Bucs knock Dodgers back into 2nd place
LOS ANGELES — No amazing comeback this time.
The night after a thrilling win, the Los Angeles Dodgers dropped back into second place in the NL West with a 10-6 loss Tuesday night to the Pittsburgh Pirates, who got a grand slam from Jose Bautista and six strong innings from Ian Snell.
San Diego regained the division lead with a 5-2 win over Arizona. The Dodgers, meanwhile, lead the NL wild-card race by one game over Philadelphia.
Asked if the Dodgers had a letdown after their dramatic rally in an 11-10, 10-inning victory over the Padres on Monday, Los Angeles manager Grady Little said, "The results appeared that way, but it was the same situation — we haven't been able to stop the bleeding late."
Snell, who held the Dodgers to one run and five hits, said it was fun to play spoiler.
"I know we're not in a playoff race, so it feels good to say, 'Hey, you're not going anywhere if we're not going anywhere,'" he said. "Our team is playing good right now, so we're just looking forward to getting the season done and getting ready for next year — because I think we're going to have a great team."
Marlon Anderson hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning to pull the Dodgers within four, stirring the fresh memory of a night earlier, when he hit the fourth consecutive homer for Los Angeles in the ninth as the Dodgers made up a four-run deficit, then beat San Diego on Nomar Garciaparra's two-run homer in the 10th.
The Dodgers went quietly in the ninth this time, as John Grabow set them down in order.
"We played great, and we've been doing that for a while," said Pittsburgh manager Jim Tracy, the Dodgers' manager for the five previous seasons. "We took some great at-bats in significant situations.
"When you're playing against a team like this one with what they have at stake, you know that they're going to keep coming at you. So you can't let up. And we didn't."
Bautista drove a 2-0 pitch from Elmer Dessens down the left-field line in the sixth inning for his second grand slam of the year and of his career. Bautista's 14th homer landed in the seats just beyond the 330-foot sign.
Left fielder Anderson tried to catch Bautista's drive, doing a somersault into the stands — and the fans — when he crashed into the low wall.
"From where I was, rounding first base, I thought he caught it," Bautista said. "But then I saw that he took a long time getting up, so I figured he didn't have it because he would have tried showing (the umpire) the ball.
"It was a big relief when he didn't come up with the ball. I guess that just shows you what kind of player he is — going all out like that."
Bautista finished with five RBI, including a run-scoring single in the second that tied it at 1. Xavier Nady hit his 17th home run leading off the fourth against Hong-Chih Kuo (1-5) to give Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead.
Snell (14-10) struck out seven and walked three.
