Dodgers Continue Slide

Having lost eight of their previous 11, the Dodgers looked to get healthy Tuesday night with the walking wounded that are the San Francisco Giants.

No Barry Bonds. No Marquis Grissom. No Armando Benitez.

No such luck for the Dodgers.

Giant starter Jason Schmidt, making his first start since coming off the disabled list earlier in the afternoon, made Dodger hitters look feeble early on and a cavalcade of five relievers had enough to hold off the Dodgers in a 5-3 victory in front of an announced 39,226 at SBC Park.

“It boils down to the home run ball got us,” Manager Jim Tracy said. “It’s not the first time but that’s what did us in.”

Indeed, not only did Schmidt limit the Dodgers from the mound, he took Dodger starter Jeff Weaver deep in the third inning with a leadoff home run. But it was No. 8 hitter Mike Matheny who did the most damage, hitting a one-out, three-run homer in the fourth after attempting a suicide squeeze on his own that went foul.

Weaver said his arm felt close to 100% after reports of arm weariness after his last start.

“Obviously, I think there were some positive in the game,” said Weaver, who gave up five runs and eight hits in four innings.

“I’m starting to think you might need to get your head beat in a couple of times before you turn the corner.”

All five runs by the Giants were driven in by the bottom third of the order.

“The only pitch I was upset with was to Matheny, trying to go away and a sinker came back up over the middle,” Weaver said.

Dodger rookie right-hander D.J. Houlton, who was considered a candidate to make a spot start Saturday, impressed with two shutout innings.

Schmidt had not pitched since May 10 because of a strained right shoulder. And while he was just 0-1 with a 6.21 earned-run average in his previous five outings, Schmidt had owned the Dodgers in his last six starts against them, going 4-1 with a 1.60 ERA.

It was more of the same through the first four innings, when he struck out seven and gave up one run.

“I tried to mix speeds on my fastball,” Schmidt said. “When I wanted to let it go, it was there. I was a little fatigued there at the end but it’s nice to build on this.”

Schmidt (3-1) gave up three runs and five hits in five innings while striking out seven and walking three.

But Tracy did not seem all that impressed.

“I’ve seen him a lot better,” Tracy said. “It’s the first time I’ve seen Jason Schmidt get a 5-1 lead and he gave us an opportunity.”

The Dodgers sent Schmidt off with a pair of runs in the fifth. Antonio Perez, who led things off with a ground-rule double to left-center and moved to third on Cesar Izturis’ sacrifice bunt, scored on Schmidt’s balk. And pinch-hitter Mike Edwards, who had walked, scored on Hee-Seop Choi’s sacrifice fly to left field.

The Dodgers (23-21) are only one game ahead of the fourth-place Giants (22-22) in the National League West.

The Dodgers’ record of late is not all that is hurting.

Right fielder J.D. Drew acknowledged having an MRI exam of his sore right wrist Monday, saying it had been bothering him “off and on” since the end of spring training and that he had a cortisone shot in it “about a month ago.”

The results of the MRI were negative -- just fluid and no structural damage, Drew and Tracy said -- and Drew was in the lineup, though he was hitless in three at-bats with three strikeouts.

“It gets really stiff on me, especially after an off day,” Drew said. “More than anything it just feels weak. I like to throw the bat head out.”

If the pain persists, Drew said he would have dye injected for a more invasive look, though he would probably miss a game or two as a result.