Doug Padilla, ESPN Staff Writer 8y

New battery short-circuits Dodgers in the clutch

LOS ANGELES -- Sometimes, the learning curve comes straight at you.

The Los Angeles Dodgers, and catcher Carlos Ruiz, learned that one the hard way Friday night, losing a ninth-inning lead on what was technically ruled a wild pitch but actually was a Kenley Jansen cut fastball that tied up the club's new backstop. The Cubs won it 6-4 in 10 innings.

Jansen said he had to take the result as a man. Ruiz said he would have to work on his familiarity with Dodgers pitchers.

Yet all of it put the focus right back on Thursday's trade that sent longtime Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis to the Phillies. The Dodgers got back Ruiz in the deal, in large part to help the offense against left-handed pitching. Less expected was how the defense would matter so quickly.

"That was a tough game, especially for myself," Ruiz said afterward in a quiet Dodgers clubhouse. "I don't have an excuse, I should have caught that ball. I don't know what happened. It was the first time I caught him and his ball was moving real good and it surprised me right there. I should have caught that one. But I'm moving forward and tomorrow I will come back and get it done."

But it was not only the Jansen cut fastball that tied up Ruiz and let Jason Heyward score from third base. After a leadoff double in the ninth, Heyward had moved to third on a Jansen slider that got away from Ruiz when Jorge Soler struck out.

The Cubs eventually took a 10th-inning lead when Kris Bryant hit his second home run of the game, but the ninth inning is what gave the Cubs' slugger the chance.

"It just happened," Jansen said. "You can't basically say this or that. It's fine. Just take it like a man and move forward. We'll get the next one."

Asked about perhaps being crossed up with his new catcher, or there being a communication issue with Ruiz, Jansen preferred to look to tomorrow than continue to break down his today.

"He's probably going to catch me more often, so I think we'll get more comfortable," Jansen said.

Jansen is known for the movement on his pitches, especially the cutter. It is the pitch he throws most often and he continues to have success with it even though the opponent knows it's probably coming. Ruiz has hit off Jansen before, but this was an entirely different look for the catcher.

"I think that the pitcher/catcher relationship is probably the most important in baseball," manager Dave Roberts said. "But for Carlos, who has seen guys -- different pitchers that I'm sure were acquired in Philadelphia -- that he has to learn really quickly, he's a guy that has been around a long time. Obviously Kenley is a tough guy to catch."

Also tough to catch are victory opportunities against an 82-win Cubs team that has the best record in baseball. The Dodgers tried to spin three RBI ground balls and a home run from Adrian Gonzalez into gold, but the Cubs would have none of it.

Those who did not like the Ellis trade noted the subtleties. While it was a little thing that cost the Dodgers on Friday, the high-profile ninth inning made sure there was nothing subtle about it. Those who liked the decision to acquire Ruiz noted that he was a better offensive player, and he indeed reached base in his first three at-bats in his debut with the Dodgers.

But that wasn't what was being talked about afterward.

"I've always tried to get all the information and everybody was real good to me early," said Ruiz, who compared catching Jansen's cutter to being behind the plate for Roy Halladay in Philadelphia. "Like I said, I'll come back tomorrow. That was hard because his fastball was real good and it had movement late. It's different than when you face him than when you are catching."

Ruiz called Friday a long day, and the ending offered no relief. He vowed to watch more videos and do what it takes to learn the Dodgers' pitching staff. But his time behind the plate had been solid before catching Jansen, so it might be the one relationship he focuses on most.

Jansen is ready to help speed up the process.

"It's tough, especially like today with late movement and sometimes it backs up," Jansen said. "It's tough. He will have something special to do down the road, so it will be fine."

But this was never going to be a relationship that the two were going to be eased into. The specifics of Jansen's role are that he comes in when the game is on the line. Baptism by fire figured to be the only way they were going to get together.

Now the Dodgers' lead in the National League West is down to a game. They don't have enough wiggle room to let the learning process last any longer.

"Like I said man, we will get used to each other," Jansen said. "Man, I don't know what to say. We lost man. That's it. We lost."

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