Lightning in Texas but no thunder from Dodgers in loss

In the aftermath of their 6-0 loss to the Texas Rangers on Friday night at Rangers Ballpark, the Dodgers didn't look or sound like a team that was shut out for the third time in 12 games.

Except in one place.

That was the manager's office, where the Dodgers' recent decline in run production was a cause of concern.

The Dodgers, who averaged 5.75 runs in their first 48 games, have averaged only 2.57 in their last 14. Of his Manny Ramirez-less team's 7-7 record over that span, Manager Joe Torre said, "We've been fortunate, there's no question."

Torre mentioned the rare error by Pedro Feliz in one of the Dodgers' wins over Philadelphia last week. He pointed to the 12th-inning home run hit by Andre Ethier in another.

"We've been fortunate because we won a lot of close games at home," Torre said. "We got a break here, a break there and we've made the most of it. But obviously you can't rely on that. You still have to go out there and put some points up."

There was less urgency evident in the players' dressing quarters.

Referring to how the sky lighted up several times over the course of the three-hour game, Matt Kemp said, "I'm going to blame it on the lightning. The lightning was scary. I was up to bat worried I was going to get struck by lightning. That's why I didn't get that hit when I needed it."

Ethier also downplayed the recent trend.

"If we played like that the whole year, I think we would've broken the record for runs," Ethier said. "There's going to be times when you go through little spells like this. This is one."

Ethier offered a view of some recent Dodgers wins that differed from Torre's.

When the Dodgers couldn't score last season, they lost more often than not.

This season, they've managed to find ways to win a decent percentage of those games.

"That's the key," Ethier said. "We're learning from last year. Sometimes it doesn't take scoring that many runs. We scratch runs out when we need to."

Not on Friday, though it wasn't for the lack of chances.

James Loney drove a ball to center field that Marlon Byrd caught, with some difficulty, with men on second and third in the first inning.

"I hit it pretty good," Loney said.

Loney flied out to left with the bases loaded in the third.

Juan Pierre reached third base with one out in the fifth, but Ethier lined out to first and Casey Blake struck out.