Gus Ruelas, Associated Press The Los Angeles Dodgers ground crew worked on the infield last night after a late season storm drenched it.

By Dejan Kovacevic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

LOS ANGELES -- Jim Tracy never raised his voice, but his displeasure was clear after the Pirates' 10-2 drubbing by the Los Angeles Dodgers last night.

	Gus Ruelas, Associated Press Freddy Sanchez, left, and Adam LaRoche almost collide while going for a popup hit by the Los Angeles Dodgers' Jeff Kent in the first inning. LaRoche caught the ball. Click photo for larger image. Today Game: Pirates (RHP Ian Snell 1-1, 1.80) vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (RHP Brad Penny, 3-0, 0.89), 10:10 p.m., Dodger Stadium. TV, radio: FSN Pittsburgh, WPGB-FM (104.7) Key matchup: Juan Pierre, a longtime thorn for the Pirates, is 4 for 9 off Snell with a rare home run. Of note: Before Penny started the All-Star Game at PNC Park last summer, he was 10-2 with a 2.91 ERA. After that, he went 6-7 with a 6.25 ERA. Related article Pirates Notebook: Nutting rejects Forbes report

Abundantly clear.

"We got the hell beat out of us," he said, his expression dripping with disgust, in his office afterward. "We didn't pitch particularly well in the early part of the game. We dug another big hole for ourselves. And we struck out an awful lot again. Too much."

About that pitching ...

Starter Tony Armas, taking the mound for only the second time all season, showed his rust in getting chased by eight runs over 2 2/3 excruciating innings. He gave up seven hits, two walks and hit a batter to load the bases.

This figure might best illustrate his ineffectiveness: Of the 63 pitches he threw before showering, he got a grand total of two swings and misses.

Not exactly fooling 'em.

The Pirates had their third consecutive loss, all due to subpar work by the starters: Armas, Paul Maholm and Zach Duke have been charged with 20 earned runs in 12 2/3 innings -- a 14.21 ERA -- while giving up a mind-bending 28 hits.

"That's not a formula that's going to work," Tracy said.

And about that striking out ...

Los Angeles starter Randy Wolf fanned 10 batters in just six innings, including three in which the Pirates' hitters watched a fastball of 90 mph or less zip right by. The Dodgers' relievers added two for a total of 12.

Including those K-fests in Milwaukee Wednesday and Thursday, the Pirates have struck out 36 times in the past three games, representing 44 percent of all their outs. Their average of 8.1 per game is second-highest in the National League.

The chief culprit in the category remains LaRoche, who whiffed three more times and has 20 strikeouts in his first 50 at-bats, but he hardly is alone.

"It's not that we're striking out. It's how we're striking out," hitting coach Jeff Manto said. "It's mostly a matter of taking what appears to be -- and it's easy to say this from the dugout -- balls that look like hittable pitches. I think we're trying to be too fine in taking pitches. And if you get behind in the count at any level ... it's some kind of fight to hit with two strikes."

The fight is no easier with three, to be sure, but the Pirates insist the strikeout binge is not the result of some lineup-deep virus.

"I don't think it's contagious. It's just a coincidence," third baseman Jose Bautista said. "Over the course of the season, everything's going to even out. I can't see the whole team having a bad year at the plate, all of us together."

The Pirates started well enough, Xavier Nady's two-out RBI single in the first inning bringing a 1-0 lead.

But Los Angeles leaped on Armas right from leadoff man Rafael Furcal's seven-pitch walk, followed immediately by back-to-back singles from Juan Pierre and Nomar Garciaparra. The Dodgers were up, 2-1, never to look back.

After one out in the third, Pierre reached on a one-hop smash that first baseman Adam LaRoche might have backhanded but was ruled a single. Garciaparra walked. Kent and Luis Gonzalez followed with RBI singles. Andre Ethier's sacrifice fly brought another, as did Wilson Betemit's RBI single.

And the crusher: Wolf, Armas' mound opponent, lasered a double to right, and it was 8-1.

Tracy summoned John Wasdin for mop-up duty.

To be fair, Armas was pitching under circumstances that would have been trying for Johan Santana.

Because he was skipped twice in the rotation this month, he was making his first start since getting slammed for six runs April 7 in Cincinnati. Including the final week of spring training, he had pitched in a major-league setting once in the previous 23 days. Not even an outing from the bullpen.

Tracy acknowledged Armas' lack of use could have been a factor ... to a point.

"I think that's something you definitely have to give consideration to," Tracy said. "But, as I mentioned, you can't dig a hole for yourself like that in the early part of the game."

Armas was adamant that it was no factor at all.

"No excuses," he said. "You're in the big leagues, and you've got to do your job. I just didn't do mine. I straight-out stunk, period. That's it. I'm the one that's gotten myself into this hole, and I've got to get out of it."

The defense was no better than any other facet, with a missed cutoff man, another near-collision for a popup and other miscues. But Tracy insisted the position players were not beginning to carry their hitting woes into the field.

"No," he said. "And I don't have anything more to say about it other than that you can't strike out 10, 12 times a game. You just can't do that. If there are pitches we can put in play, we have to do a better job of it. We're striking out too much."

The lone highlight of this one: Brad Eldred, making his second start in right field, made a fine long-distance running catch of a Betemit drive to the track. When Big Country crashed into the fence, he managed to draw some small applause from the 43,845 on hand.

Since 2001, the Pirates are 11-34 against the Dodgers, including 13 losses in their past 16 visits to Dodger Stadium.

They are 2-3 on this seven-game road trip.

"We've got two days to bounce back," Tracy said. "Two days to make this a successful trip."

Gus Ruelas, Associated Press Freddy Sanchez can't get to a line drive by Los Angeles Dodgers' Juan Pierre in the first inning. Pierre ended up with a single.