Martin Puts Body on Line

Catchers aren’t contortionists. Most are slow and stumpy. They aren’t supposed to race home from second base, beat a strong throw by twisting around the tag and tap the plate with their arm while their body sails in the direction of the third row.

Russell Martin, it is becoming quite apparent in a very short time, is not a typical catcher.

His athletic play to score the go-ahead run in the eighth inning on a pinch-hit by Olmedo Saenz triggered a six-run Dodger rally in a 12-7 victory over the Houston Astros on Tuesday night in front of a sellout crowd at Dodger Stadium.

This was Martin’s fourth game since coming up from triple A to replace the injured Dioner Navarro. That the Dodgers have won all four is part coincidence and part cause and effect.

“We’re going to let him ride this cloud he’s on as long as possible,” Manager Grady Little said.

Martin is batting .385 after another productive game. He drove in the first Dodger run with a groundout in the second inning, walked in the sixth and singled in the eighth, igniting a barrage capped by Jeff Kent’s three-run home run.

The Dodgers had 14 hits, working their way through the Astro bullpen after scoring six runs against Andy Pettitte in five innings. They needed the early runs just to keep pace because the Astros hit a trio of two-run homers against Jae Seo.

Nomar Garciaparra and J.D. Drew belted consecutive home runs in the third for the Dodgers, but oddly enough the groundwork was laid in the first when they struck out. Pettitte needed eight pitches to dispose of Garciaparra and nine to retire Drew. By the time they came to bat in the third, Pettitte was approaching 70 pitches and they had seen enough to dial him in.

Garciaparra’s three-run shot to left field was followed by Drew’s line drive to right, marking the first time this season the Dodgers had hit consecutive homers.

The 5-2 lead was short-lived because Jason Lane and Adam Everett produced four Astro runs with homers in the fourth. A one-out single by Craig Biggio prompted Little to bring on Franquelis Osoria, leaving Seo with a cringe-inducing line of 3 1/3 innings, eight hits and six earned runs. Seo has given up eight home runs in 33 innings.

Odalis Perez has lost his berth in the rotation to Aaron Sele, and Little said Perez would not take Seo’s next start Sunday, even though the opponent is the San Francisco Giants. Perez is 5-0 the last three years against the Giants.

Pettitte threw 100 pitches in an effort that bore no resemblance to his outing against the Dodgers on April 24, when the only hit he gave up in seven innings was a home run by Drew.

He threw 31 pitches in the first inning despite allowing only one baserunner. Trouble began in the second, and the Dodgers were helped by an unlikely source. The chart that breaks down a batter’s history against a certain pitcher is the baseball equivalent of a crystal ball. So when the chart revealed Kenny Lofton was batting .115 against Pettitte, it was an excellent night for Lofton to watch from the bench.

However, just as Lofton was getting comfy, his replacement, Jason Repko, sprained his left ankle trying to scale the wall on Morgan Ensberg’s first-inning home run. So Lofton faced Pettitte and doubled in his first at-bat, helping produce the first Dodger run. Repko, who will have an MRI exam today, said his cleat caught on the wall as he jumped.

Lofton also singled to open the eighth against left-hander Mike Gallo, against whom he had been one for seven. He was thrown out trying to advance to third on Martin’s single, but the blunder was forgotten in the ensuing flurry of Dodger hits -- and Martin’s headfirst slide home.

“I saw an opening and just reacted,” Martin said. “Anybody would have done it.”

Just not any catcher.