New night, same result

For the second straight night, the Dodgers found themselves in the lead against a good starting pitcher from the Giants.

And once again, they couldn't hold onto the lead.

Two solo home runs by Pablo Sandoval and Mike Fontenot in the sixth off of Ted Lilly handed the Giants a lead that they would not relinquish as they won, 4-3. The Dodgers dropped two of three in this series, and also dropped back to .500 at 6-6.

The Giants scored a single run in each of the first couple of innings. In the first, Aaron Rowand led off with a double to right. He went to third on Miguel Tejada's groundout, and then scored on Aubrey Huff's sac-fly RBI.

The next inning, Brandon Belt singled with one out. Fontenot had a big night, and it started here with an RBI double and a 2-0 advantage. Lilly wasn't sharp all to start the game, so he was probably pretty lucky to only be down by two.

Once Lilly settled down, the offense finally gave him some support. With two outs in the fourth, Marcus Thames singled to left. Rod Barajas was signed for his power, and he flexed his muscle by cranking a two-run shot, and the game was now tied at 2.

The Dodgers were able to take the lead in the sixth. Thames again started the rally by walking with one out. Barajas struck out swinging for two outs. Jonathan Sanchez was then left in to face Aaron Miles, and Miles made him pay by ripping an RBI double, and the Dodgers were now up 3-2.

That lead would be short-lived, however. Lilly stayed in in the bottom of the sixth, and with one out, Sandoval tied the game with a homer. Belt grounded out for two outs, but Lilly again made a mistake by surrendering Fontenot's first tater of the season.

The only other time the Dodgers seriously threatened was in the eighth, but they pretty much beat themselves this inning. Tony Gwynn went into left and doubled with one down. Barajas again struck out on some high heat. Gwynn then got caught trying to advance on a ball in the dirt in which Buster Posey cleanly fielded and threw to third. A bad mental mistake by Gwynn.

Brian Wilson barely broke a sweat for the second straight night by notching his second save this year.

This game wasn't quite as frustrating as the night before when the Dodgers blew a three-run lead. But, it's still one they could've taken. Lilly started poorly, found his rhythm, then fell victim to the gopher ball late. He finished at six innings for seven hits, four runs, no walks, and two strikeouts. His ERA now stands at 6.00, and he has yet to put in a good start in three tries.

Hong-Chih Kuo started the eighth inning, and was pretty much all over the place. He got Pat Burrell and Sandoval swinging to start off, though both hitters chased pitches off the plate. Then came two straight walks in which the ball was flying everywhere. Kuo will never top last season's numbers (nobody could), but it's a bit concerning that he has a 1.88 WHIP. His arm looks lively, though... maybe too lively. If he can start locating better, he'll be fine.

Miles had a good night by going 3-for-4 with an RBI. Thames also scored a couple of runs, including great hustle from first to score in the sixth. Matt Kemp went 0-for-4, Uribe 0-for-3 with a walk, and Ethier 1-for-4. The Dodgers won't win many games if those guys put up those numbers, plain and simple. It was one of those nights for them.

The Dodgers now return home after a 3-5 road trip. One more win would have looked much better, but that's the way it is. Now they welcome in the Cardinals, who have Matt Holliday back and just put up 15 runs in Arizona. Hiroki Kuroda will look to cool those hot bats in the first game against Jaime Garcia.