Rocky Outing All Around

By STEVE SPRINGER

Sept. 21, 1997 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

A home run that wasn’t a home run.

A catch that wasn’t a catch.

A tag that wasn’t a tag.

One game still separates the National League West-leading San Francisco Giants from the Dodgers with seven to play. But the distance that separates these teams after the Dodgers lost to the Colorado Rockies, 2-1, Saturday afternoon at Dodger Stadium is even less than that.

It’s the extra step that Dodger outfielder Darren Lewis had to take that sent him barreling into the left-field wall, causing him to drop a drive off the bat of Larry Walker. It’s the short hop a relay throw took that caused the usually sure-handed Mike Piazza to misjudge it, thus missing a crucial tag at the plate. It’s the few inches on top of the right-field fence on which a potential Piazza home-run ball caromed, sending it back onto the field. And it’s the distance, imperceptible to the naked eye, between Todd Zeile and the swiping glove of catcher Jeff Reed.

“There are some strange things happening to us,” Zeile said.

Add them all up and you have another frustrating day for the Dodgers, who lost their fourth game in a row and ninth in their last 12 in front of a frustrated crowd of 45,780. And what made it even more painful was that the Giants lost to the San Diego Padres, 12-2, opening the door for the Dodgers to tie their Northern California rivals.

“Somebody has got to make a big play,” Dodger Manager Bill Russell said. “That’s what this time of year is all about.”

There were plenty of big plays Saturday, but the Dodgers came out on the short end of all of them.

* The Short Step: Colorado starter Jamey Wright (8-11), who beat the Dodgers despite having a losing record and a 6.50 earned-run average coming in, doubled to open the third inning.

With one out, Walker, the league’s leading hitter coming in, stroked a ball into left-center field. Lewis caught up with and gloved it, but just for an instant.

His momentum carried him one more step into the outfield fence, the collision knocking the ball loose.

That enabled Wright to score from second.

* The Swiping Tag: The Dodgers got a break in the fourth. With Eric Karros on second and two out, Zeile lofted a pop fly to the right side. First baseman Andres Galarraga clearly signaled his teammates that he had the ball. But second baseman Neifi Perez, failing to get the message, stepped in, got his glove on the ball, then dropped it after colliding with Galarraga. Karros scored on the play to tie the score.

A wild pickoff throw sent Zeile to second. Lewis then singled to right. Zeile churned for home, but a relay throw from Walker in right field got there first.

Reed swiped at Zeile’s shirt as the Dodger third baseman went wide of the plate.

Zeile, thinking Reed had missed him, dived back to the plate. Reed tagged Zeile a second time, although that tag appeared to be too late.

No matter. Home plate umpire Frank Pulli said Reed had tagged Zeile the first time.

“Then why did he [Reed] jump back at me?” Zeile said. “Frank [Pulli] said he got me the first time and the after battle was incidental.”

* The Missed Tag: With two out and Vinny Castilla on first in the eighth, Reed, who hit two home runs against the Dodgers on Friday night, doubled into left-center. With Castilla racing home, the Dodgers got a perfect relay from Lewis to shortstop Juan Castro to Piazza on one bounce.

Perfect--until Piazza failed to come up with it.

“I just couldn’t find the handle,” Piazza said. “That’s no excuse on my part. I thought I had him. I should have had him.”

Instead, the Rockies had their second run.

* The Bouncing Ball: With two out in the bottom of the eighth, Piazza hit a fly ball that appeared for an instant to go out. But replays showed the ball bounced on top of the wall and came back onto the field.

Piazza, thinking it was a homer, wound up with only a single instead of a double, but, as it turned out, it didn’t matter because Karros then struck out.

“I came out of the box kind of slow,” Piazza said. “I thought I hit it hard enough to get out. It was one of those things.”

The Dodgers loaded the bases with one out in the ninth inning only to have pinch-hitter Eddie Murray ground into a double play.

Another opportunity lost. By a step. By an inch.

But in the standings, it looks like a mile.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

THE WEST / Stretch Drive

STANDINGS

*--*

TEAM W L GB GIANTS 85 70 -- DODGERS 84 71 1

*--*

MAGIC NUMBER

GIANTS: 7