Dodgers loss popped up when they least expected

LOS ANGELES -- A dropped pop fly led to the winning run for the Phillies in their 3-2 win over the Dodgers in 10 innings on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium.

With one out in the 10th inning J.P. Howell got Carlos Ruiz to pop up to shallow left field, a ball behind shortstop on which Hanley Ramirez seemed lost. Ramirez got turned around and was eventually in the way of left fielder Carl Crawford, who dropped the ball, allowing Ruiz to reach second base.

"It's a ball we have to catch. It's as simple as that," said manager Don Mattingly. "The plays you're supposed to make, you've got to make."

Neither Ramirez nor Crawford called for the ball.

"What can I say? It just happened. I'm going to watch the video tomorrow and see what happened," Ramirez said. "[The catch] has to be made. Hopefully it won't happen again."

Crawford was playing a deeper "no doubles" defense.

"I just missed it, pretty much. That's all I can say. I didn't catch it," Crawford said. "That was a long run for me, but I still got to it. But I couldn't catch it."

Ruiz scored on a double by Domonic Brown.

The loss ended a game the Dodgers never led, but one in which they battled back from down 2-0.

Dee Gordon used his legs to steal the tying run for the Dodgers in the seventh, but hurt his head in the process. Gordon hit a ground ball single to right field, only Gordon never stopped running. When Marlon Byrd's throw to the infield more resembled a ceremonial first pitch by a politician than a major league right fielder, Gordon was amazingly safe at second with a double.

Gordon then stole third, his second steal of the night, but in his head-first slide into third base hit his head on the knee of third baseman Jayson Nix. Gordon stayed in the game briefly and scored on a two-out RBI single by his second base platoon partner Justin Turner.

"I felt fine, but I started feeling weird when I ran home," Gordon said. "I wasn't dizzy, but it felt like my legs were up under me, like they usually are."

After the inning, Turner stayed in at second base, with Gordon retreating to the locker room with trainer Stan Conte.

"[Gordon] looked a little dazed," Mattingly said. "We didn't want to take any chances there."

Gordon passed a concussion test, and after the game said he felt fine.

The hit by Turner chased A.J. Burnett, who allowed just six hits but got three hits himself at the plate. Burnett even scored the first run of the game, against Hyun-Jin Ryu.

The extra-base hit machine Ruiz, who doubled twice and hit a home run on Monday's game, tripled with one out in the fourth inning, a ball that hit the bottom of the glove of a jumping Crawford in left field.

"I thought I had it at first," Crawford recalled. "I was happy it at least came back into the playing field."

Ruiz was erased when he tried to score on a ground ball hit just a few feet from him, to Juan Uribe at third base.

Burnett and Ben Revere each singled to open the fifth, and the Phillies cashed them both in with a double by Marlon Byrd and a sacrifice fly by Ryan Howard. The runs gave Philadelphia a 2-0 lead and snapped a string of 18 straight scoreless innings by Ryu.

Ryu finished with with just those two runs allowed in his six innings, on nine hits and two walks, with three strikeouts.

Tim Federowicz led off the bottom of the fifth with a double, was sacrificed to third by Ryu, then scored on a sacrifice fly to center field by Carl Crawford to cut the Dodger deficit to 2-1.

The Dodgers have committed 23 errors in 21 games, second-most in MLB, though they are in the middle of the pack in both defensive efficiency and Ultimate Zone Rating. But no matter the rating, defense is an area the Dodgers feel they are not performing.

"It's kind of been a frustration for us," Mattingly said "We just gotta get better."

Notes

The five extra-inning games this season by the Dodgers are their most in the first 21 games since 1986.

Gordon leads MLB with 12 steals. Eric Young stole 19 bases in April 1999, the most by a Dodger in the season's first month dating back to at least 1914.

Adrian Gonzalez was 0-for-3 with a walk, snapping his hitting streak at 16 games. But with the base on balls, Gonzalez has reached base in 17 straight games.

Mattingly said that Andre Ethier, who did not start because of lingering flu-like symptoms that have lasted for five days, was available to pinch hit had the situation called for it.

Burnett was 3-for-3 at the plate, the fifth multi-hit game of his career and first since Sept. 25, 2005.

Revere was 3-for-4 against Ryu and in two career games against the left-hander is 6-for-7 with a pair of doubles. Revere tied his career high with four hits in the game.

Tuesday particulars

Home runs: none

WP - Antonio Bastardo (3-1): 1 IP, 1 hit, 2 strikeouts

LP - J.P. Howell (1-2): 1 IP, 1 hit, 1 unearned run, 1 strikeout

Sv - Jonathan Papelbon (6): 1 IP, 1 hit