Score It 6-3 in Dodger Defeat

At least on the road, Shawn Green could scuffle in relative anonymity.

A quiet walk to the dugout would follow a groundout; light applause would accompany a strikeout.

There were no such courtesies extended to the slumping cleanup hitter Friday night at Dodger Stadium, especially not after Green snuffed out a sixth-inning rally during the Dodgers’ 6-3 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

After consecutive singles by Cesar Izturis and Paul Lo Duca had scored the Dodgers’ first run and put runners on the corners with two out, Green stepped to the plate, his batting average having dipped to .212 after going hitless in his first two at-bats. And a player who typically elicits the loudest cheers was booed harshly by the crowd of 46,455 after grounding out to shortstop.

Hitting in his accustomed cleanup spot for the first time in seven games, Green finished with a single in four at-bats, actually raising his average to .216.

The Dodgers rallied with two runs in the seventh off Arizona starter Randy Johnson, including Jose Hernandez’s third hit of the night off the veteran left-hander, before Lo Duca flied to right with runners on first and second to end the inning. Three Diamondback relievers combined to shut down the Dodgers in the eighth and ninth.

The Dodgers (24-22) have lost three consecutive games and 12 of 14 to fall a season-high two games behind the San Diego Padres in the National League West.

A left hip strain forced Wilson Alvarez to leave after the second inning but not before the left-hander gave up the one run that led to his first defeat at Dodger Stadium, where he is 5-1 with a 1.07 earned-run average.

Center fielder Milton Bradley cost Alvarez (2-2) that run in the second when Bradley initially broke back on Robby Hammock’s fly ball, only to charge forward and watch the ball land several feet in front of him. Danny Bautista scored from second on the play, which was ruled a single, giving the Diamondbacks a 1-0 lead.

Alvarez said he was compensating for a sore right foot he injured on a foul ball May 12 by putting more weight on his left side.

“When I went out there in the second inning, it was like I couldn’t throw anymore,” said Alvarez, who hopes he can make his next start. “I couldn’t really push myself to the plate.”

Arizona scored three more runs off reliever Brian Falkenborg on Bautista’s run-scoring single in the third and Luis Gonzalez’s two-run homer in the fifth.

Johnson, two starts removed from a perfect game, retired 15 of the first 16 batters he faced, with Hernandez doubling in the third.

Hernandez, who went four for four, doubled to right-center to lead off the sixth and scored on Izturis’ one-out single up the middle as the Dodgers finally broke through. Lo Duca singled off shortstop Alex Cintron’s glove before Bradley flied out and Green grounded out.

Johnson (6-4) improved to 6-0 with a 2.21 ERA at Dodger Stadium despite the Dodgers’ rally in the seventh. After Adrian Beltre hit a leadoff double off the wall in left-center and Olmedo Saenz drew a one-out walk, Hernandez hit a run-scoring single up the middle. Reliever Mike Koplove retired pinch-hitter Robin Ventura before Izturis drew the Dodgers to within 4-3 with an RBI single to right.

The Diamondbacks added insurance runs on Steve Finley’s RBI sacrifice fly in the eighth and Hammock’s solo homer to left in the ninth.

Manager Jim Tracy reinserted Green into the cleanup spot before the game, saying, “Shawn Green’s our guy. It’s that simple. If the Dodgers are going to be a good club in 2004, we have to have Shawn Green.”

Tracy said had ideas why Green, hitting .143 in his last 42 at-bats, might be struggling but declined to share them publicly.

“It’s very subtle in nature,” Tracy said. “I think it’s something that has to happen in a couple of at-bats to reinforce the idea to the individual, and I think we will then begin to see a lot of positive things happen.

“Until that time, the only way that we’re going to get to that point is for him to keep going to the plate and getting opportunities to figure it out. That’s it.”