Dan Haren, Dodgers offense come up short in frustrating loss to Diamondbacks

Dan Haren walked the tightrope and lost, and the Dodgers offense couldn't pick up the slack, giving the Diamondbacks a 5-3 win in the series finale on Sunday at Chase Field in Phoenix.

The Dodgers, down two runs in the eighth inning, got a brief reprieve when a double play ball by Hanley Ramirez was dropped by Paul Goldschmidt at first base, extending the frame. Both Adrian Gonzalez and Andre Ethier singled against Brad Ziegler to load the bases for Matt Kemp, who hit a hard liner but right at Cliff Pennington at second base for the final out of the inning.

The tying run came to the plate against closer Addison Reed with two outs in the ninth, but Dee Gordon flew out to left field to end the game.

The Dodgers offense on Sunday consisted of home runs by a pair of slumping sluggers.

Ramirez entered Sunday hitting .214/.295/.371 with two home run in May, but drilled a curveball in the first inning from Josh Collmenter into the left field seats for a quick 1-0 lead.

Gonzalez also homered, a two-run shot into the pool in the third inning that at the time gave the Dodgers a 3-1 lead.

The home run was a welcome sight for Gonzalez, who last went deep in the second game of a doubleheader on May 1 in Minnesota. The first baseman was 8-for-54 (.148) in the 14 games since, but it also continued his strong play at Chase Field this season.

In six games in Arizona in 2014, Gonzalez is 12-for-25 (.480) with four home runs, 12 runs batted in and five multi-hit games.

The Dodgers porous defense reared its ugly head in the second inning. With one out Cody Ross lined a ball that fooled Yasiel Puig in right field. Puig started in on the ball then immediately went back but couldn't quite haul it in, the ball caroming off his glove for a gift double. A.J. Pollock then grounded a ball to third baseman Juan Uribe, who hesitated - either distracted by Ross at second base or because Gonzalez was late covering first - long enough to allow Pollock to reach safely.

Then a potential double play grounder to Gonzalez ended with a wild return throw from Ramirez, allowing the unearned run to score.

Arizona scored earned runs off Haren in each of the next two innings, one on an RBI single through the teeth of a defensive shift by Chris Owings in the third, another on a solo home run by Cody Ross in the fourth inning, his first home run of the year.

Haren, who entered Sunday with a career-best 48.1-percent ground ball rate and who otherwise induced nine groundouts and two flyouts in the series finale, left a pitch up over the plate for Eric Chavez, who hammered it into the right field seats with two outs in the fifth inning to put the Diamondbacks up 5-3, their first lead of the game.

After Gonzalez singled with one out in the sixth inning, Collmenter was pulled in favor of southpaw Oliver Perez. The Dodgers were down 5-3 with left-handers Andre Ethier and Carl Crawford due up. With right-handers Kemp and Scott Van Slyke available on the bench, manager Don Mattingly let Ethier bat despite his .234/.293.348 career mark against lefties, including 3-for-19 (.154) in 2014.

Naturally, Ethier walked.

Mattingly then tabbed Kemp to pinch hit for Crawford, bringing up a career .334/.396/.555 hitter against southpaws, including 6-for-17 (.353) with a home run, two doubles and two walks against Perez.

Kemp grounded the second pitch to Owings at shortstop for an easy double play to end the inning, and is somehow hitting .170 (8-for-47) with just three doubles against left-handed pitchers this season.

The Dodgers only had one hit and one walk in between Gonzalez's home run and their eight-inning rally.

Notes

The Dodgers were the first visiting team to lose a series at Chase Field this season, in Arizona's eighth series at home.

The Dodgers are 3-for-31 with the bases loaded, all singles, this season, at .097/.147/.097 the worst OPS in the majors in that situation.

Ramirez since the beginning of 2013 in 11 games at Chase Field is hitting .400/.509/.756 with 16 runs and 13 RBI.

Yasiel Puig was 0-for-3 with a hit by pitch, snapping his career-best hitting streak at 16 games.

Owings had three hits against Haren on Sunday and is 9-for-11 (.818) against him in his career.

Pollock was 3-for-4 on Sunday and was 8-for-12 with a double, triple and home run in the three-game weekend series.

Diamondbacks third baseman Martin Prado left the game after three innings with blurred vision in his left eye.

Sunday particulars

Home runs: Hanley Ramirez (6), Adrian Gonzalez (10); Cody Ross (1), Eric Chavez (3)

WP - Josh Collmenter (1-3): 5⅓ IP, 4 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts

LP - Dan Haren (5-2): 6 IP, 10 hits, 5 runs (4 earned), 3 strikeouts

Sv - Addison Reed (12): 1 IP, 1 hit, 2 strikeouts