Poison Pen for Dodgers

Lightning may strike twice on occasion, but rarely three times. There were no thunderbolts left in Dodger bats, which produced stunning come-from-behind victories in two previous games, and the forecast for reliever Paul Shuey remained cloudy.

The result Sunday night was a dreary 6-3 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies before 38,517 in Dodger Stadium, a defeat that ended the Dodgers’ four-game win streak, dropped them seven games behind Arizona in the National League West and trimmed their wild-card lead over San Francisco to a half-game.

Summoned to preserve a 3-3 tie in the top of the eighth, the struggling Shuey gave up three hits, two walks and three runs to absorb his second loss in nine appearances since being acquired from the Cleveland Indians for top prospect Ricardo Rodriguez on July 28. Shuey’s earned-run average in 6 2/3 innings as a Dodger: 10.80.

Compounding the loss was an injury to hot-hitting second baseman Mark Grudzielanek, who suffered a mild sprain of the medial collateral ligament in his left knee while fielding Travis Lee’s grounder in the seventh.

Grudzielanek, who homered in the second inning Sunday--his third homer in three games--and is batting .355 (38 for 107) since the All-Star break, was pulled after the seventh and will be reevaluated today, but the injury is not believed to be serious. He left without speaking to reporters but walked out of the clubhouse without a limp.

The Dodgers, who have the fourth-best fielding percentage in the NL, also committed a season-high four errors, two contributing to an unearned run in the second and two aiding the Phillies’ three-run eighth. But all three eighth-inning runs off Shuey were earned.

“To be honest with you, I just don’t feel like I’m making that many bad pitches,” said Shuey, who has had trouble adjusting from the American to the National League. “But the results are what they are. I’m not making the key pitch to get out of a jam, and maybe I’m in too many jams to start with. It’s been a while since I’ve struggled like this.... I don’t have too much pride, but what pride I have is shot right now.”

Tomas Perez singled to start the eighth and advanced to second when second baseman Alex Cora, attempting to catch Perez after a wide turn at first, hit him with the throw, the ball bouncing into foul territory. Marlon Anderson grounded to third, and pinch-hitter Jeremy Giambi walked.

Doug Glanville flied to right for the second out, but Jimmy Rollins slapped an opposite-field single to left--his career-high fifth hit of the game. Left fielder Marquis Grissom charged and short-hopped the flare, but his throw home, which appeared strong enough to get Perez by several steps, took a wicked hop over the head of catcher Paul Lo Duca.

Perez scored the go-ahead run, and both runners advanced on Grissom’s error. Shuey walked Bobby Abreu intentionally to load the bases for Pat Burrell, who hit an eighth-inning grand slam off Shuey Friday night. Shuey kept Burrell in the park this time, but the left fielder lined a two-run single to center for a 6-3 lead.

“I wish I had an answer,” Manager Jim Tracy said when asked to explain Shuey’s struggles. “I can tell you this--we need Paul Shuey. We still have a [wild-card] lead, but we need this guy. The outs in the eighth inning are his and Paul Quantrill’s to get.”

Dodger left-hander Odalis Perez, who hasn’t won since July 5, gave up three runs--two earned--and nine hits in seven innings.

Grissom’s 13th homer of the season and third in two days, a laser over the center-field wall in the first, gave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead.

Grudzielanek’s throwing error and pitcher Randy Wolf’s RBI groundout in the top of the second gave the Phillies a 2-1 lead; Grudzielanek tied it with his homer to right in the bottom of the inning.

Perez led off the fifth with a ground-rule double to right-center, took third on Dave Roberts’ grounder to second and scored on Adrian Beltre’s sacrifice fly to center for a 3-2 lead.

The Phillies tied it in the seventh when pinch-hitter Jason Michaels walked, took second on Glanville’s sacrifice bunt, third on Rollins’ single and scored on Abreu’s double off the wall in center.