Dodgers’ mighty new offense taking baby steps in 10-0 loss

Waiting. Come on, still waiting.

New sluggers, new stars, new hope … same offense?

That new Dodgers era boasting Adrian Gonzalez and Hanley Ramirez in the middle of their lineup with Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier, is designed to be an offensive force. After three games, it appears to still be in the designer stage.

The Dodgers were shut out by four Colorado pitchers Monday, the Rockies taking a 10-0 victory at Coors Field that dropped L.A. 2 1/2 games back of the Giants in the National League West.

After stranding 16 runners Sunday and going two for 17 with runners in scoring position, the Dodgers stranded six against the Rockies on Monday and went 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position.

With Gonzalez in the lineup, the Dodgers are now 1-2.

Monday marked the Dodgers debut of right-hander Josh Beckett, who wasn’t special, but still pitched well enough to win if the Dodgers had offered any offensive support. On this night, that qualified as the good news.

Beckett (5-12) went 5 2/3 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits. He walked three and struck out six.

Beckett gave up a solo homer to the first batter he faced as a Dodger, Tyler Colvin taking him deep for his 15th home run of the season.

It remained a 1-0 game going into the bottom of the fourth, the Dodgers unable to do anything of note against soft-throwing left-hander Jeff Francis. A 1-0 lead is nothing at Coors Field, and would seem particularly so with the Dodgers’ new lineup.

Yet the Big Four managed only one hit, a double by Kemp in the first. The entire game, there was an answered anticipation. As a foursome they went one for 14 on the night.

Kemp was one of the few who had an opportunity to cash in some runs, but when he came up to bat in the eighth with runners on the corners and one out, he bounced into a double play.

Then he gave the Dodgers a scare in the bottom of the inning when he crashed into the fence in center trying to chase down a two-run triple by Colvin off Kenley Jansen.

He bounced off the fence and trotted off in apparent pain, awkwardly lowering his shoulder. Assistant trainer Nancy Patterson checked on Kemp, but he remained in the game.

Meanwhile, Jansen was charged with four earned runs on four hits in just two-thirds of an inning. Josh Wall, called up Monday, could perform no better, as the Rockies scored seven runs in the eighth inning.

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