Struggling Zeile Drops in Order

In an effort to get third baseman Todd Zeile going offensively after his 0-for-10 start, Dodger Manager Bill Russell dropped Zeile down a notch in the batting order before Friday’s game and moved Todd Hollandsworth up.

Zeile batted seventh against Pirate right-hander Esteban Loaiza and Hollandsworth batted sixth.

“I put him in seventh because he’s been pressing and trying to do too much or whatever,” Russell said. “We’re going to try something different.

“He’ll be back [higher in the batting order]. He’s a veteran player. He’s probably gone through this kind of stretch before, although maybe not from opening day on. He’s too good a player to let something like this affect him.”

Zeile said the batting order flip-flop didn’t bother him. “Not at all. There might be less pressure at that spot,” he said. “[Russell] is just taking a little heat off me.”

Although Zeile went hitless again Friday night (0 for 3), he said he wasn’t overly concerned. “Actually, I’ve felt comfortable up there,” he said. “It’s going to happen sometime during the year. It just happens to be at the start.”

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Russell has been pleased with second baseman Wilton Guerrero--and that he can empathize with Guerrero’s shyness with the media.

“You have to be [impressed], coming up and playing in this atmosphere as well as he has,” Russell said. “He’s gone beyond our expectations.

“That’s a good spot for him, batting second. He’ll see more fastballs with [Raul] Mondesi behind him. He doesn’t say much. He just goes out and does his job. I can identify with that, coming up at a young age. He handled himself well in spring training but you never know how a guy is going to do when he’s playing in the big stadiums. He’s made all the plays. You couldn’t ask for anything better.”

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Pirate Manager Gene Lamont, working with a team that has been assembled on an ultra-low budget, said his philosophy is to simply make the best out of what he’s got.

“I don’t think the players think much about having a low payroll, except they want to do well and want to get a high payroll,” he said. “I’m not really worried. You just have to go about your job and you can’t offer excuses.”

To compensate for a lack of power, Lamont said his team, “probably will run a little more than the Pirates have in the past. . . . The three guys at the start of our order, [Tony] Womack, [Jermaine] Allensworth and [Al] Martin, they’ll run if the situation calls for it. When you need to manufacture some runs, speed is probably the best way to do it.”

The key, however, will be pitching. “Our starting pitching is going to be good and we’ve got good arms in the bullpen, but a lot of inexperience,” Lamont said. “If we get good pitching, we’ll probably surprise a lot of teams.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

TONIGHT’S GAME

DODGERS’ CHAN HO PARK (5-5, 3.64 ERA last season) vs. PIRATES’ FRANCISCO CORDOVA (4-7, 4.09 ERA last season)

Dodger Stadium, 7:30 p.m.

TV--Channel 5. Radio--KABC (790), KKWK (1330).

* UPDATE: Park made 10 starts last season and was 3-3 with a 2.77 earned-run average. He was 1-0 with a 1.50 ERA in three relief appearances to start last season before he became a starter. Park has faced the Pirates three times in his career, twice in relief, and was 1-0. However, his ERA was 3.86 in 9 1/3 innings and he recorded six strikeouts. The Dodgers didn’t fare well against Cordova last season, his first in the National League. Of the current Dodgers, only Brett Butler, Todd Hollandsworth, Mike Piazza and Todd Zeile were able to get a hit. Zeile was the only Dodger to get an extra-base hit off Cordova, a double. He recorded two of his 12 saves against the Dodgers and compiled a 1.35 ERA in 6 2/3 innings.