Dodgers Batted Down

The names of each team in the National League West are hand-carved into bats that are mounted in the order of the current standings on an ornamental rack in the Dodgers’ clubhouse.

For the first time in 39 days, clubhouse manager Mitch Poole had to drop the Dodgers’ bat below the San Diego Padres’ bat.

Terrmel Sledge’s run-scoring single in the ninth inning handed reliever Jonathan Broxton the first loss of his career and pulled the Padres half a game ahead of the Dodgers with a 2-1 victory Sunday at Dodger Stadium.

In a sprint or a horse race, a pace-setter overtaken near the finish line almost never regains the lead. Thankfully for the Dodgers, a pennant race is often different, and Poole might be switching the bats again tonight after the finale of the teams’ four-game series.

“We can’t put our heads down,” shortstop Rafael Furcal said. “We have to come back and play hard. It’s another day.”

The Dodgers suddenly have to concern themselves with a race besides the one for the West. The Philadelphia Phillies won their third in a row to pull to within one game of the Dodgers for the wild-card berth.

That constricting feeling the Dodgers are getting is an awful lot like a vise.

“It’s a different kind of pressure when you have to perform,” pitcher Derek Lowe said.

Perform Lowe did, tossing seven brilliant innings, striking out a season-best nine and giving up one run on an opposite-field home run by third baseman Russell Branyan in the sixth inning.

Young, meanwhile, stymied the Dodgers, giving up only an infield single by Kenny Lofton in six scoreless innings. Padres Manager Bruce Bochy called on Cla Meredith to begin the seventh, not a bad choice considering the side-arming right-hander hadn’t given up a run in 33 2/3 innings.

However, with one out Meredith threw a 2-and-2 fastball that Russell Martin drove over the center-field fence for his ninth home run, tying the score.

Manager Grady Little went with left-hander Joe Beimel in the eighth inning because the first four Padres batters were left-handed. Beimel, signed to a minor league contract before spring training, has been effective all season, and he got through the inning despite Todd Walker’s bloop single.

Scott Linebrink sailed through the eighth for the Padres, and Little went to Broxton, who was 4-0 in 74 appearances over two seasons. Geoff Blum walked after Josh Bard hit a slider for a single with one out, and Bochy went with Sledge instead of Mike Piazza as a pinch-hitter for Linebrink.

“You’ve got [runners on] first and second there, and Sledge is probably a little tougher to double up if he happens to hit it on the ground,” Bochy said. “I went with the left-handed bat.”

Broxton threw a slider that disrupted Sledge’s balance, but his ground ball hopped between first baseman Jeff Kent and second baseman Julio Lugo into right field, easily scoring pinch-runner Khalil Greene.

A slim lead is normally all the Padres need with veteran closer Trevor Hoffman, and this was no exception. Hoffman walked Furcal with two out and got Lofton on a line drive to center field, notching his 475th save -- moving him to within three of all-time record-holder Lee Smith.

Broxton said he thought the Padres knew when his slider was coming -- a distinct advantage, especially against a pitcher whose fastball is 97 mph.

“I think I’m tipping my pitches some,” he said.

And the Dodgers reached a tipping point, falling into second place for the first time since Aug. 9, when they were in the midst of a 17-1 streak that vaulted them from last place to the top of the division.

Now it’s the Padres with the momentum -- and the lead. They have defeated the Dodgers in 13 of 17 games this season.

“We’re in first place by a half-game, and [tonight] will really separate the men from the boys, I believe,” Branyan said. “If we can go up a game and a half with 13 or 14 games left in the season, we’ll start looking really good.”

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steve.henson@latimes.com

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

NL playoff race

The Dodgers dropped out of first in the division but are a game ahead of Philadelphia in the wild-card standings.

*--* NL WEST W L PCT. GB San Diego 78 70 527 -- DODGERS 78 71 523 1/2 San Francisco 74 74 500 4 NL WILD CARD W L PCT. GB DODGERS 78 71 523 -- Philadelphia 77 72 517 1 San Francisco 74 74 500 3 1/2

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TONIGHT’S GAME

San Diego vs. Dodgers

at Dodger Stadium, 7, Prime

Pitching matchup:

Brad Penny (16-8, 4.04)

vs. Jake Peavy (9-14, 4.17)