Dodgers Lose, 3-2; 15th for Burkett : Baseball: The Giants’ ace has a perfect game until a double by Rodriguez in the sixth.

He retired the first 15 Dodgers in order, striking out five, three of whom stood puzzled in the batter’s box after called third strikes.

Then came the sixth inning and John Burkett, aware he was pitching a perfect game, walked to the mound at Candlestick Park as Henry Rodriguez prepared to take his place in the batter’s box.

Perhaps if it were any of a number of pitchers other than Burkett, who became the National League’s first 15-game winner in the San Francisco Giants’ 3-2 victory Tuesday night, a no-hitter wouldn’t have seemed so plausible.

There was a crowd of 49,570 whose goal at the beginning of Tuesday’s game was to “Beat L.A.!” and avenge Monday’s 15-1 defeat.

Burkett’s first pitch to Rodriguez was a slider that hung over the plate, and Rodriguez hit it hard, driving it into the gap between center and right field for a double, and eventually scored on a pinch-hit single to right by Dave Hansen.

No perfect game, no-hitter, no shutout. Not even a complete game. But Burkett (15-4) became the winningest pitcher again in the National League, surpassing his teammate, Bill Swift, who has 14 victories. It also gave Rod Beck, who pitched a perfect ninth, his 29th save. Beck, who has yielded three runs in his last 25 appearances, has been successful in 22 consecutive save opportunities.

“I was aware of what was going on, but I wasn’t focused on it,” Burkett, who gave up three hits, two runs, struck out six and walked none in eight innings, said of the first five innings.

“We had lost a tough one the day before and it wasn’t a time to be thinking about personal accomplishments. I was just trying to keep the Dodgers from hitting the ball, then to keep them from scoring.”

Said Dodger catcher Mike Piazza: “Burkett throws hard sinkers and sliders and is one of the most aggressive pitchers in the league. He doesn’t dilly-dally out there and that makes his defense play well behind him. He’s having a Cy Young year, so he’s doing something right.”

The Dodgers, who had 17 hits in Monday’s game, made all of them count against Burkett. By the end of the seventh inning, the Dodgers had narrowed the gap to 3-2 on a solo home run by Eric Davis, his 10th this season.

But the score was not indicative of the game. Dodger starter Kevin Gross (7-9) had lasted only five innings before Hansen’s pinch-hit appearance, leaving the game after giving up three runs, nine hits and four walks, one intentionally to Barry Bonds in the first inning. Pedro Martinez and Roger McDowell combined to hold the Giants hitless in the remaining three innings, with Martinez continuing his dominance over the Giants with four strikeouts in two innings. After Martinez struck Bonds out in the seventh inning on a called third strike, Bonds walked away, shaking his head.

“I can’t explain it,” said Martinez, who lowered his earned-run average to 2.34. “I just go after them and try to make them hit it.”

But Gross, 2-5 with one no-decision in his last eight starts, was in trouble early. “I felt like I was in the middle of a war all night,” he said. “I battled my butt off out there, and I got out with a couple of runs, but it could have been a blowout. I know I’m supposed to battle, but for five innings?”

The Giants led off their first inning with back-to-back singles, and it wasn’t too long before Darren Lewis had scored on a fielder’s choice by Will Clark and Clark had moved to second on a groundout. After walking Bonds, Gross took Dave Martinez to a 3-and-2 count before walking him to load the bases. Royce Clayton popped up to Jody Reed to end the inning.

“It’s just the way things have been going for me lately,” Gross said. “Nothing seems to be going too right.”