Dodgers drop fourth consecutive game, 8-0, to Diamondbacks

OK, so now are you allowed to be concerned about the Dodgers? If not now, when exactly?

The Dodgers’ untimely slide continued Tuesday, the Diamondbacks pounding them, 8-0, for their fourth consecutive loss before an announced Dodger Stadium crowd of 41,419.

That lowered their lead in the National League West to 6 1/2 games with 12 to play; the Giants then defeated the Padres, 4-2, dropping the lead to six games.

That still feels like a comfortable margin, but the Dodgers’ recent play is making it difficult to feel any ease. This is only their second four-game losing streak of the season, and they’ve only once lost as many as five straight.

This one comes under the heading of extremely bad timing, with the Dodgers seemingly rolling to a third consecutive division title until this unexpected skid.

Right now it seems like the Dodgers are melting, though they have Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw starting the final two games of the series against Arizona, so their fortunes could take another abrupt change.

Still, it’s no secret that the Diamondbacks despise the Dodgers and would like nothing better than to put a crimp in their stretch-drive ambitions. The Dodgers start a three-game series in Colorado over the weekend and then head to San Francisco for four games. The Dodgers are 0-6 in San Francisco this season and have failed to score a single run in their last three games by the bay.

Tuesday night they got a very solid start from Alex Wood but could do nothing with left-hander Robbie Ray.

Wood was neither as brilliant as his last outing (eight scoreless innings on one hit against Colorado) or as absolutely awful as he was when he last faced the Diamondbacks (eight runs in 1 2/3 innings).

This time Wood (11-11) went 6 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on three hits. He did not walk a batter and struck out six.

But he gave up a run in the fourth when Nick Ahmed led off with a double, was sacrificed to third and scored on an A.J. Pollack groundout.

Arizona added two more in the seventh on a pair of home runs. Pollock hit his 18th of the year off Wood. Right-hander Chris Hatcher took over for Wood and promptly gave up Paul Goldschmidt’s 30th of the season.

The Diamondbacks made it a blowout with five runs in the ninth, the biggest blow being a three-run homer by Brandon Drury off Adam Liberatore, who just had been activated prior to Tuesday’s game.

Ray (5-12) pitched six scoreless innings for the Diamondbacks, holding the Dodgers to three hits.