Lowe Allows Four Homers in 7-5 Loss

LOS ANGELES, California--The Dodgers fell behind 5-1, then rallied but never cold dig out of the hole and when left fielder Luis Gonzalez fell into the front row seats in left field, catching a potential two-run, game-tying home run in the eighth inning, it became clear that this one was just not the Dodgers' day. Arizona (40-42) ended a four-game losing streak with only its fifth win in 16 games. They are one game ahead of the Dodgers (38-42), who have lost 13 of their last 18.

Los Angeles lost a rare afternoon game in front of another great crowd, 44,457, when starter Derek Lowe allowed a career-worst four home runs and left after three innings. And used up reliever Duaner Sanchez had trouble late in the game.

The right-hander walked two of the first three batters he faced in the eighth, then balked a run home from third to give Arizona the final 7-5 margin. Over his past three appearances, Sanchez has allowed four earned runs in 2 innings, with three unintentional walks, a wild pitch and a balk.

Lowe (5-9) has given up 13 home runs in 113.2 innings but it was the first time in his 414-game career he had allowed four home runs in one game and the start was his shortest of the year. He gave up one in the first, two in the second and one in the third before being excused for the day.

By the time Elmer Dessens relieved him in the top of the fourth, the Dodgers had closed to within 5-3. They pulled to 6-4 in the fifth on the second home run of the afternoon by the surging J.D. Drew, who is now 8 for 15 since missing five games with pain in his left knee.

The Dodgers got two home rns and an RBI single from Drew and a two-run single from Jayson Werth, but the Diamondbacks piled up 12 hits and seven walks.

Elmer Dessens threw three innings of relief, allowing only one run on a blooper that got by a diving Mike Edwards in left field, allowing a run to score from first. The only other Arizona run came in the eighth, when Kelly Wunsch allowed a single, and Duaner Sanchez threw only nine of his 23 pitches for strikes, issuing three walks and committing a run-scoring balk.

The Dodgers chance in the bottom of the eighth. Hee-Seop Choi walked but Mike Edwards hit into a fielder's choice. Jason Phillips slugged a shot down the left-field line that Gonzalez ran to the four-foot-high wall, caught, then fell into the stands.

Fate toyed with the Dodgers, giving them yet another opportunity in the last of the ninth. Antonio Perez singled with one out, but Drew was called out on strikes and Jeff Kent flew out to center field to end the game.

Dodger Blue Notes--The FOX network moved the game to the afternoon on Saturday and with the Dodgers scheduled for a Sunday evening game on ESPN Sunday, they will arrive in Denver in the wee hours of Monday morning in advance of a 6:05 p.m. start, local time, at Coors Field. … Injuries kept Cesar Izturis and Olmedo Saenz out of the starting lineup for the second day in a row. Izturis, mired in a month-long slump, will probably would return for the first game of the Colorado series. Saenz said he is bothered by lower back pain and said he could play Sunday. …Outfielder Ricky Ledee, sidelined since June 5 because of a strained hamstring, wants to be activated from the disabled list in time for the Dodger trip to Colorado on Monday, but the determination will be made by team trainers. …Closer Eric Gagne (elbow) and reserve catcher Paul Bako (knee) will have examinations Tuesday and begin rehabilitation. Both players are out for the season.