Gagne, Dodgers Doomed Right From the Start

Eric Gagne knew something was amiss as he warmed up in the Dodger bullpen before taking the field Sunday.

The Dodger starter felt good.

Usually, a decent warmup session is a harbinger of impending doom for Gagne, and subpar bullpen work has preceded his best outings.

The former was the case in the rubber match of a three-game interleague series against the Oakland Athletics.

Gagne gave up five first-inning runs to the Athletics en route to a 6-0 loss in front of 38,733 at Dodger Stadium.

Meanwhile, Oakland's Kevin Appier held the Dodgers to seven hits in the 11th shutout of his career.

"One [bad] inning, that's all they needed," said Gagne. In five innings he gave up six runs on six hits while striking out six. Gagne (1-4) also walked four, hit a batter and uncorked a wild pitch.

"Gagne was rushing a little bit early," Dodger Manager Davey Johnson said. "He didn't get into any kind of rhythm.

"Sometimes, he gets into a little problem of getting out in front of himself. That will happen when he rushes like that. After the first inning, he threw pretty well, but the damage was already done."

Gagne labored through the first with 39 pitches, giving up a leadoff single, walking two, then hitting a batter. Miguel Tejada's double made the score 3-0 before Gagne recorded an out.

Three batters later, with two out, Gagne pitched to the No. 8 hitter, Eric Chavez, with first base open, runners at second and third and Appier on deck.

Chavez laced a two-run single to left, giving Oakland a 5-0 lead.

"That was my mistake, a big mistake," Gagne said. "It was supposed to be a change-up down and in the dirt, but it stayed up."

Catcher Paul LoDuca said Gagne was simply too pumped up to start the game.

"He's not scared, he just gets excited out there," LoDuca said. "He wants the ball and wants to throw the ball 100 mph."

But while Gagne was battling himself, as well as the Athletics, Oakland's Appier was busy mowing down the Dodgers.

It didn't hurt that he was staked to a five-run lead before taking the field.

"That was tremendous and it gave me the confidence to start," said Appier, who improved to 6-3 after striking out six, walking one and giving up seven hits. "My stuff was pretty good. Health-wise, this is the best I've felt [in a while]. My command was great."

He also picked up the first hit of his 12-year career against Gagne, a flare to right field in the second inning.