Bad Inning Is Too Bad for Dreifort

Saturday night was a big night for Dodger right-hander Darren Dreifort. He struck out a career-high 10 at Dodger Stadium and slugged his first major league homer.

So why wasn’t this man smiling?

Because Dreifort (6-9) also collapsed in the fourth inning, with the Arizona Diamondbacks scoring all five of their runs in a 5-3 victory before a crowd of 38,937.

Just another roller-coaster ride for the unpredictable, unsteady Dodgers, who have been consistent only in their inconsistency this season.

One night it’s the fun house for the Dodgers. The next, it’s the house of horrors.

Saturday, it was a little of both for a team that blew a first-inning 6-0 lead to the Houston Astros on Thursday night and came back with a well-played victory over Arizona on Friday.

Saturday, the Dodgers made the Diamondbacks look a lot better than the team with the fewest wins in the majors, playing without injured Travis Lee and Matt Williams, two of their best power hitters.

It was the third time this season that the Dodgers (53-51) had an opportunity to go four games over .500 only to fail to do so.

Dreifort did little wrong through the first three innings, giving up one hit while striking out five.

But he could do little right in the fourth. He gave up three singles to load the bases, and then a two-run double to Devon White.

But Dreifort’s troubles were only beginning.

He bounced a pitch to Jay Bell that went all the way to the backstop. David Dellucci scored from third . . . and around came White.

By this time, catcher Charles Johnson had caught up with the ball, and he fired it to Dreifort, waiting at the plate. The ball got there before White did, but White got to the plate before Dreifort could apply the tag, stretching his left leg past the Dodger pitcher.

“I don’t think I was positioned right at the plate,” Dreifort said.

“It was a big risk with no outs,” said Arizona manager Buck Showalter, who added that he had advised his players before the series began about the vast expanse of empty space behind the plate at Dodger Stadium. “It gave us a big lift.”

Dreifort continued to give the Diamondbacks a lift by walking Bell and giving up a single to Yamil Benitez.

That was six consecutive batters allowed on base by Dreifort. The Diamondbacks, however, scored only once more, Tony Batista sending it home on a sacrifice fly to right.

“Other than walking a guy and giving up five hits in the inning,” Dreifort said, “it wasn’t a bad outing. The pitches . . . weren’t bad pitches.

“The hits didn’t really bother me. It was the walk that really hurt.”

Dodger Manager Glenn Hoffman agreed that it wasn’t a bad outing.

“He looked awesome,” Hoffman said, “except when he got the ball up.”

The Dodgers spent the rest of the evening chipping away at the Diamondbacks’ lead.

Eric Karros got a run home in the fourth with an RBI single.

Dreifort got another on his home run in the fifth. This was no cheap homer. Dreifort smashed a 3-2 pitch by Arizona starter and winner Omar Daal (4-5) deep into the pavilion in left-center, the ball landing 430 feet away.

It was the first homer the first-year Diamondbacks have surrendered to a pitcher.

With runners at first and second in the Dodger seventh and weak-hitting Juan Castro coming up, Hoffman elected to leave Castro in the game and have him sacrifice. He moved the runners up, but all the Dodgers got out of it was a single run, brought home on a groundout by Raul Mondesi.

The Dodgers had one more shot in the eighth. With two out and a runner at third, pinch-hitter Tripp Cromer hit a hard grounder that was knocked down by second baseman Danny Klassen, who recovered in time to nip Cromer, who has been bothered by a sore leg, at first.

The Dodgers went quietly in the ninth.

Just another day on the roller coaster.