Dodgers Feel Out of Place : Baseball: Astacio, who has been nearly unbeatable at home, loses to the Pirates, 7-2.

The Dodgers, who had won 11 of their last 14 games, lost their second baseman Saturday night to the disabled list, their shortstop to the flu, were without their starting catcher for the second consecutive game and watched their most successful pitcher at home self-destruct in the fourth inning.

Meanwhile, the Pirates, who had lost 11 of their last 14 games, sent out a pitcher who somehow does better in the state of California, and Pittsburgh beat the Dodgers, 7-2, before 47,771 at Dodger Stadium.

“We had the action, we had 12 hits, we had the baserunners, we just weren’t able to capitalize,” Manager Tom Lasorda said. “If someone would have told me before the game we would get 12 hits and lose, I wouldn’t have believed them.”

For once, there were no ninth-inning theatrics. Despite leaving 10 runners on base, the Dodgers, who lead the league in one-run games with 25, couldn’t get close to the Pirates after the fourth inning, during which starter Pedro Astacio turned the Dodgers’ 2-1 deficit into 6-1.

“We had several opportunities and we had 11 or 12 hits we just couldn’t put together, but fortunately for us, the Giants lost too,” first baseman Eric Karros said, referring to the fact that the Dodgers remained three games ahead of San Francisco atop the NL West.

Before Saturday’s start, Astacio had a 1.75 earned-run average in 25 2/3 innings at home, holding opponents to a .182 batting average.

From the onset of Saturday’s game, though, Astacio was shaky. His first pitch hit leadoff hitter Carlos Garcia in the first inning, and Garcia eventually scored on a double by Andy Van Slyke. Cleanup hitter Dave Clark drove in Van Slyke with a single to center.

Then, during the fourth inning, Astacio gave up four runs on three hits--including a two-run single by starter Denny Neagle and a two-run double by Jay Bell--and a sacrifice bunt by Garcia. Astacio helped the runs along with two walks.

The Dodgers scored in the bottom of the first inning when Raul Mondesi hit an 0-and-1 pitch by the left-handed Neagle into the right-field pavilion for his seventh home run of the season. Brett Butler led off the seventh with a triple--his league-leading seventh--into the right-field corner and scored on a single to center by Mitch Webster.

Butler’s triple was the Dodgers’ ninth hit against Neagle, and it was enough for Manager Jim Leyland to bring in reliever Rick White, who gave up Webster’s hit.

“He kept us off-balance all night, changing speeds real well,” said Cory Snyder, who has two hits in his last 19 at-bats and kicked a dugout trash can in frustration after he struck out in the sixth inning.

“There were several times tonight we were looking for that changeup away and he would take a little off or speed up. He didn’t make many mistakes tonight. He also had a 6-1 lead, so he could play around a bit, and he did.

“Personally, I just haven’t been playing very much and haven’t felt real comfortable. I need to get back in the groove and start contributing.”

Neagle (5-5) has won three of his last four starts and given up only seven runs during that span. In his 13 California starts, he has a 3-1 record and an ERA under 2.00.

The Dodgers had their chances against him. In the second and third innings they left a total of four runners on base, stranding Butler on third base in the third after he made it there with none out. After that, Neagle held the Dodgers to two hits until the sixth, when Karros led off with a single to center and moved to second on a pop-fly single to shallow center by Carlos Hernandez.

But with one out, the Dodgers still couldn’t score. Garey Ingram struck out and Henry Rodriguez, pinch-hitting for Gary Wayne, lined out.

Hernandez, who made his second consecutive start in place of Mike Piazza, who is sidelined because of a bruised rib, got three hits, tying a career high.