Dodgers lose but get praise

PHOENIX -- The final box score seemed to indicate that the passing of a day and a date with Dan Haren were enough to turn the clock back for the Dodgers and turn them back into the same low-scoring team they were in the first half of the season.

But their new hitting coach didn’t see it that way.

“I liked what I saw,” Don Mattingly said.

Though the Dodgers didn’t score and mustered only five hits in the first eight innings of their 3-2 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday night at Chase Field, Mattingly noted that he didn’t see them chase many bad pitches. He pointed out how Jeff Kent hit the ball hard in his first three at-bats, only to see the ball go directly at someone.

“I thought our concentration was good,” Mattingly said. “I thought we had some good at-bats. I was pleased with the concentration, pleased with the work today.”

The Dodgers ended the Diamondbacks’ bid to shut them out when Kent started the ninth inning by driving a pitch by closer Brandon Lyon several rows deep into the stands in left-center to close the deficit to 3-1.

“He couldn’t play there,” Manager Joe Torre said with a laugh, recalling the words told to him by Kent, who drove in the 1,500th run of his career.

Nomar Garciaparra lined out to center, but James Loney reached base on an infield single and scored on a double to right-center by Delwyn Young, who moved to third on a groundout by Blake DeWitt. Andruw Jones, who spent a significant part of the day tending to stomach problems that kept him out of the lineup, drew a two-out, pinch-hit walk.

But Matt Kemp flied out to right to end the game and leave the Dodgers a game behind the Diamondbacks in the NL West.

Haren (9-5) picked up the win, as he limited the Dodgers to four hits over seven scoreless innings. The Dodgers made him throw 38 pitches in the first two innings and had him in trouble in the third, when they had men on first and second with no outs, only for Andre Ethier to strike out and Russell Martin to ground into a double play.

“He’s a tough pitcher to get something started against,” Ethier said. “We had some tough at-bats, but he also made some tough pitches. He has so many pitches he can get you out with.”

Young expressed similar sentiments.

“I don’t think we gave him too many outs,” he said, “but he also got his own.”

Young, starting because Jones was out of the lineup, was less forgiving of the ball he misplayed in left field in the first inning that might’ve been the difference in the game.

On the at-bat that followed a solo home run by Conor Jackson, Orlando Hudson drove a ball to left. Young charged the ball aggressively, resulting in it sailing over his head for a double. Hudson scored on a ground-rule double by Chad Tracy.

“I lost it in the background,” Young said. “There was a little bit of everything there.”

The Diamondbacks loaded the bases in the second, but Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley (9-9), who said he had trouble timing his delivery the entire night, forced Jackson to ground into an inning-ending double play.

The Diamondbacks increased their lead to 3-0 in the fourth, when Chris Young scored on a single by Stephen Drew.

“It comes down to a couple of plays here and there,” Billingsley said, adding of the race in the NL West, “I don’t think any team’s going to run away with it.

“It’s going to come down to the last week.”

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dylan.hernandez@latimes.com