Diamondbacks can't hold off the Dodgers in loss

LOS ANGELES -- Standing at the top step of the Diamondbacks' dugout on Saturday afternoon, right-hander Mike Bolsinger did not look like a man a couple of hours away from making his first major-league start.

He stretched casually, betraying no emotion. He posed for pictures with his family. He nonchalantly took General Manager Kevin Towers' cell phone and received well wishes from another member of the team's front office.

Then, once the game started, he looked just as unflappable on the mound — at least until the fourth inning started.

Bolsinger cut through the Los Angeles Dodgers' lineup for three innings on Saturday before falling apart in the fourth and fifth innings of an 8-6 loss at Dodger Stadium.

Looking to build on Friday night's hard-fought extra-inning victory, the Diamondbacks instead stumbled, letting a 4-0 lead slip away and losing for the seventh time in eight games.

In dropping to 5-15, they remain one of the more talked about teams in the game. This week, a rival executive called them "the most interesting team in baseball," in large part because no one expected them to be this bad.

Count Dodgers right-hander Dan Haren among them. Haren, who beat the Diamondbacks for the second time this week, thinks his former team is better than the record indicates.

"I'm pretty sure they're going to turn it around," he said. "I think the rotation has struggled up to this point — pitching can be just as contagious as hitting. You get a couple bad starts in a row and guys get in a funk. I've seen it before.

"The lineup from top to bottom is too good. They're going to score enough runs and the pitching is going to better."

Yet somehow it keeps managing to get worse. After Wade Miley gave the Diamondbacks a strong start on Friday night, Bolsinger coughed up seven runs (six earned) in four-plus innings. The Diamondbacks' rotation ERA was at 7.26 entering the day and at 7.50 at the end of it.

Helped along by an error on Dodgers shortstop Hanley Ramirez, the Diamondbacks jumped on Haren in the third inning. Paul Goldschmidt lined a two-run single to right and Miguel Montero laced an RBI double, and the Diamondbacks had a 4-0 lead.

Meanwhile, the little-known Bolsinger, who has pitched well at every minor-league level but who has never earned much acclaim from scouts, was cruising, retiring nine of the first 11 batters he faced.

But with one out in the fourth, Adrian Gonzalez and Matt Kemp shot singles to center, and Andre Ethier followed by drilling a fastball out to right field for a three-run home run.

"I just left it up," Bolsinger said. "I was doing pretty well the whole game of locating the fastball in and out, and I just kind of left one up."

The mistakes multiplied in the fifth. Haren, Dee Gordon and Carl Crawford started the inning with consecutive singles to load the bases. Then Ramirez hit what looked like a double play ball to third base, but Martin Prado couldn't make the play, a run scoring on the error.

That was the end of Bolsinger's night, but Gonzalez (two-run single) and Kemp (two-run double) greeted reliever Oliver Perez with hits, blowing the game open.

"I left some balls up and when you do that up here, there's consequences," Bolsinger said. "It's how you respond to it. Each time I've been out there, I've kind of learned."

Dodgers 8, Diamondbacks 6

Recap: Andre Ethier slammed a three-run home run in the fourth inning and the Dodgers sent nine men to the plate in a five-run fifth inning as they rallied from a 4-0 deficit to beat the Diamondbacks, their sixth win in seven games against them this season.

Diamondbacks RHP Mike Bolsinger struggled in his first major league start, breezing through three scoreless innings before the Dodgers' bats came alive in the middle innings.

Haren recovers: Dodgers RHP Dan Haren, who pitched for the Diamondbacks in parts of three seasons, beat his former team for the second time this week.

The Diamondbacks scored four times off him in the third inning and seemed on the verge of breaking the game open, but Haren settled down and pitched into the eighth inning. He gave up five runs (two earned) in 7 1/3 innings.

"He just keeps the ball down, he throws a lot of strikes, it's tough," Diamondbacks 1B Paul Goldschmidt said. "He did a good job."

Costly mistake: The Dodgers' five-run fifth inning off Bolsinger might have unfolded differently if not for a mistake by Diamondbacks 3B Martin Prado.

With the bases loaded and nobody out, Prado couldn't handle a ground ball by the Dodgers' Hanley Ramirez. It might have been a double play, but when the ball squirted away, everyone was safe. A run scored on the play and the Dodgers scored four more runs in the next two batters.

Cahill shines: For the second game in a row, RHP Trevor Cahill pitched well coming out of the bullpen, tossing three perfect innings in relief, striking out four.

"Trevor was great," manager Kirk Gibson said. "He threw the ball better than he did last night. Total command of all his pitches."

View from the press box: For the second time this season, a Diamondbacks baserunner took an extra base on Dodgers CF Matt Kemp. On Sunday at Chase Field, Eric Chavez aggressively turned a single into a double on a ball hit to center field, appearing to catch Kemp off guard. This time, it was Chris Owings who did it, aggressively rounding first on what looked like a routine single to center field. Kemp is going to have to start being more alert or the Diamondbacks will continue to test him.

Up next

D-Backs at Dodgers

When: 1:10 p.m., Sunday.

TV/radio: FSAZ/KTAR-AM 620, KPKX-FM 98.7, KSUN-AM 1400

Pitchers: RHP Josh Collmenter (0-1, 3.75) vs. Dodgers RHP Josh Beckett (0-0, 4.00).

Notable: Collmenter will be making his second start since shifting into the starting rotation. Limited to a low pitch count, he threw just four innings in his first start, giving up three runs on five hits and a walk against the New York Mets. … Beckett opened the season on the disabled list with a thumb injury and has made only two starts, giving up four runs in four innings against Detroit and tossing five scoreless against the Giants.

Projected starters

Monday: At Chicago, 5:05 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Bronson Arroyo (1-1, 9.95) vs. Cubs LHP Travis Wood (0-2, 3.00).

Tuesday: At Chicago, 5:05 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Brandon McCarthy (0-3, 7.11) vs. Cubs RHP Jason Hammel (2-1, 3.05).

Wednesday: At Chicago, 11:20 a.m., Diamondbacks LHP Wade Miley (2-2, 4.35) vs. Cubs RHP Jeff Samardzija (0-2, 1.29).