Dodgers Go a Long Way to Lose

Greg Maddux had snakes on the brain at 30,000 feet, trying to think of a way to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks during the Dodgers’ flight to Phoenix.

None of his 329 victories had come at Arizona. His overall record against the Diamondbacks was 1-9. He told himself he wasn’t snake-bit.

Yet evidence to the contrary continues to mount.

Maddux left after a turbulent five innings with a two-run lead, but the Dodgers couldn’t hold it and fell to the Diamondbacks, 9-7, in 15 innings Friday night at Chase Field.

After pitching out of bases-loaded jams in the 13th and 14th innings, Aaron Sele gave up a two-run home run to Orlando Hudson with two out in the 15th. The Diamondbacks had 20 hits and tied a team record by leaving 21 runners on base. The winning run was scored by winning pitcher Brandon Lyon, whom Sele had walked with one out.

The loss was the fourth in a row for the Dodgers (66-62), but they maintained their one-game lead in the National League West because the San Diego Padres also lost. The Diamondbacks are three games back and the San Francisco Giants trail by 3 1/2 games.

The Dodgers are 1-7 in extra-inning games and 1-6 at Chase Field.

Dodgers closer Takashi Saito suffered only his second blown save in 16 opportunities by giving up an unearned run in the 11th inning after J.D. Drew’s fourth run batted in had given the Dodgers the lead in the top of the inning.

An error by first baseman Nomar Garciaparra, who was unable to catch third baseman Wilson Betemit’s wide throw on a bunt by Stephen Drew with none out and a runner on first in the 11th, set the table for a sacrifice fly by Carlos Quentin.

Maddux gave up 10 hits, including four in the fifth when he was clearly out of gas. The Diamondbacks scored only one run in the inning, though, because of two outstanding plays.

Stephen Drew’s line drive to right field with none out was the third consecutive hit, but his brother, J.D., threw him out trying to stretch it into a double. The next batter, Quentin, drilled a one-hopper to shortstop Rafael Furcal and Conor Jackson broke from third. Despite fielding the ball at the edge of the outfield grass, Furcal threw Jackson out at the plate.

The excellent defense enabled Maddux to depart with a 6-4 lead generated largely by J.D. Drew’s solo home run in the first inning and two-run shot in the third and another two-run shot by slumping catcher Russell Martin in the fourth.

For one night, Manager Grady Little was rewarded for staying with Drew as the cleanup hitter and allowing Martin to remain in the lineup. It was the 11th time the often-punchless Dodgers have hit three homers in a game.

“I can count 10 balls Russ has hit right on the nose,” Little said. “Sometimes he gets in a home-run mode and I see a difference in his swing. It’s common with young players.”

Patience, Little style, isn’t something that lasts a day, or even a week. It lasts months, slowly melding into full-blown conviction.

That’s why Drew still bats in the middle of the lineup despite displaying a lack of power, a lack of clutch hitting and, to some observers, a lack of fire.

And there Drew was, with a full count and a runner on second in the 11th inning. It’s a situation Drew often seems content to skirt by taking a marginal pitch that might be ball four or strike three.

This time he drilled it into right field, scoring Furcal and giving the Dodgers their short-lived 7-6 lead. The shaky defense in the bottom of the 11th marred one of Drew’s best games in his two seasons as a Dodger. His four runs batted in give him a team-high 76 this season.

The Dodgers did their best to give away the game at several junctures. In the second inning, Betemit’s error resulted in two Diamondbacks runs; right-handed reliever Giovanni Carrara was left in to face left-handed hitters Luis Gonzalez and Chad Tracy with two out in the sixth, resulting in another Diamondbacks run; and the Dodgers failed to score in the eighth despite getting three walks.

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Overtime

The Dodgers are 1-7 in extra-inning games this season:

* April 25: Houston 4, Dodgers 3 (14)

* April 30: Padres 6, Dodgers 5 (10)

* June 17: Oakland 5, Dodgers 4 (17)

* July 13: St. Louis 3, Dodgers 2 (14)

* July 15: St. Louis 2, Dodgers 1 (10)

* July 24: San Diego 7, Dodgers 6 (11)

* Aug. 13: Dodgers 1, Giants 0 (10)

* Aug. 25: Arizona 9, Dodgers 7 (15)

Source: ESPN.com