Dodgers can’t make it happen this time

The similarities were too eerie to ignore. The Dodgers had the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth inning, trailing by multiple runs, when Chicago Cubs Manager Lou Piniella made the call to the bullpen Saturday afternoon at Dodger Stadium.

Was it an omen? Not in the way the Dodgers had hoped.

Chicago reliever Will Ohman, who had surrendered a run-scoring single in the eighth inning with the bases loaded Friday as part of an epic bullpen collapse, helped the Cubs hold on Saturday for a 4-2 victory over the Dodgers.

Ohman struck out pinch-hitter Jeff Kent to end the eighth and back starter Carlos Zambrano, who had limited the Dodgers to Wilson Betemit’s solo homer in the seventh before things quickly turned dicey in the eighth.

“We got ourselves into position where something could have happened there, but it didn’t,” said Dodgers Manager Grady Little, whose team had used a four-run, eighth-inning rally Friday to pull out a 9-8 victory.

The eighth started in promising fashion for the Dodgers again Saturday. Pinch-hitter Olmedo Saenz hit a one-out single through the left side of the infield and went to second on Juan Pierre’s single to center. After Tony Abreu struck out, Nomar Garciaparra stroked a run-scoring single past shortstop Cesar Izturis.

Russell Martin then walked on a full count to load the bases and trigger a second consecutive appearance by Ohman, who took the loss Friday.

Little countered by bringing Kent off the bench to pinch-hit for Luis Gonzalez, whose second-inning single moved him past Mickey Mantle and into 100th place on the all-time list with 2,416 hits.

“In that situation right there against that pitcher, it wasn’t awkward,” Little said of replacing the veteran Gonzalez. “We’re trying to win the game, and that was our best opportunity right there.”

Ohman struck out Kent looking at an 80-mph curveball to end the inning, and Ryan Dempster pitched a shaky but scoreless ninth for his 11th save after getting Saenz to ground into a game-ending double play with runners on first and second.

“Last night guys don’t make pitches and we capitalize on them,” said Dodgers right fielder Andre Ethier, who had two hits. “Today they do and it’s a different case.”

The Dodgers also received some solid relief work, getting a combined four scoreless innings from Chad Billingsley and Brett Tomko, who made his first appearance since being removed from the starting rotation.

But Dodgers starter Mark Hendrickson pitched poorly again, giving up nine hits and four runs in five innings. He struck out four and did not issue a walk but continued a troubling trend by giving up two more homers on pitches that were elevated.

“I would say they weren’t as quality of pitches as probably they should have been,” said Hendrickson, who surrendered consecutive homers to Aramis Ramirez and Mark DeRosa in a span of three pitches in the second inning. Hendrickson (2-2) has given up six homers during a stretch of four starts in which he has compiled a 6.55 earned-run average.

By contrast, Zambrano (5-4) lowered his lifetime ERA to 1.86 against the Dodgers after escaping a two-on, no-out jam in the fourth and stranding a runner at third base in the fifth.

“We faced a guy today that pitched much better than a .500 pitcher with a five-something ERA,” said Little, referring to Zambrano’s 5.24 ERA this season. “He was at the top of his game and we couldn’t take him out of that rhythm.”

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ben.bolch@latimes.com