Dodgers Lose Game of Mistakes

Two sub-.500 teams trying to convince themselves they are playoff contenders tried mightily to give away a game Saturday.

“You take it, please,” the Dodgers seemed to say. They made two errors, botched a bunt, committed a balk and gave up four home runs.

“No, we insist,” the Arizona Diamondbacks seemed to reply. They also made two errors, left 13 runners on base and were guilty of catcher’s interference.

Finally, it was the Diamondbacks who accepted the 7-5 gift in front of an announced 44,457 at Dodger Stadium.

The sloppy game lasted 3 hours 29 minutes, and fans were left with only one lasting memory -- Diamondback left fielder Luis Gonzalez leaping into the stands to rob Jason Phillips of a home run that would have tied the score in the eighth inning.

And some fans apparently missed out on that moment.

“Fortunately there were three or four open seats so I could fall and push myself up and show the ump that I got it,” Gonzalez said. “I was lucky L.A. fans leave early.”

Said Phillips, jokingly: “I wish somebody would have forearmed him or something.”

Arizona (40-42) ended a four-game losing streak with only its fifth win in 16 games. Yet it is one game ahead of the Dodgers (38-42), who have lost 13 of their last 18.

“It obviously wasn’t the prettiest game in the world,” Jim Tracy said. “With as many young players as we have, mistakes are going to be made.”

Experienced Dodgers were guilty of most of the miscues, however.

Derek Lowe, a sinkerball pitcher who before this season had given up a home run every 15 innings, gave up four homers in three innings. All were solo shots, so the Dodgers trailed only 5-3 after three innings.

Still, it was the worst start by a Dodger pitcher since May 25, when Wilson Alvarez gave up six runs in three innings of a loss to the Giants. Lowe has given up 13 home runs in 113 2/3 innings.

“I made way too many mistakes,” Lowe said.

He wasn’t the only one. Second baseman Jeff Kent and third baseman Antonio Perez booted ground balls. Reliever Duaner Sanchez balked with runners on first and third in the eighth, sending home the last Diamondback run.

The Dodgers stayed close on two home runs by J.D. Drew and a two-run single by Jayson Werth that followed an error by third baseman Troy Glaus.

The score was 6-4 when Phillips opened the seventh with a walk and Jason Grabowski’s swing hit catcher Kelly Stinnett’s mitt to put two runners on with none out and the top of the order coming up.

But any chance for a big inning was dashed when Oscar Robles bunted and reliever Greg Aquino threw out Phillips at third, causing Tracy to angrily slam a paper cup to the ground in the dugout.

The Dodgers sacrifice successfully barely more than half the time, and with the slow Phillips running, Tracy admitted the bunt had to be perfect to advance the runners.

“We needed the third baseman to field the ball,” Tracy said. “What we didn’t want was to hit into a double play and not give Drew a chance to drive in runs.”

Drew did come up with two out and two on, and he drove in his third run with a single off the glove of first baseman Chad Tracy to cut the deficit to 6-5.

The balk by Sanchez capped an inning that included three walks and a blown call by first base umpire Paul Nauert on a ground ball by Shawn Green that should have been an inning-ending double play. Just one more mistake in a sea of them.

The game begged for one outstanding play, and Gonzalez made it. The Dodgers went quietly in the ninth, with Drew taking a called third strike and Kent flying out with a runner on first.

After all that, the Diamondbacks credited the victory to wearing spring training batting practice jerseys.

“We hit better in spring training,” Gonzalez said. “We were willing to try anything.”