Ishii Quickly Out of Control

CINCINNATI —  The Dodgers still believe they are the team that was one of the major leagues’ biggest surprises in the first half, not the current stumbling bunch trying to figure out how to get it back together.

They didn’t find any answers Tuesday night in a 12-4 blowout loss to the Cincinnati Reds at Cinergy Field that prolonged their post-All-Star game malaise. Starter Kazuhisa Ishii (12-7) was the biggest of the Dodgers’ many problems in the opener of a three-game series before 23,804, struggling even more than usual with his command and quickly taking his club out of the game.

“The walks, the behind-in-the-count situations, it just continually rolled over and rolled over,” Manager Jim Tracy said. “You look up, and they’ve got eight runs on the board in the first 2 2/3 innings of the game. The tone had been set, and it wasn’t a good one.

“From that point on, it’s a matter of getting through the ballgame. We had some good at-bats, but it’s something that really kind of gets overlooked. By the time you start to get to that point, you’re already down 10-0.”

Ishii, the Dodgers’ second most consistent pitcher recently behind Hideo Nomo, lasted only 2 2/3 innings in his worst performance of the season.

He walked six and gave up two home runs among five hits and a season-high eight earned runs.

Leading, 3-0, after two innings, the Reds broke the game open in the third with five runs--two scoring on catcher Paul Lo Duca’s passed ball and error. Cincinnati raced to a 10-0 lead in the fourth after chasing Ishii, whose earned-run average ballooned from 3.36 to 3.87, and the Dodgers were well on their way to dropping to 3-4 on a season-high 13-game, 15-day trip.

The Dodgers (59-47) remained five games behind the first-place Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League West, and fell into a tie with the San Francisco Giants atop the NL wild-card standings.

With a 5-13 record since the All-Star break, the Dodgers keep hoping for things to turn but acknowledge action is overdue.

“When you’re going through something like we have as a team, and struggled like we have in the second half, you have to say that it’s going to turn around,” second baseman Mark Grudzielanek said. “You have to keep thinking, ‘Yeah, today is the day, and let’s get it going right here.’ We believe that we can, but you just don’t want to wait for one thing to turn it around.

“You want to start playing solid baseball overall and start winning games. We haven’t had a lot go right for us, in a lot of areas, since the All-Star break. It’s something we have to overcome, and have to do it fairly quickly. It’s getting to that point, no question about it.”

Paul Shuey also had problems in his Dodger debut. Shuey, acquired Sunday from the Cleveland Indians, gave up two hits and a run in the eighth. Closer Eric Gagne relieved Shuey with two out after he walked two to load the bases, and Jason La Rue struck out to end the Reds’ fun.

Cincinnati, still in the wild-card hunt at 55-50, had 10 hits and four home runs, including the 22nd by first baseman Adam Dunn.

“I felt like it was the first day of school,” Shuey said. “I got met in the parking lot and got hit by the bully.”

Cincinnati starter Ryan Dempster (6-11) had some shaky moments as the Dodgers scored three runs in the fifth to keep the crowd interested for a bit longer, but the Reds gave him a big enough comfort zone to overcome his problems. The former Florida Marlin ace, acquired July 11, gave up nine hits and four runs in seven innings, and the Dodgers were never really in the game.

“He couldn’t get in any kind of rhythm, and he didn’t throw many effective pitches,” pitching coach Jim Colborn said of Ishii. “It’s not uncommon to watch him walk the first guy, but he put himself in trouble every inning. He was really never a factor.”