Dodger express derails Padres, Greene

By: BRIAN HIRO - Staff Writer | Saturday, April 16, 2005 11:40 PM PDT ∞

LOS ANGELES ---- One pitcher in Saturday night's matchup between the Padres and Dodgers had treated the Dodger Stadium mound like it was his personal throne. The other was a late-30s journeyman who needed injuries to two competitors to squeeze into L.A.'s rotation.

If the Padres were going to halt their division rival's runaway momentum, the middle game of the weekend series ---- pitting Adam Eaton against Scott Erickson ---- sure seemed like a good time to do it. But the big blue express train kept chugging along at top speed, as the Dodgers bolted to a five-run lead after three innings and cruised to an 8-3 win in front of 54,704 at Dodger Stadium.

The Padres absorbed their third consecutive loss and fell below .500 for the first time since Opening Day. That wasn't the worst news of the day, however. Shortstop Khalil Greene broke his right ring finger in the first inning and could miss up to a month.

"Right now our projection is three to four weeks, but we'll have a better idea after we look at him Monday," Padres trainer Todd Hutcheson said.

Greene had preliminary X-rays during the game; he will be examined further by team doctor Jan Fronek on Monday in San Diego. Manager Bruce Bochy said Greene might be available for pinch-running duty in this afternoon's series finale before going on the 15-day disabled list. Center fielder Dave Roberts, who will play his third and final rehab game for Single-A Lake Elsinore today, will likely be activated from the DL to fill Greene's roster spot.

"To happen on this field again, that's a terrible break for him and us," Bochy said, referring to Greene.

Indeed, the Dodgers' home is quickly becoming Greene's least favorite venue.

Last Sept. 13, as he was in the midst of an offensive charge that put him in position to capture National League Rookie of the Year honors, he broke his right index finger while fielding a grounder against L.A. and sat out the final three weeks of the season. He ultimately finished second to Pittsburgh's Jason Bay in the rookie voting.

This time, the fracture occurred only minutes into the game. After the Dodgers' Cesar Izturis led off the bottom of the first with a single, he stole second base, and Ramon Hernandez's short throw skipped under Greene's glove and hit his finger before trickling into center field. Greene played the rest of the inning, then was replaced by reserve infielder Geoff Blum.

"It's frustrating, but I'll try to take it in stride," Greene said after the game, his broken finger in a splint. "I think everyone wants to go the duration and be healthy the whole season, but that's idealistic thinking."

Hutcheson said the latest fracture is less serious than the one from last year, with the break occurring just above the second knuckle as opposed to at the tip, where he grips the ball. Bochy believes that Blum and Jesse Garcia give the Padres a good chance to absorb the blow.

"We feel like we're covered (at the position)," Bochy said. "At this point we have to maintain until we get our guys back."

Greene's misfortune became the Dodgers' gain Saturday. Izturis scampered to third on Hernandez's throwing error and scored an unearned run on a sacrifice fly by J.D. Drew. L.A. exploited another Padres' miscue in the second inning. After Jason Phillips scored on Jason Grabowski's single, Erickson punched a ball to right field. Grabowski was preparing to stop at third on the hit, but Brian Giles short-hopped a relay throw that got away from cutoff man Phil Nevin at first base, allowing Grabowski to trot home and give the Dodgers a 3-0 lead.

Eaton fell into a five-run hole when the Dodgers scored twice more the next inning on a Jeff Kent double, two singles and two walks. The five runs he allowed (only three earned) were only two fewer than he had given up in 57 career innings at Dodger Stadium. Last season, his three starts here were as dominant as a pitcher can be: one earned run on 10 hits in 22 innings.

"I was out of sorts a little bit," said Eaton, who fell to 1-1. "They took advantage of what I was doing, and one of my faults is that I allowed them to instead of grabbing the bull by the horns."

While Eaton was uncharacteristically laboring in L.A., Padres hitters were flailing at the offerings of Erickson, who had yielded six runs in 4 1/3 innings during his first start. They managed just one single through five innings before scoring twice in the sixth on three hits, including the first of two doubles to right field by Ryan Klesko. Those runs broke the Padres' 15-inning scoreless drought going back to the second game of a Wednesday doubleheader in Chicago.

"We certainly can't play that brand of ball," Bochy said after the Padres dropped 3 1/2 games behind the 8-2 Dodgers. "That's not going to work."Contact staff writer Brian Hiro at b_hiro@hotmail.com.