Dodgers are finished before they start in loss

The Dodgers’ already overworked bullpen had to be emptied again Thursday night, their relief pitchers’ fatigue apparent with every ball that the New York Mets hit sharply into the outfield.

Able to get only three innings out of starter Derek Lowe, the Dodgers were forced to exhaust four relievers in a 13-9 loss to the NL East leaders at Dodger Stadium.

The scenario that unfolded in front of a crowd of 51,651 was the very one Dodgers Manager Grady Little had hoped to avoid, particularly on a night when closer Takashi Saito wasn’t available because of a tired shoulder.

Of the 66 innings the Dodgers have played since the All-Star break, members of the bullpen have been on the mound for 31 of them.

“Sooner or later, we’ll have to get more out of our starters,” Little said. “This is not good.”

Lowe described what happened as “live batting practice.”

“I did absolutely nothing good against a good hitting team and the results were extremely ugly,” Lowe said.

The relievers received some relief Thursday, as recently-added Roberto Hernandez pitched the seventh inning and retired the side.

But with Lowe giving up nine runs and 10 hits in his briefest outing of the season, the Dodgers had to use a couple of their more arm-weary pitchers.

Rudy Seanez looked like someone pitching for the fifth time in seven days, as he gave up back-to-back home runs to Carlos Delgado and Ramon Castro in the sixth inning.

Mark Hendrickson, who pitched two innings of relief Saturday and started Tuesday’s game, entered Thursday’s game in the eighth and promptly gave up a home run to Carlos Beltran.

Hendrickson pitched the final two innings, but Little said the left-hander could still make his next scheduled start Sunday.

Saito was exhausted to the point of being unavailable. He had pitched in three of the previous six games and had also thrown an inning in the All-Star game.

Feeling soreness on the back of his shoulder, Saito informed trainer Stan Conte that he needed a day of rest.

“I figured I shouldn’t try to do too much because if I did, it could be a burden on my team for the next two or three weeks,” Saito said. “It was hard to say because I know the bullpen is hurting.”

Saito said he felt his shoulder throb Wednesday, when he earned his 25th save in a 5-4 victory over the Phillies.

It turned out that the Dodgers didn’t need Saito on Thursday, when they fell behind, 6-0, in the first inning and never got closer than three runs the rest of the way.

Saito, however, said that depending on how he feels, he might ask for another day of rest today.

The teams combined for 35 hits Thursday, 19 of them by the Dodgers. Three of New York’s 16 hits were home runs.

The Mets wasted no time in punishing Lowe, tagging him for six runs and six hits in the first inning. Lowe faced 11 batters and needed 41 pitches to get out of the inning.

Lowe needed a total of 81 to get through three innings, as the Mets added three more runs in the third. Two of those runs were driven in by Marlon Anderson, who was released by the Dodgers earlier this month and was playing in his first game this season for the Mets.

Lowe was replaced by D.J. Houlton, who ate up two innings and gave up a run.

Mets starter Tom Glavine didn’t fare significantly better than Lowe, lasting only two-plus innings. That prevented him from picking up the 299th win of his career.

Glavine was charged with six runs and 10 hits and exited the game in the third inning without recording an out.

Matt Kemp hit his fifth home run in the second and Jeff Kent belted his 13th in the third.

dylan.hernandez@latimes.com