SAN FRANCISCO - The "bullpen virus," as Manager Grady Little referred to the struggles of his relief corps recently, has become a chronic and debilitating illness for the Dodgers.
Add a strain of bad defense as a contributing factor after the Dodgers coughed up a three-run lead in the ninth inning and lost, 6-5, to the San Francisco Giants on Saturday.
Aided and abetted by Willy Aybar's error at third base, the Dodgers' 32nd error in 37 games, Danys Baez blew a save for the fourth time in his past six appearances. Baez has been charged with nine runs in 52/3 innings during those appearances.
"We can't see the big picture right now. We can only see the little picture," catcher Sandy Alomar Jr. said. "It's not fun to lose games like this. Will it be costly? Every game counts when you play 162.
"Later on, it could be critical. These are games you can't let get away. Good teams are supposed to bounce back from this type of game. Let's see how we react."
The last time the Dodgers stumbled this badly at the finish, they didn't react well at all. Baez and Lance Carter (quickly demoted to Triple-A afterward) let a 5-0, ninth-inning lead get away in San Diego on April 30, and it started a season-high five-game losing streak.
"We've had a little trouble killing them off," Little said. "It's not pretty to watch ... It's not a good feeling. But it's also something that we've learned we have to get over as quickly as possible."
That might be difficult if the Dodgers continue to blow leads. Little conceded that "our alternatives are on the DL," an obvious reference to closer Eric Gagne who could begin a minor-league injury-rehabilitation soon but is still probably three weeks away from rejoining the team. It also is an indication he has thought about alternatives to Baez.
Another emerging closer at hand could be Takashi Saito. Saito retired the side in order in the eighth (including Barry Bonds, who went 0 for 3 with a walk for the second consecutive game) and has retired the past 15 batters he faced.
"This job is not easy. Everybody knows that," Baez said when asked about his job security as closer. "You're going to have days when you throw three pitches and get a save. You're going to have days when you give up three, four, five runs."
Saturday was the latter.
Steve Finley led off the ninth with a double, but Baez got Pedro Feliz to bounce a ground ball to Aybar at third. Earlier in the game, Aybar had misplayed a ball to his backhand that was ruled a hit. This one bounced off his chest for an error.
"The error was only one out," Baez said. "That wasn't three outs."
Baez never got three outs. After a fly out by Ray Durham, Lance Niekro singled in one run and Todd Greene bounced another ground ball down the third-base line that got by a diving Aybar for a run-scoring double.
Dan Ortmeier singled in the tying run and put the winning run on third. Five of the hitters in that sequence put the ball in play after Baez got two strikes on them.
"You make the right pitch, you get the ground ball," Baez said. "But the ground ball goes down the line or the ground ball goes through the hole. That's part of the game."
After an intentional walk to Randy Winn, Omar Vizquel lifted a winning sacrifice fly to right field.
