Latest loss leaves Dodgers with new place of misery: last place

And down they go, awash in a spiral of injury and excuse, falling until there is no place left to go but up.

The Dodgers hit bottom Monday night, losing their fifth consecutive game, this one a 9-2 loss to the Diamondbacks that left them with a new, undesired residence:

Dead last in the National League West.

The Dodgers’ loss, coupled with the Padres’ 5-0 victory over the Marlins, left the 13-18 Dodgers a half-game back of San Diego.

Not exactly the plan when the payroll started rocketing north of $215 million. Neither did the Dodgers plan on using the disabled list a dozen times already, including seven times for starting pitchers.

Yet, that’s their season to this point — an unwanted mash of injury and underperformance. About the best thing going for the Dodgers now is the calendar.

Monday they started Chris Capuano, fresh off the disabled list, and the results were less than to the team’s (and certainly his) liking.

Capuano left with no outs in the fifth after surrendering back-to-back home runs to Paul Goldschmidt and Cody Ross. He was not happy about it. When he got to the dugout, he took a water cooler and angrily slammed it to the ground, took a couple more steps and found a container atop of the bench presumably holding gum and sunflowers seeds, and threw that to the ground.

After starting the season unhappily in the bullpen, Capuano was making just his second start of the season, and first since straining his left calf. In his four-plus innings, he was charged with six runs (five earned) on eight hits and a pair of walks.

Offensively, the Dodgers again could do little with right-hander Trevor Cahill. He gave up a run in the first on an Adrian Gonzalez single and a solo home run to Carl Crawford in the third.

Otherwise, he was in command, raising his career record against the Dodgers to 5-0 with a 2.10 ERA.

The Diamondbacks took the lead with three runs in the second. Arizona loaded the bases with no outs on a single and a pair of walks. Capuano gave brief hope when he got Josh Wilson to bounce into a 5-2-5 double play.

But Crawford, who has struggled defensively in left, misplayed a looping hit by Cahill into a two-run triple when he slid early and awkwardly, allowing the ball to fly past him. A.J. Pollack doubled in Cahill to put Arizona up 3-1.

And last place called.