Dodgers Continue to Trip on Road

Maybe the Dodgers have hit bottom, though signs indicate they’re still dropping.

The Dodgers are in reverse and racing toward another ugly ending after the Florida Marlins’ 7-3 victory Tuesday night at Pro Player Stadium.

A day after pounding Kevin Brown in the series opener, the Marlins made the Dodgers look bad again before 9,380.

After rain delayed the start of the game by 43 minutes, the Marlins scored four runs in the third to take a 5-0 lead against rookie right-hander Matt Herges, whose second career start wasn’t much fun.

Herges (8-2) struggled with his command early, walking four in the first three innings and throwing a wild pitch.

He rebounded and held the Marlins scoreless in his last three innings, giving up eight hits and four earned runs in six innings.

That was too much with the Dodgers still struggling offensively.

Marlin starter Ryan Dempster (11-8) limited the Dodgers to one run and three hits in eight strong innings.

Pinch-hitter F.P. Santangelo led off the eighth with his first home run this season and Chad Kreuter had a two-run double in the ninth against Braden Looper.

But the Dodgers came up short, continuing a familiar theme.

The Dodgers (60-58) are 6 1/2 games behind the first-place San Francisco Giants in the National League West, matching their biggest deficit this season.

They are 1-4 on the six-game trip that ends tonight, 2-8 in their last 10 games and wondering when things will improve.

Or if they can.

“We’re definitely playing like . . ., we’re absolutely playing like . . .,” said second baseman Mark Grudzielanek, who had a throwing error in the Marlins’ four-run third and should have had another error on a misplayed grounder later.

“We’re not getting many bounces, and we’re not giving ourselves a chance to win. We’re getting no hitting, no pitching, no defense and everything going wrong is going wrong at once.

“No question, the door is shutting and we have to do something about it. Are we going to fall on our faces like we have the last week, or are we going to bounce back and make a run at this?”

Frustration is mounting.

Umpire Dan Iassogna ejected left fielder Gary Sheffield in the eighth for arguing a called third strike.

Opponents are pitching around Sheffield because others are not producing consistently, and the team leader said he is disheartened by some player attitudes.

“Guys are worrying about things that we shouldn’t be worrying about, we should be trying to get into first place,” said Sheffield, who said he briefly sat in the dugout after his at-bat because he didn’t realize he had been ejected.

“We’re playing sloppy baseball, giving teams four or five outs [in an inning], and you can’t expect to win like that. We’ve had a lot of chances, but you only get so many chances.”

The Dodgers were optimistic beginning the series.

They defeated the Atlanta Braves on Sunday to avoid a sweep in that three-game series, and General Manager Kevin Malone said Manager Davey Johnson would remain in his position the rest of the season.

Then the team played two of its worst games.

The Marlins (60-59) have outscored the Dodgers, 18-5. They have outhit them, 24-16.

The San Diego Padres swept the Marlins in their previous series, and the Dodgers were 2-4 on their last homestand against the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs.

And this is supposedly the easiest part of their schedule.

“These teams aren’t going to just lay down for us,” Sheffield said. “You would think we would know that by now.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

MONTH BY MONTH

APRIL

14-10

MAY

14-12

JUNE

13-15

JULY

14-12

AUGUST

5-9

LAST 10

GAMES

2-8

GAMES

BACK

IN NL WEST

6 1/2