Dreifort Rocked in New Role

The Dodgers said it would be silly to overhaul their new bullpen rotation because Darren Dreifort has struggled as the primary setup man.

Then again, how much rope should anyone get in a pennant race?

That was the big question Thursday after Dreifort failed to preserve another lead in the eighth inning when the Cincinnati Reds rallied for a 6-5 victory in front of 27,416 at Great American Ball Park.

Summoned to start the eighth with the Dodgers leading, 5-3, Dreifort was charged with three runs on Wily Mo Pena’s two-run home run and D’Angelo Jimenez’s two-out, run-scoring single against Yhency Brazoban.

“You’ve got to trust him,” closer Eric Gagne said. “He’s never done this before, and he’s got to learn.

“He’s just learning the ropes. It’s all learning on the job, and that’s the hard thing.”

Dreifort, who squandered an eighth-inning lead for the second time in six appearances in his new job, made no excuses.

“This is not ‘Pitching 101,’ ” said Dreifort (1-3). “It’s not a learning experience. This is not a new role. I’ve done this role. It’s just going out and doing your job, and I didn’t get it done today.

“You’ve got to go out and do your job regardless of whether it’s the first inning, the eighth inning or the ninth inning. Whatever it is, pitching is pitching. If you don’t get it done, you lose.”

Cincinnati closer Danny Graves retired the Dodgers in order in the ninth, recording his 36th save.

Graves completed the victory for Gabe White (1-1), who induced an inning-ending, double-play grounder from Cesar Izturis after entering in the eighth with one out and the bases loaded. The Reds (55-59) salvaged a victory in the three-game series despite Adrian Beltre’s record-tying homer and another big contribution from the Dodger bench.

Beltre hit his team-leading 32nd home run, matching Pedro Guerrero’s single-season club record for third basemen. The cleanup batter also had an RBI single in the fifth, helping the Dodgers extend the lead to 5-2.

Jason Grabowski continued the trend of timely performances from Dodger reserves, hitting his seventh homer -- a two-run shot -- in the Dodgers’ three-run third. Wilson Alvarez did his part on returning to the rotation, working 5 1/3 innings, and Giovanni Carrara impressed again with 1 2/3 scoreless innings.

Manager Jim Tracy’s plan worked well until the eighth, and that’s nothing new lately for the Dodgers.

“I’m not one to give up on a situation in the very early stages of it, that’s for sure,” said Tracy, whose team is 67-46 and leads the National League West by 6 1/2 games.

“I don’t make a habit of doing things like that. You have to find out. And the way you find out is you create opportunities.”

Dreifort is one for three in opportunities to preserve leads of two or fewer runs since Guillermo Mota was traded to the Florida Marlins.

On July 31, the Dodgers led San Diego, 2-1, in the eighth inning at Petco Park. Dreifort gave up three hits and two runs in a 3-2 loss.

The right-hander rebounded the next day, earning the save in a 2-1 victory in 12 innings, but he struggled again Thursday.

Dreifort walked Adam Dunn to start the eighth and gave up Pena’s 19th homer -- to the opposite field -- on the first pitch. Barry Larkin singled with one out and Ryan Freel ran for him. Tracy turned to Brazoban after Dreifort walked Darren Bragg, the No. 8 batter, on four pitches.

Tim Hummel flied out, but Jimenez singled to right to drive in Freel with the go-ahead run. John Vander Wal struck out to end the inning.

“Obviously, the eighth inning got away from us,” Tracy said. “However, in the top half of the inning, we had a real opportunity to put the game away with a bases-loaded, one-out situation, and Gabe White got the ground ball. We were a hit away from putting the game away.

“Then they did what they had to do to score the three runs to put them ahead and beat us. When you have a situation like that, you don’t single out anything. A base hit, a sacrifice fly ... anything but the double play, and we’re not going to talk about [Dreifort] a whole lot.”