Beckett still winless as Dodgers fall

LOS ANGELES -- Josh Beckett remains in search of his first win, but the right-hander was not making any excuses after his shortest outing of the season.

Beckett fell to 0-4 in six starts, and the Dodgers lost to the Rockies, 7-3, at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday night to conclude a 3-3 homestand.

"I've got to make adjustments; that's all there is to it," Beckett said after allowing five runs (four earned) on five hits in four innings. "I've got to get back to work, figure something out. That's what it's all about."

Adrian Gonzalez did all he could to try to give Beckett his first victory. The first baseman hit a towering two-run homer down the right-field line in the first inning, and he was robbed of three-run shot in the third when Rockies center fielder Dexter Fowler made a leaping catch at the wall in left-center.

"I was thinking it's high, and just go get it," Fowler said. "Anything that comes off his bat has a chance to go out. The best thing to do is run back and try to get under it, and I had enough room to jump and catch it."

Gonzalez said he thought it was a home run when it left his bat.

"It could have been a difference," said Gonzalez, who leads the Dodgers with 20 RBIs. "It would have given us a lead we never had."

Fowler's grab kept the Dodgers from turning an early 3-2 deficit into a two-run lead, and the home team settled for one run in the inning as Nick Punto scored on a wild pitch to tie the game at 3.

The Dodgers never threatened again, falling to 5-10 against the rest of the National League West.

Things did not go well for Beckett from the beginning, as he labored through a 28-pitch first inning and allowed three runs.

Leadoff hitter Eric Young reached on an error by shortstop Hanley Ramirez, Fowler singled and Carlos Gonzalez walked to load the bases for Troy Tulowitzki, who lofted a two-run double to left in his first action since Sunday. After a sacrifice fly, Beckett avoided further damage with a strikeout and groundout.

"When you leave your guys standing around for 30 or 40 minutes in the first inning, I've just got to make better pitches," Beckett said.

The Rockies regained the lead, 5-3, in the fourth, as Carlos Gonzalez pounced on a 2-0 curveball to drive in two. Beckett said that was "the one pitch that stings the most."

Beckett's only clean inning came during a 1-2-3 third. He kept the Rockies in the yard, though, in only his second outing this season without giving up multiple homers.

"This was probably his least effective start," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "It seems like most of the other ones he kind of kept us in the games. Tonight it just seemed like he was off all night. It didn't seem like his location was quite as good as it's been. He wasn't throwing as many strikes. Nothing really seemed to go his way. It was a battle there tonight for him."

The veteran had never been winless in six starts to begin a season during a 13-year career, and that concerns the manager.

"It's one outing and then it's another outing and then it's getting to be a little bit of a hole as you start thinking about trying to climb out of that," Mattingly said. "It's not going to be a one start and you're back to .500. You're going to have to pitch good for a while."

But Beckett's record is not entirely indicative of his performance this season. He took a hard-luck loss in Arizona on April 14, tossing 8 1/3 scoreless innings before giving up a walk-off hit in a 1-0 defeat.

"He has thrown good games for us," catcher A.J. Ellis said. "He had some bad luck tonight, some hits fell in. Josh is a professional guy. He's one of our starters, one of our horses. I look forward to his next outing."

Rockies starter Juan Nicasio did not make it past of the fourth either, allowing three runs on five hits. The right-hander struck out six and walked two.

Ramirez had three more hits in only his second start since returning from the disabled list Monday. The shortstop doubled in his first at-bat to go along with two singles. He had homered and doubled Tuesday on his bobblehead night in a dramatic return to the lineup.

The Dodgers are below .500 again at 13-14, and they have another three-game division series coming up against the Giants that begins Friday.

"Now we have a day off to regroup and get ready for the series in San Fran," Ellis said. "I look forward to playing up there; two great teams going at each other."