PITTSBURGH - A suggestion by bench coach Jim Riggleman may have cost the Dodgers' Wilson Alvarez a perfect game.
When Chris Stynes came to the plate leading off the sixth inning Friday night, Riggleman told second baseman Jose Hernandez to move a few steps toward the bag.
Stynes hit a hard grounder into the hole between first and second and Hernandez could only knock it down, unable to make a throw. Stynes was Pittsburgh's only runner of the game, and former Devil Ray Alvarez combined with Guillermo Mota on a one-hitter, leading Los Angeles over the Pirates 4-0.
"He usually hits the ball the other way," Hernandez said. "Riggs told me to move a little bit toward the bag, so I did. I tried to make a play, but the ball just hit my glove."
Alvarez, who threw 85 pitches, struck out five over seven innings in his first start since a 12-3 loss at San Francisco on Sept. 28. He had a 2.16 ERA and one save out of the bullpen this season.
Alvarez wasn't even thinking about his shot at a perfect game.
"I looked at the scoreboard and said, "Hey, that's the first hit,"' he said. "I just want to get my job done and we win the game."
Alvarez doesn't care if he starts or relieves.
"If they want me in the bullpen, I'll do it. I just want to win," he said.
Stynes was sacrificed to second but was stranded when Tike Redman grounded out.
"You can't pitch any better than Wilson Alvarez did for the seven innings he was out there," Los Angeles manager Jim Tracy said. "To command the rectangle of the strike zone and carry out a game plan like that ... you can't do it any better."
Alvarez was an injury-plagued flop after signing a five-year deal with the Rays before their expansion season in 1998, missing two full seasons and going 17-26 overall.
