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Dodgers don’t fret as winning streak ends in 3-2 loss to Phillies

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PHILADELPHIA — During their recent 10-game winning streak, the Dodgers turned the page quickly after each victory, refusing to linger on any one victory. So it seemed only fitting that when the streak came to an end Sunday they didn’t dwell on that result either.

“We don’t think about negative stuff. We just keep moving forward,” said shortstop Hanley Ramirez, whose two ninth-inning errors allowed the Philadelphia Phillies to escape with a 3-2 victory. “Anything can happen in this game at any time, anywhere.”

Perhaps. But Sunday’s ending was unusual in a number of ways.

BOX SCORE: Phillies 3, Dodgers 2

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For the Dodgers, the loss was only their second of the month, their fourth since the All-Star break and their ninth in 51 games dating to June 22.

And it had been more than three years since Ramirez had made two errors at shortstop in the same game, much less the same inning. So you couldn’t blame the Dodgers for looking slightly disoriented when Michael Young’s potential double-play grounder kicked off Ramirez’s glove and dropped at his feet, allowing Casper Wells, who reached on Ramirez’s throwing error to open the inning, to race home with the winning run.

Still the Dodgers stuck to their mantra: It’s only one game. We have another one tomorrow.

“That’s baseball,” catcher A.J. Ellis said with a shrug. “Each day’s a challenge. We really don’t spend much time talking about what we’ve been doing. When we come to the clubhouse every day … that game is all we’re really concerned about. “

Through the first 51/2 innings, Sunday’s game was shaping up like so many before, with the Dodgers taking a 1-0 lead in the second inning on Andre Ethier’s home run. The last 30 times the Dodgers had scored first, they had won.

Then they doubled their lead in the fourth, with Ethier scoring on Jerry Hairston’s two-out single.

But the Dodgers never threatened again, managing only two hits over the final five innings. That allowed the Phillies to claw their way back, cutting the deficit to 2-1 in the fourth inning when Darin Ruf hit a two-out, two-strike home run on a Ricky Nolasco splitter.

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“It’s a dangerous pitch,” Nolasco said. “And when you don’t execute it, that’s what happens.”

The run was the first against the Dodgers in 30 innings and the first for new Phillies Manager Ryne Sandberg, who took over for Charlie Manuel on Friday. But it wouldn’t be the last as Philadelphia tied the score two innings later when Cody Asche grounded to second base and hustled down the line to prevent the Dodgers from turning an inning-ending double play.

Another Dodgers streak would end in the ninth inning with Wells’ unearned run, marking only the second run the bullpen has given up in 10 days and more than 25 innings.

But the Phillies hadn’t even finished celebrating before the Dodgers turned their focus toward their next game, Monday in Miami.

“Every good thing has to come to an end,” Nolasco said. “I hope we start a longer [streak] tomorrow.”

kevin.baxter@latimes.com

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Twitter: @kbaxter11

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