Dodgers drop-kick it away

As a closer for Boston, Derek Lowe once gave comfort to Red Sox fans whenever he emerged from the bullpen.

Not so for Dodgers fans, now that Lowe is one of the team’s most consistent starters.

In a move emblematic of the state of the Dodgers’ drained pitching corps, Manager Grady Little summoned Lowe for only his second relief outing in the last six years, a scoreless seventh inning.

But not even a Lowe relief sighting was enough for the Dodgers in a bitter 5-4, 10-inning loss to the New York Mets, made all the more sour with news that closer Takashi Saito would miss the initial flight to Houston for a series against the Astros.

Saito, listed as day to day, is scheduled for an MRI examination of a bothersome shoulder blade this morning. He is scheduled to rejoin the team in Texas this evening.

“Any time you are in a situation when some of these guys are getting out of their regular roles, it’s hard to ask them for the same outcome every time,” Little said. “But they are getting out there and doing the best they can and we will get through this.”

They didn’t on Sunday -- in part because right fielder Matt Kemp dropped a fly ball in the ninth inning, setting up the Mets’ tying run -- and missed a chance to increase their one-game National League West lead over the San Diego Padres.

The bullpen was stretched again with Little calling on four relievers besides Lowe to back up a solid, but short, performance from starter Eric Stults.

In his first start of the season, Stults lasted 5 1/3 innings, giving up two earned runs while striking out a career-high five.

“I just tried to remember what happened last year and take it out there with me again,” said Stults, who beat the Mets last September for his only big league victory.

After Rafael Furcal homered to start the game and Nomar Garciaparra hit a two-run shot in the sixth inning, the Dodgers led, 4-2. But fielding miscues and fatigued arms betrayed them late in the game.

The Mets inched closer against Roberto Hernandez in the eighth, when Carlos Beltran’s sacrifice fly scored Jose Reyes.

In the ninth, with Jonathan Broxton subbing for Saito, Kemp misplayed a shallow fly hit by Shawn Green. The ball caromed off Kemp’s glove and Anderson Hernandez, pinch-running for Carlos Delgado, scored easily from third base.

“It’s one mistake I made, and that cost us the game,” Kemp said of his error. “It’s just one of those days.”

Broxton, who had two wild pitches in the inning, struck out Ruben Gotay and Ramon Castro to end the inning.

Chip Ambres singled to left field against D.J. Houlton in the 10th to score Beltran with the winning run, and in the bottom of the inning Garciaparra struck out looking at a 3-and-2 curveball with two runners on against Mets closer Billy Wagner to end the game.

Although questions with the pitching staff remain, there is hope that Garciaparra has shrugged off his power woes. His home run off Mets starter Orlando Hernandez was his second of the series, during which he doubled his season total to four.

“Everybody is just trying to pick each other up right now,” he said. “That’s what a team does.”

That’s what Lowe, still scheduled to start Wednesday against Houston, did in his relief outing. But even Little said he doubted the pitching situation could get much worse.

“We just have to keep plugging until we get through this little bump in the road,” he said.

jonathan.abrams@latimes.com