Dodgers Get Wrong Relief

SAN DIEGO — At some point, the Dodgers had to realize that this wouldn’t be all fun and games, that not every opposing bullpen would suffer an epic collapse and that eventually their batters would fail to conjure the accustomed late-inning rally.

For eight consecutive games it seemed as if the Dodgers’ early season joyride might roll on all summer, but the team with the best record in baseball finally hit a speed bump Thursday night in a 6-1 loss to the San Diego Padres in front of a sellout crowd of 42,326 in Petco Park.

The Dodgers quickly fell behind by two runs, and later five runs, no big deal considering they had clawed back in their previous two games to win in extra innings.

But there would be no heroics this time as the Padres stopped the Dodgers’ eight-game winning streak and handed them their first loss in five games between the Southern California rivals.

Starter Adam Eaton pitched five-plus strong innings and Ramon Hernandez knocked starter Scott Erickson out of the game in the fifth inning with a two-run, broken-bat single to right field that gave the Padres a 5-0 lead.

“It’s only one game,” catcher Jason Phillips said. “We didn’t mount anything off Eaton. He made some real good pitches and it was tough for us to get anything going.”

Chris Hammond and Rudy Seanez combined for four innings of scoreless relief, the first time in five games that the Dodgers didn’t score against an opposing bullpen.

Erickson struggled for the second time in three starts as a Dodger, giving up nine hits and five runs, and needing 97 pitches to complete 4 2/3 innings. The veteran right-hander had trouble closing out innings, giving up four runs with two out.

Erickson (1-1) was on the verge of escaping a two-on jam in the fifth inning after he induced an infield pop-up by Phil Nevin for the second out. But Ryan Klesko hit a run-scoring double to right-center field and Hernandez came through with his hit.

“I was one out away from getting back to the bench,” Erickson said, “and when you give up three runs like that ... it cost us.”

By contrast, what had been a scorching Dodger offense cooled considerably, finishing well off the 6.5-runs-per-game pace it had set over its first 14 games. Milton Bradley popped out in each of his first three at-bats and finished hitless for the first time in his 14 starts.

With runners on second and third and nobody out in the sixth inning, Bradley stepped to the plate and proceeded to pop out to catcher Hernandez in foul territory. Jose Valentin drove in J.D. Drew from third with a sacrifice fly to right field, cutting the deficit to 5-1, but Phillips stranded Jeff Kent at second when he grounded out to end the inning.

Bradley did make two spectacular throws, one to throw out Nevin at the plate in the seventh inning and another to get Mark Loretta trying to go from first to third on Brian Giles’ single in the eighth.

“I couldn’t get any hits,” Bradley said, “but I still have an arm out there so I could do something to help the ballclub.”

But the Dodgers were no match for Padre pitching, going hitless in seven at-bats with runners in scoring position. Plate umpire Andy Fletcher ejected Valentin in the ninth inning after Valentin argued a called third strike. Manager Jim Tracy raced out of the dugout in protest and was ejected after a short argument.

The Dodgers put two on with one out in the third and fourth but came up empty. Drew struck out looking at a 92-mph fastball and Kent popped out in the infield to end the third, and Jason Grabowski grounded into a double play to end the fourth.