It’s a Royal Pain Again

So much for the easy part of the trip.

In an embarrassing finale to an embarrassing series, the Dodgers failed at bat and afield in Thursday’s 9-6 loss to the Kansas City Royals. The last-place Royals completed a three-game sweep, and the Dodgers finish this trip with 10 consecutive games against first-place teams.

The Dodgers are one game above .500, yet they say they’re contenders. The standings say the same thing, with the Dodgers 2 1/2 games behind San Diego in the National League West.

“We could easily be a lot more than that,” pitcher Derek Lowe said. “You’ve got to be thankful.”

The sweep exposed the Dodgers as a team with insufficient depth to compensate for a wave of injuries. Closer Eric Gagne could be out for the season, and the Dodgers on Thursday fielded a lineup that did not include projected starters in shortstop Cesar Izturis (hamstring), third baseman Jose Valentin (knee) and outfielders Milton Bradley (finger) and Jayson Werth (slump).

Izturis and Werth could play tonight. The Dodgers hope Bradley can return next week. Valentin could be back in a month or two.

“You just try and stay afloat until August and make it a two-month sprint and don’t get too far behind to where it’s impossible to come back,” Lowe said. “If we can hang in there for the next six to eight weeks and not get too far behind, that’s when the season really gets fun.”

Said Manager Jim Tracy: “Considering the fact there are seven significant pieces of our ballclub that aren’t participating and we’re two games down in the loss column, you have to feel awfully fortunate. You’re trying to weather a serious storm.”

Under those circumstances, the margin for error is almost nil, as the Dodgers proved Thursday. Lowe took a 3-1 lead into the sixth inning, and he had retired 10 in a row. He got the first out, gave up two singles, then got exactly what he wanted -- a sharp ground ball to shortstop for a potential inning-ending double play.

But Antonio Perez, playing in place of Gold Glove winner Izturis, made an error. By the time the inning ended, the Royals had scored six runs, effectively deciding the outcome.

“Defensively, we broke down, and it ended up being the difference in the game,” Tracy said. “It’s a real shame our starting pitcher had to absorb that, because he made nothing but quality pitches to get us out of the inning.”

After the error, Lowe gave up a broken-bat single, got a ground out, gave up a single and then a double, after which he kicked his right foot into the air in frustration.

He wasn’t alone. The Dodgers got 12 hits, including a home run from Jason Grabowski, but they left 11 men on base and went two for 13 with runners in scoring position.

And so the Royals became the first team in major league history to record a three-game sweep of the Dodgers and Yankees in the same season.

“They kicked our tails for three games in a row,” Lowe said.

The Dodgers are 33-32. So are the Yankees.