There but for Grace Goes Dodger Rally

PHOENIX —  There was nothing routine about the Dodgers’ 5-4 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks before 35,979 in Bank One Ballpark on Tuesday night except for the ground ball that rolled through Dodger first baseman Daryle Ward’s legs during Arizona’s decisive 10th-inning rally.

Diamondback right-hander Curt Schilling, who hasn’t lost a decision to the Dodgers since July 26, 1997, blew all of a four-run lead in the eighth, three of the runs coming on a home run by Dave Roberts, who had five major league homers in his career.

Dodger left-hander Odalis Perez gave up four runs and six hits in three innings, and then retired 14 of the next 15 batters. Arizona had four runners thrown out on the basepaths in the first six innings, including one by about 20 feet at home plate, and the Dodgers had the potential winning run thrown out at the plate in the eighth.

Dodger second baseman Alex Cora made two superb defensive plays in the eighth, diving toward the middle for one shot and ranging to the middle for another grounder, but Ward failed to catch a grounder hit right at him in the 10th.

And after Dodger reliever Paul Shuey had Mark Grace on the ropes with an 0-2 count in the 10th, one of the strikes coming on a 96-mph fastball, he eased up, throwing a curve that Grace hooked to right for a double to spark a rally that ended with Junior Spivey’s bases-loaded single to left.

“Everything felt great -- that’s the sad thing about talking about this right now,” Shuey said. “I had [Grace] in the palm of my hand there and let him out.”

Shuey retired Craig Counsell to open the 10th and jumped ahead of Grace, who entered as part of a double switch in the top of the 10th. But instead of sticking with his two best pitches, the fastball and split-fingered fastball, Shuey tried to backdoor Grace with an outside curve.

“I figured I sped up his bat with fastballs and splits, and I hadn’t thrown a curve,” Shuey said. “I thought it would be a good spot to freeze him, but he was all over it. I got burned by a wily veteran.”

Tony Womack followed with a grounder to first, “a play I make the majority of the time,” said Ward, who entered as a pinch-hitter in the eighth. Not this time. The ball nicked his glove and rolled into short right field, allowing pinch-runner Quinton McCracken to take third. Shuey walked Steve Finley before Spivey delivered his game winner.

“As disappointing as it is to lose, we showed a lot not to quit on ourselves and to battle back against a guy like Schilling,” Roberts said. “He was throwing a great game, and for us not to pack it in says a lot.”

Indeed, Schilling appeared well on his way to extending a nine-game win streak against the Dodgers, taking a two-hit shutout and a 4-0 lead into the eighth.

But Cora opened the eighth with a single and took second on Cesar Izturis’ sacrifice bunt. Manager Jim Tracy summoned Ward, who had a .188 career average (three for 16) against Schilling.

But all three of those hits were home runs, which were fresh in Schilling’s mind. The veteran right-hander was careful with Ward -- probably too careful considering he had a four-run lead--and walked him on a 3-1 pitch.

Roberts, who tripled off Schilling in the third, yanked a belt-high 1-1 fastball into the right-field seats to pull the Dodgers within 4-3. When Paul Lo Duca, who failed to score a runner from third with one out in the third, doubled to left-center, Arizona Manager Bob Brenly replaced Schilling with submarine-style left-hander Mike Myers.

Myers limited left-handed hitters to a .188 average the past five years, but he had no success against Shawn Green and Fred McGriff. Green lined a single to center for a 4-4 tie, and McGriff lofted a double down the right-field line.

Right fielder Danny Bautista got to the ball before it reached the warning track, and third-base coach Glenn Hoffman, seeing that Bautista’s long throw to the infield was high, waved Green home.

But rookie first baseman Lyle Overbay made a nice, leaping catch of Bautista’s throw, gathered himself, spun and fired a strike to the plate to cut down Green. Brian Jordan grounded to first to end the inning.

“My third-base coach makes those decisions and I live by them,” Tracy said. “He’s done some marvelous things for us in the two years I’ve been here. If he thought he could score, so be it.”