51s lose again as homestand opens

Nick Christensen

Wednesday, May 28, 2003 | 10 a.m.

On a night when the parent club had their 10-game winning streak snapped, the struggles continued for the Dodgers' Triple-A affailiate. The 51s lost, 6-3, Tuesday to the Salt Lake Stingers to kick off a four-game series at Cashman Field.

Andrew Lorraine allowed four runs in 6 2/3 innings and reliever Agustin Montero, called up Tuesday and making his first Triple-A appearance, allowed seven hits in just 2 1/3 innings, scoring two more runs for Salt Lake.

For 51s first baseman Larry Barnes, it was a disappointing outing on top of his own personal disappointment.

The Dodgers sent Barnes back down last week after a brief stint with the parent club.

In his 16 days with the Dodgers, he had only two at-bats and played one inning of defense.

Many times, he'd get into games to pinch hit only to have the opposing team change pitchers and he would be pulled for another pinch hitter.

Barnes said he wasn't frustrated by the situation.

"I was up in the big leagues. That's our goal here -- to get up there and stay up there.

"I didn't want to come back down, but I knew I wanted to work on some stuff offensively that I had been working on with Dodgers coaches -- Manny Mota and Jack Clark," he said, adding that he wouldn't have those opportunities to work on things like using the whole field in game situations at the major league level.

Before being called up, Barnes was hitting .288. Since then, he has hit .375, including three home runs in one game against Tucson last week. "I thought I'd be a little rusty," said Barnes, who at that point hadn't had an at-bat in more than a week. "The three home runs were all against lefties, and when I face lefties I just try to stay to the middle, and not do too much and that's when I hit the ball pretty well. Obviously it's a little bit of luck, giving me pitches to hit."

Barnes signed with the Dodgers as a free agent last November, after coming up through the Angels' organization. Before the game, he joked with many of his former teammates from Salt Lake. But he said he enjoys the attitudes of his Los Angeles counterparts better.

"The Dodgers, even when I came in at spring training, coming from the Angels, they really welcomed me. It's almost like you've been playing with these guys for years. The Dodgers are really a team with a bunch of guys who don't have egos, they're just trying to pull for each other."

When Barnes was called up May 5, the 51s were 22-9. Since then, they've gone 9-10. But he says he hasn't a noticed a difference in the mood in the clubhouse.

"There's been a lot of shuffling around here. Shoemaker's getting our work in before the game. We're trying to play hard and play hard for nine innings and just get better. We dropped out of first but there's a lot of season left."