Cleanup Time for Beltre

When searching for explanations for the Dodgers’ woes on offense, fingers usually point first to underachieving third baseman Adrian Beltre, whose average has not risen above .230 since April 9, who has 70 strikeouts and 29 walks in 382 at-bats, and who had a .284 on-base percentage going into this trip.

So, guess who was batting cleanup Monday night against the Florida Marlins?

That would be Beltre, who tripled and scored in the second inning and capped a six-run third with a prodigious three-run home run off Florida rookie sensation Dontrelle Willis to lead the Dodgers to a 9-3 victory over the Marlins before 20,288 in Pro Player Stadium.

Left-hander Odalis Perez gave up two runs and seven hits in eight innings, striking out four and walking none, as the Dodgers moved to within three games of Philadelphia in the National League wild-card race.

Perez (8-9) was a model of efficiency for his second consecutive start: Of his 118 pitches, 88 were strikes, he threw first-pitch strikes to 25 of 30 batters and had 0-and-2 counts to nine hitters, and he retired 13 in a row from the second to sixth innings.

It’s easier to be aggressive with an early five-run lead, procured by the Dodgers at the expense of Willis, the gangly 21-year-old left-hander who threw all sorts of elbows and knees at the Dodgers but very few quality strikes.

Willis suffered his worst loss of the season, giving up seven earned runs -- the most by the Dodgers against an opposing starter this season -- and six hits in two innings, his record falling to 11-3, his earned-run average rising to 3.10 and his fastball dropping from the 95-mph range, where it was clocked earlier this season, to the 91-mph range.

“He struggled with the strike zone today, and we took advantage of it,” said Dodger first baseman Paul Lo Duca, whose two-run single put the Dodgers ahead in the third.

With Willis limiting left-handers to a .159 average entering the game, Dodger Manager Jim Tracy benched left-handed hitting regulars Jeromy Burnitz, Robin Ventura, Dave Roberts and Alex Cora in favor of right-handers Rickey Henderson, Jason Romano, Jolbert Cabrera and David Ross.

Lo Duca, who spent most of July in the fourth spot, hit second, and Beltre, who normally hits sixth or seventh, moved to cleanup, a spot in which he has not thrived: In 37 at-bats as a cleanup hitter, Beltre had eight hits (.216) with three doubles, five runs, no home runs and no runs batted in.

Asked why he chose Beltre for cleanup duties, Tracy said, “Do you have a better choice? ... He does a good job against left-handed pitching, he can hit the ball out of the park, and he’s had much better at-bats for us lately.”

Indeed, Beltre drove in the winning run in three consecutive games last week and leads all Dodger hitters with 25 RBIs since July 1. Although he wasn’t credited with the game-winning RBI Monday night, his hits were huge -- he tripled off the left-center field wall and scored the Dodgers’ first run on Ross’ sacrifice fly in the second and hit a 420-foot homer to left in the third.

“I didn’t feel any pressure [in the cleanup spot] because I’ve never faced Willis,” Beltre said.

“He has a big motion, so I just tried to be short and quick [with my swing]. I tried to get a good pitch to hit and put it in play.”

Monday’s game started on a strange note when it was delayed for 30 minutes by the threat of rain -- the heavy downpour stadium officials expected never came -- and things grew odder in the third, when one of baseball’s best young pitchers couldn’t stop one of baseball’s worst lineups.

Trailing, 2-1, Cesar Izturis beat out a grounder to shortstop to open the third, and Perez walked. Henderson walked to load the bases, and Lo Duca hit a two-run single up the middle for a 3-2 Dodger lead.

Shawn Green hit an RBI single to right for a 4-2 lead, and Beltre smashed a 1-and-0 pitch deep into the left-field seats for his 12th home run of the season and a 7-2 lead. Of the Dodgers’ nine three-run home runs this year, Beltre has five of them.

“Adrian has been driving in some big runs for us,” Lo Duca said. “He’s the kind of guy who can carry a team when he’s swinging the bat well.”

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Wild-Card Race

*--* NL TEAMS W-L GB Philadelphia 64-53 -- Florida 64-54 1/2 Arizona 62-55 2 St. Louis 62-56 2 1/2 Dodgers 61-56 3 Chicago 60-57 4

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