Tracy Manages to Stay Perfect

Jim Tracy could get used to this.

The Dodger bench coach, assuming the managerial duties of the hospitalized Davey Johnson for the second consecutive game, is more comfortable with on-the-field business than the pressing-of-the-flesh duties that come with the position, such as explaining his moves.

But if his strategies continue to pay off, Tracy will have to get used to such frivolous tasks.

Monday night, it was a move Tracy didn’t make that sent the Dodgers on their way to a 9-6 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates in front of 25,261 at Dodger Stadium.

With the score tied, 3-3, with one out in the sixth inning and the bases loaded, Tracy let starting pitcher Darren Dreifort bat against Pirate reliever Chris Peters, rather than going to his bench for a pinch-hitter like say, Jim Leyritz.

It worked.

Peters hit Dreifort on the left foot with a 1-and-2 pitch, forcing Eric Karros home.

A rattled Peters then walked Todd Hollandsworth on four pitches to score Chad Kreuter and give the Dodgers a 5-3 lead.

And for all of those complaints that the Dodgers rely too much on the home run, they scored their runs in the inning without the benefit of a hit--the Pirates (38-53) committed an error, walked three and hit a batter.

“We did it [left Dreifort in the game] because of where we’re at as a pitching staff. . . . Today is today’s game but there is a heck of a lot more to be played,” said Tracy, 2-0 in his stint as acting manager for Johnson, who spent his second night in the hospital after experiencing dizziness and an irregular heart rhythm Sunday morning.

“Also, because of where [Dreifort] was at in his pitch count. He had done well, he deserved to stay in the game.”

Besides, Leyritz would get his shot later. Pinch-hitting in the seventh inning with two out and the bases loaded again, Leyritz smacked a two-run single to center.

Dreifort, ending a four-game losing streak, got the win and became the first Dodger starter other than Kevin Brown to win a game since June 18.

Dreifort (5-7) went seven innings, giving up three runs and four hits while striking out eight and walking two.

Jeff Shaw closed it out with 1 1/3 innings of scoreless ball for his 13th save, his first since June 18 and only his second since May 19.

“Fabulous. He was fabulous, a fantastic job,” Tracy said of Shaw. “We had to do it. We knew Jeff would be able to get four outs for us.”

Pirate rookie starter Bronson Arroyo (0-3) took the loss after being charged with five runs, four earned, and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out five and walked two.

The Dodgers (47-44) moved into third place in the National League West, one-half game ahead of the reeling Colorado Rockies, who ended their 11-game losing streak Monday by splitting a doubleheader with the Oakland Athletics.

The Rockies visit Chavez Ravine for a two-game set starting Wednesday.

Dodger left fielder Gary Sheffield hit a two-run homer off reliever Scott Sauerbeck in the eighth inning, his major league-leading 32nd homer, to pad the Dodger lead.

Said Tracy: “The key to the last couple of days is as a ballclub we’re making other teams throw the ball over the plate.”

Dreifort got off to an inauspicious start, walking the first two batters he faced before cleanup hitter Brian Giles’ one-out double drove in a run.

The Dodgers took the lead with a three-run second inning.

Kevin Elster doubled with one out to left field, scoring Karros.

Two batters later, Hollandsworth’s two-run single made it 3-1.

But the Pirates answered in the top of the third.

With two out, the left-handed hitting Giles hit a towering home run the other way, clearing the left-center wall for a two-run shot, Giles’ 22nd of the season and 100th of his career.

Shawn Green tried to regain the lead for the Dodgers in the bottom of the third.

Green, who has been slumping of late, hit a gapper to right-center and raced to third. Third-base coach Glenn Hoffman, seeing the Pittsburgh outfield having trouble with the ball, sent Green home, trying for an inside-the-park home run.

The relay, from center fielder Giles to second baseman Warren Morris to catcher Jason Kendall, was a bit up the third-base line but Kendall reached back enough to tag out Green, who was in midair, diving headfirst.