After quick start, Bolsinger hits road block in LA

LOS ANGELES -- The D-backs hoped that their 12-inning win over the Dodgers on Friday night would give them some momentum to turn around their sagging fortunes.

It looked like that might just be the case when they led the Dodgers, 4-0, through three innings Saturday night.

Things, though, went horribly wrong for the D-backs in the fourth and fifth innings as the Dodgers rallied for an 8-6 win in front of a packed house at Dodger Stadium.

Rookie Mike Bolsinger, making his first big league start, could do no wrong through the first three innings as he held the Dodgers to just one hit.

"Michael started off really good," D-backs manager Kirk Gibson said. "Really hitting his spots, staying on the corners."

The second time through the lineup, though, would prove to pose far more problems for the right-hander.

After Bolsinger retired the first batter of the fourth, Adrian Gonzalez and Matt Kemp singled and Andre Ethier homered to right to cut Arizona's lead to 4-3.

"First time through the order was good," Bolsinger said. "But I kind of got away from my game plan a little bit. I left some balls up and when you do that up here, there's consequences."

The D-backs then had a meltdown in the fifth.

After three singles and an error to start the inning, Bolsinger was removed in favor of Oliver Perez.

When all was said and done, the D-backs committed a pair of errors as the Dodgers batted around and scored five runs to take an 8-4 lead.

"The fifth inning got away from us," Gibson said.

Martin Prado made an error in the inning on what could have been a double play and later in the frame, first baseman Paul Goldschmidt made a throwing error.

"It was a tough play," Prado said. "I was just making sure of one out and the ball just came out of my glove. It's unfortunate that it was a big inning for them, but the kid was throwing the ball well and I made a mistake and they took advantage of it."

Former D-back Dan Haren (3-0) pitched better than the final score would indicate. While he did give up four runs in the third, three of them were unearned thanks to an error by shortstop Hanley Ramirez.

"Really had some good at-bats the whole game, but just not good enough," Goldschmidt said.

Much like when they faced him five days ago, the D-backs had some chances to put Haren away, but the wily veteran kept them from landing a knockout blow.

"He's a veteran guy and he just sticks to his game plan and found a way out of it," Gibson said.

The D-backs finally chased Haren from the game in the eighth, and a two-run double by Prado off reliever Brian Wilson pulled the D-backs to within 8-6.

Then in the ninth, the D-backs brought the tying run up to the plate in the form of Goldschmidt, but Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen struck out Goldschmidt to end the game.

"We don't give up," Prado said. "We go all the way through even when we make mistakes. Sometimes things don't go the way you want them. But we'll see. Tomorrow is another day."

The D-backs rotation has struggled this year and the 5-15 start has been cause for concern in the front office.

Haren, though, sees better days ahead for his former team.

"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 get better."