Lo Duca Finally Gets One

Dodger catcher Paul Lo Duca has drawn rave reviews this season for his game-calling abilities, and pitchers and coaches cite him as one of the primary reasons the Dodgers began Wednesday night’s game against the Reds with a 2.95 earned-run average, second best in the major leagues.

Lo Duca has also been one of the team’s most consistent offensive players, batting .295 with nine doubles, 11 runs and nine runs batted in, striking out only five times and walking four times in 88 at-bats through Tuesday night.

But there is one statistic deep in the Dodger daily notes package that makes Lo Duca cringe: Runners were 13 for 13 in stolen-base attempts against Lo Duca this season before Lo Duca threw out Barry Larkin attempting to steal second in the eighth inning Wednesday night.

“That’s weird, because I feel like I’m throwing the ball better this year than I did last year,” Lo Duca said. “I’ve made five or six good throws near the second base bag, but guys got good jumps. On four of the 13 [stolen bases] I didn’t even make a throw. We’ve been winning, so it hasn’t mattered, but obviously I want to throw out some runners. That’s one of my strong points.”

Pitchers share part of the blame. Right-handers Hideo Nomo and Kevin Brown have had problems holding runners on at times--Larkin got such a good jump off Brown in the third inning Tuesday he stole third without a throw. But with left-handers Odalis Perez, Kazuhisa Ishii and Omar Daal making 12 of 27 starts, one would think the Dodgers would do a better job holding runners.

Manager Jim Tracy declined to discuss the Dodgers’ run defense in detail, “because that’s personal stuff I would rather the opposition not read about,” he said. “But I can’t think of any game where a stolen base has cost us the game, so it isn’t an issue right now.”

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Austin Kearns’ left eye was discolored and almost swollen shut Wednesday, and he had an abrasion on the left side of his nose, but the Red outfielder survived getting hit in the head by a Giovanni Carrara pitch Tuesday night.

A CT scan on Kearns’ head revealed no abnormalities, and the swelling around the eye subsided. There was no concussion, and Kearns was not dizzy. “I’m just happy it hit the bill of my helmet instead of flush on my face,” said Kearns, who did not play Wednesday night and is doubtful for tonight’s series finale. “Any time you get hit in the head, it scares you.”

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With the bases loaded, no outs and light-hitting Wilton Guerrero up in the ninth inning Tuesday night, the Dodgers brought left fielder Brian Jordan and center fielder Dave Roberts in, but right fielder Shawn Green remained at regular depth. Guerrero blooped an RBI single to shallow right, giving the Reds a key insurance run in a 3-1 victory. Several balls have dropped in shallow right this season, an issue Tracy addressed with Green last week, but Tracy refused to revisit the topic Wednesday. “I’m not going to beat a dead horse,” he said.... Brown, who allowed two runs on five hits in five innings in his return from the disabled list Tuesday, experienced no discomfort in his surgically repaired right elbow Wednesday.

TONIGHT

DODGERS’

ODALIS PEREZ

(3-1, 1.64 ERA)

vs.

REDS’

ELMER DESSENS

(1-3, 1.80 ERA)

Dodger Stadium, 7

TV--Fox Sports Net 2.

Radio--KXTA (1150), KWKW (1330).

Update--Perez is 3-0 with a 1.01 ERA and two complete games in his last three starts, including Friday’s one-hit gem in Chicago, when the left-hander faced the minimum 27 batters.