Hurt Still There for Dodgers

The reinforcements are on their way, but the reality check might be coming sooner.

While the Dodgers cling to the faint hope that the return of a few injured players can propel them into pennant contention, the standings suggest that even the meek National League West race might be slipping from their grasp.

The Dodgers suffered their sixth consecutive loss on Friday, this one, 6-0, to the San Francisco Giants on a two-hit shutout by Noah Lowry and Scott Eyre. Michael Tucker had four hits, including a home run, and Ray Durham doubled three times and drove in four runs to help subdue an announced Dodger Stadium crowd of 51,057.

Dodger starter Derek Lowe needed just two words to explain the outcome. “I stunk,” he said.

If the Giants win today, they’ll pass the Dodgers in the standings, dropping them into fourth place in the NL West.

The Dodgers are closer to last place than first -- 8 1/2 games out and 10 games under .500.

Outfielder Milton Bradley started his rehabilitation assignment Friday, and third baseman Jose Valentin starts his Sunday.

In the meantime, the Dodgers flailed away with a lineup with one proven major league regular, and Lowe lost again.

The first outcome is all too predictable, but the second one isn’t so expected, not for the $36 million the Dodgers guaranteed Lowe last winter.

The Giants got to Lowe for a home run in the first inning, another in the second and four hits in the third inning.

They chased him after 4 2/3 innings, but not before peppering him for six runs and 10 hits.

“It dug a hole,” Manager Jim Tracy said. “With where we are right now as far as our lineup, a five- or six-run deficit is obviously a huge hole for us to try to climb out of offensively.”

In the last 19 games, the Dodgers have scored more than five runs once.

Lowe has given up 17 home runs this season, tying his career high with two months to go.

He has given up 144 hits, more than every major leaguer except Livan Hernandez of the Washington Nationals and Sidney Ponson of the Baltimore Orioles.

Since he last won June 6, he is 0-5 in seven starts, with a 6.34 earned-run average.

“Hitters will tell you how good your stuff is,” said Lowe, who said he feels fine but has given up eight homers in his past three starts. “There’s something going on. I have work to do.”

The lineup featured Olmedo Saenz batting third and Jason Phillips fourth. As the Dodgers planned it, Saenz would have been on the bench and Phillips would have been batting eighth.

But there are so few alternatives now that Mike Edwards, who spent 11 years in the minors, batted sixth. He is hitless in his last 14 at-bats. Jayson Werth, whose strong second half last season appears more distant every day, batted seventh. He is hitless in his last 18 at-bats.

Scott Erickson, banished from the Dodger rotation after posting a 7.22 earned-run average as a starter, pitched three scoreless innings. In 10 relief appearances, he has a 2.16 ERA.