No Defense for This One as Dodgers Give It Away

All that was missing was a tent.

The Dodgers’ season-long circus of errors continued against the New York Mets Sunday and, courtesy of an eventful and game-turning eighth-inning meltdown, so did their underwhelming ways.

The resulting 9-6 loss to the Mets in front of 46,122 at Dodger Stadium left the team befuddled.

“We beat ourselves,” shellshocked Dodger Manager Davey Johnson said. “We can’t do that and expect to win.

“We didn’t play the game the way we’re supposed to play it. We’re giving them too many outs.”

New York (74-50) took advantage of a blown tag and two Dodger errors in the eighth to claim the rubber game of the three-game series and win its eighth series in a row.

With the score tied, 6-6, entering the eighth, Met pinch-hitter Darryl Hamilton singled to right, moving Mike Bordick to third. But Hamilton took a wide turn at first and Dodger shortstop Alex Cora cut off right fielder Shawn Green’s throw and gunned over to first baseman Eric Karros in an attempt to get Hamilton.

The throw beat Hamilton back to the bag, but Karros couldn’t get the tag down in time and the Mets had runners at the corners with no outs.

Met Manager Bobby Valentine said he had a play in mind with runners at first and third but, “Mistakes made it happen.”

The next batter, Lenny Harris, bounced back to Dodger relief pitcher Terry Adams, who caught Bordick leaning off third. A pseudo-pickle ensued, but third baseman Adrian Beltre threw the ball over catcher Todd Hundley’s head, allowing Bordick and Hamilton to score. It was Beltre’s team-leading 20th error.

“I just rushed it a little bit,” Beltre said. “It was just a bad throw.

“We’ve been playing bad defense for a couple of weeks.”

One batter later, Derek Bell hit a grounder to second baseman Mark Grudzielanek. The ball went through Grudzielanek’s legs and into the outfield for the error, his 15th, as Harris scampered home with the Mets’ final run.

Even with the loss, the Dodgers (62-60) remained eight games behind the first-place San Francisco Giants in the National League West as the Giants fell to the Atlanta Braves. But the Dodgers, whose home record fell to 29-29, dropped 11 games behind the Mets in the NL wild-card race.

The Dodgers have committed 109 errors.

“It just shows why we’re a .500 club when we play like that,” Grudzielanek said. “We’re giving games away. There’s no question that we’re not playing good ball right now. We’re making vital mistakes that cost us games.”

Met reliever Turk Wendell (6-4) was the recipient of the Dodgers’ magnanimity, picking up the victory, while Adams (5-6) was tagged with the loss despite not giving up an earned run in two innings. New York closer Armando Benitez pitched a perfect ninth for his 33rd save.

Dodger starter Darren Dreifort, who entered the game riding a six-game winning streak, was not his usual sharp self either.

He gave up six runs, five earned, on seven hits, including three home runs, in five-plus innings. Dreifort, who last lost on June 29 against the San Diego Padres, struck out four but walked five while throwing 96 pitches, 50 strikes.

Dreifort shouldered the blame for the loss, despite the fact that the late-inning collapse occurred long after he had departed.

“It was just bad pitching early . . . by me,” he said. “If I had done my job earlier, then those runs wouldn’t have mattered.”

Dreifort was holding a 5-4 lead entering the fifth, but gave up consecutive solo home runs to pinch-hitter Bubba Trammell and Harris to lead off the inning and end his outing. It was the 12th time that the Mets had hit back-to-back homers.

The Dodger loss sullied a great outing by the switch-hitting Hundley, who went two for three with two home runs, a walk and three runs batted in.

Hundley’s first home run, a two-run blast off Met starter Bobby Jones, landed in the visitor’s bullpen in right field. His second homer, a solo shot, landed 425 feet away in the right-field pavilion.

“It was a good game, up until the eighth inning,” said Hundley, who has 21 home runs. “It was a good day [personally] but a bad day for the team.”