Dodgers Defeated in 10th : Baseball: Jefferies’ home run against Pedro Martinez lets the Cardinals end a six-game losing streak.

The frustration the Dodgers felt after they stranded 17 baserunners in their game Wednesday night was compounded Friday night against the St. Louis Cardinals when they faced a problem of another kind--they couldn’t get anybody on base to strand.

Whether that’s more or less irritating, it all translated into a 3-2 loss in 10 innings and at Dodger Stadium. Those of the 35,173 who stuck around saw Pedro Martinez (9-3) give up a solo home run by Gregg Jefferies that let the Cardinals end a six-game losing streak.

Lee Smith worked the 10th for his 42nd save. Reliever Rob Murphy (2-5) got the victory.

Tim Wallach did his part at bat and in the field, getting two of the Dodgers’ four hits through the first eight innings, scoring both runs and making a key defensive play in the ninth inning to help quell a Cardinal threat.

Wallach homered to tie the score at 1-1 in the second inning and singled and scored in the seventh inning to tie it up again at 2-2 on a double inside third base by Jody Reed. But after pinch-hitter Mike Sharperson moved Reed to third on a deep fly to right, Butler grounded out to end the inning.

By then, Pedro Astacio was out of the game, relieved by Rick Trlicek in the seventh inning with the bases loaded and the Dodgers trailing, 2-1. It was the only the ninth time this season that Astacio had pitched into the seventh inning, and he was shaky from the start. After giving up four hits, Astacio yielded a leadoff homer to Ray Lankford and continued to falter as he committed his team-high eighth balk. But Trlicek did his job, throwing one pitch to Bernard Gilkey, who grounded into a double play.

Through six innings, the Dodgers only managed two hits against Cardinal starter Tom Urbani. With two out, Wallach turned an 0-and-2 pitch into a 400-foot homer into the Dodger bullpen. It was Wallach’s 12th home run of the season and his 10th run batted in over the last nine games, giving him 59 RBIs this season. Wallach is batting .333 in his last 19 games and .500 during the last four games. And in what shows how badly the Dodgers have needed a power-hitting third baseman, Wallach’s home run tied former Dodger Jeff Hamilton for the most home runs by a third baseman since 1989.

The left-handed Urbani, who made his second major league start, had a 1-0 lead at the time, which also came in the second inning on two base hits and a sacrifice fly by Tom Pagnozzi. Urbani, who was originally a first baseman when he played at Cal State Long Beach, made his first start against the Dodgers last Saturday night in St. Louis, leaving the game with his team trailing 2-1 after six innings. The Dodgers went on to win that game, 8-4.

Friday night, Urbani left the game in the seventh inning with his team ahead by 2-1 on a home run by Ray Lankford to lead off the seventh inning.

And, uncharacteristically for a pitcher, Urbani left in the middle of an at-bat. With one out, Astacio walked Luis Alicea and Pagnozzi followed with a single. With the count 1-and-1 on Urbani, he bunted, but Astacio had balked, moving the runners to second and third base, voiding the bunt. Gerald Perry came into to pinch hit for Urbani, and Astacio intentionally walked him. But Trlicek bailed Astacio out when Gilkey grounded into a double play.