BY DAVID LENNON
LOS ANGELES – Oliver Perez took a line drive to the stomach in the first inning and did not beg out of Monday night’s game against the Dodgers, so he probably won’t hear any more criticism from Billy Wagner about his character.
Perez, however, was less successful at finishing the job and remains as much of enigma as he was before the Wagner bashing. Rafael Furcal, Matt Kemp and Blake DeWitt all homered off Perez and the Mets went quietly in a 5-1 loss to the Dodgers before a crowd of 44,181 at Chavez Ravine.
It was the third straight loss for Perez, who allowed six hits and five earned runs in six innings. On the plus side, Perez surrendered only two walks and threw more strikes. But against a hot-hitting team like the Dodgers, who entered Monday with the best average (.314) in the National League, there’s always the risk of that strategy backfiring.
“My control was better,” Perez said, “but I made mistakes. I’m human.”
Wagner basically accused Perez of giving up in last Wednesday’s blowout loss to the Pirates, first to reporters and then the following day on his weekly radio show. But manager Willie Randolph talked to Wagner about the incident Friday in Arizona, and when approached Monday, the closer was back in Perez’s corner.
“He battled his --- off,” Wagner said. “I’ll defend him all day long.”
Perez (2-3) had served up just one home run in his previous 29 innings this season, but the Dodgers took him deep early and often. Furcal opened the game with his fifth homer. DeWitt, the rookie third baseman, and Kemp did their damage in the fifth. Right before that explosion, Perez had retired eight straight and 10 of 11.
“You can pitch to them,” Brian Schneider said. “You just have to make your pitches. When you miss over the plate, that’s what happens. If we make our pitches, it’s a different story.”
Manager Willie Randolph was encouraged by Perez’s progress from last Wednesday, when the Pirates knocked him from the game after only five outs. But Randolph also knows that Perez isn’t out of the woods yet.
“I still think he needs to work on being more consistent,” Randolph said. “But I’m not going to be overly critical more than the three home runs. He just made some bad pitches at the wrong times.”
Starting with Furcal, who drilled an 0-and-2 pitch for the leadoff homer. Schneider said he smacked his glove on the dirt, indicating that he wanted Perez to bounce a slider. But Perez left the pitch up and Furcal was happy to punish him for the mistake.
The Dodgers almost ended Perez’s night earlier than the Pirates did. In the first inning, with Wagner’s criticism still ringing in his ears, Perez served up the leadoff homer to Furcal and Juan Pierre followed with a sharp single. Pierre stole second – it didn’t help that Schneider’s high throw sailed into centerfield – and one out later, Jeff Kent smoked a line drive that nailed Perez directly in the stomach.
Perez winced, but somehow managed to pick up the ball and flip to first for the out. After that, Perez was in obvious pain, and both manager Willie Randolph and trainer Ray Ramirez jogged over to check on him. Perez stayed in the game, however, and Russell Martin added insult to injury when he followed with an RBI single that put the Dodgers ahead, 2-0.
Kent’s ball struck him just below his left rib cage and there was a large welt there after the game. When asked if it bothered him while he pitched, Perez replied, “It still hurts. But it was one of those days when you have to keep going and do your best.”
DeWitt’s blast, on a 1-and-0 pitch, could have been dismissed as a lucky punch if not for what followed. With two outs, Perez walked Pierre and Kemp crushed the next pitch for a two-run homer that put the Dodgers up, 5-0. It was a perfect example of why Perez can be so frustrating for the Mets. Three superb innings sandwiched by two awful ones.
“It’s all about focus with Ollie,” Randolph said before the game. “Guys get frustrated. You just need to channel it and not let it get away from you. When you’re out there, you’re on an island by yourself, and you’ve got to control that.”
The Mets had plenty of chances against LA starter Chad Billingsley, but only scraped together one run, thanks to Carlos Beltran’s leadoff triple in the sixth inning. Down 5-0, third-base coach Sandy Alomar actually was waving him around to try for the inside-the-park homer. But Beltran wisely held up and waited for Moises Alou to follow with an RBI single up the middle.
Otherwise, the Mets stranded six runners through the first five innings -- and four were in scoring position. In the second inning, Carlos Delgado’s one-out double put men at second and third, but Schneider whiffed on a fastball about nose-high and Luis Castillo meekly grounded out on a half-swing.
In the third inning, Wright struck out for the second time to leave Jose Reyes at third base, and Castillo came up small again in the fourth with another soft grounder to strand two more. Castillo is rapidly overtaking Delgado as the Mets’ weakest link, and that became more apparent last night, as Delgado chipped in again offensively and helped with his glove, too.
Delgado combined with Perez on a nifty play to retire Pierre on his bunt attempt in the third inning. The first baseman scooped up the ball and used his glove to shovel it to Perez, who caught it in full stride and beat Pierre to the bag. Unfortunately for the Mets, Perez was better off the mound than on it last night.