pitching and defense. The trouble is, they have no other choice.


PICK A PITCHING category, and the Dodgers likely lead the National
League in it. Even after three days at Coors Field, where they surrendered
25 runs and were swept by the Colorado Rockies, the Dodgers have the only
sub-3.00 ERA in the NL at 2.98. The next-lowest staff sits a half-run higher
and the league’s worst staff — Cincinnati — is almost three runs per game
higher.
So rare is the staff that racks up more strikeouts than hits allowed,
that the last to do it featured ‘Sudden’ Sam McDowell and Luis Tiant — the
1968 Cleveland Indians. But the Dodgers (as well as the Chicaco Cubs) are on
pace to do so, and it’s not even that close. Dodgers pitchers have struck
out 444 while allowing a league-low 384 hits.


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They also lead the league in opponents’ batting average (.222),
bullpen ERA (2.06) and quality starts (38), and during a recent 10-game
winning streak that was stopped in Colorado, the starters went 10-0 with a 1
63 ERA, and the staff had a 1.38 mark.
But as good as the pitching has been, the offense has been equally
dismal. The Dodgers have been held to a .251 batting average (11th in the
league), and rank dead last in total bases, home runs, RBI, walks, slugging
percentage, on-base percentage and runs scored. Their league-low total of
195 runs is 113 fewer than the Braves’ league-leading mark, or just more
than two runs per game. Opposing pitchers have a 3.43 ERA against them —
which would be second best in the NL behind the Dodgers’.
All of which means the Dodgers are playing a different game than the
rest of the league. In 53 Dodgers games, 365 runs have been scored, or 6.9
per game. The league average is 9.25 runs per game, and it’s 10.5 for the
Atlanta Braves, the team with the league’s best record. Which begs the
question, in this era of offensive dominance, can the Dodgers get to the
playoffs playing this way? Dodgers pitching coach Jim Colborn thinks so.
“My opinion is pitching always wins,” Colborn said. “Good pitching
stops good hitting. And mediocre hitting can’t stop an ace, at least not
over the long run.”
Manager Jim Tracy looks at his rotation and sees quality one through
five. He even went as far as to say that any of his five starters — Kevin
Brown, Hideo Nomo, Odalis Perez, Kaz Ishii and Darren Dreifort — could fit
into the top three of most any other rotation. But even Tracy, a positive
thinker if there ever was one, admits the idea that his staff could keep up
this pace all season is, ‘pretty ridiculous’.
And now there is more reason for concern about the offense. Just as
center fielder and leadoff hitter Dave Roberts is getting ready to come off
the disabled list after a hamstring injury, both left fielder Brian Jordan
and bench player Darryl Ward are sidelined by hand injuries. Those are
losses (albeit temporary) the Dodgers can’t afford after a three-game sweep
in Colorado dropped them from a share of the top spot to 2 ½ games behind
the San Francisco Giants.
There is a chance the Dodgers will make a move to add offense — if
not now, then by the July 31 trade deadline. Rumors about replacing third
baseman Adrian Beltre have cropped up as he continues to flounder
offensively, and Andy Ashby is unhappy about being relegated to middle
relief, although nobody is willing to take on a share of his $8-million
salary yet. There certainly is pitching to spare, as lefty reliever Steve
Colyer was sent down on Wednesday despite a 1.93 ERA in two games, veteran
starter Wilson Alvarez can’t earn a promotion despite tearing up the Pacific
Coast League, and veteran setup man Bill Simas also finds himself stuck at
Triple-A. But in the meantime, the staff will have to carry the load.
Surprisingly, Colborn thinks the lack of offense has made his staff better.
“They take it as a positive challenge,” Colborn said. “It makes
every pitch count. It would be a different atmosphere around here if day
after day, we were putting up five, six runs. I don’t think the staff would
have the stats it does if we scored that much. From the beginning, we
realized this was how it was going to be, and they stepped up to the
challenge.”
The Dodgers having an outstanding pitching staff is nothing new. The
spacious alleys and heavy night air long have made Dodger Stadium one of the
league’s toughest parks in which to score runs. The Dodgers staff was third
last season behind Atlanta and San Francisco, but the improvement this
season came together in spring training. That’s where ace Brown (back
surgery) and Dreifort (a second Tommy John surgery) proved they were healthy
again, and journeyman Tom Martin came out of nowhere to provide a quality
left-handed option.
All Brown has done is go 6-1 with a 1.74 ERA, winning his last four
in a row. Dreifort’s arm is fine (4-4, 4.03), but he has an arthritic right
knee that can affect his delivery when it flares. He will remain in the
rotation for now, but the June plan is to use off days as often as possible
to get him more rest between starts.
The spring plan in the bullpen was to go without a left-hander —
never what a manager wants, especially in the NL West, with its abundance of
quality left-handed hitters such as Barry Bonds, Todd Helton, Larry Walker,
Luis Gonzalez, Steve Finley and Ryan Klesko. But the spring surprise was
Martin.
Throwing in the mid-90s again after rotator cuff problems cut short
his 2002 season with Tampa, Martin was impressive enough that the Dodgers
decided not to keep Giovanni Carrera, a valuable member of their 2002
bullpen who went 603 with a 3.28 ERA in 90 innings.
“As the days went by, we were more and more cautiously optimistic
that things would work out well,” Colborn said.
‘Well’ would be an understatement. One third of the way through the
season, this Dodger staff has put up numbers reminiscent of the 1960s ones
dominated by Hall of Famers Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale — when the game
was much different than the one played today.
“There is competition, and that’s a great intangible to have develop
within a staff,” Colborn said. “There is pride to perform at a high level when
others are doing it too. There is a synergy within the group. There is a
positive environment for them to be their best.”

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