LOS ANGELES – Dodgers manager Don Mattingly hasn't had many options on the bench to go to lately because of injuries to Casey Blake, Rafael Furcal and Marcus Thames.
So he was forced to use three straight pinch-hitters in the seventh inning who came in with a cumulative batting average of .194 — Juan Uribe, Jay Gibbons and rookie Jerry Sands.
The only player left on the bench with any pop was Rod Barajas, who came within a few feet of a tying three-run homer in the ninth against J.J. Putz, and the Dodgers ended up losing 4-1 to the Diamondbacks.
"It's hard to have a strong bench when you're basically playing the guys you're playing," said Mattingly, whose starting lineup Sunday included catcher Dioner Navarro, Aaron Miles at second baseman, Juan Castro at third, Tony Gwynn Jr. in left field, and all-purpose Jamey Carroll as the shortstop and leadoff hitter.
"It would look different if the guys that were on the DL were back in the lineup and you were able to mix-and-match with the guys that are playing now," Mattingly said. "Right now we've thinned ourselves out, and the guys on the bench now are guys we didn't expect to be up here who made us go into our depth chart."
Ian Kennedy (4-1) allowed a run and four hits, struck out eight and walked one to help the Diamondbacks win a series at Dodger Stadium for the first time since a three-game sweep in August 2007. Xavier Nady and Ryan Roberts hit consecutive homers off Ted Lilly, who complained of a sinus condition after the game and wasn't able to speak with reporters.
Lilly (3-4) gave up four runs and five hits over six innings and struck out five. The 35-year-old left-hander, coming off a 10-3 win at Pittsburgh last Tuesday, has yet to win consecutive starts this season after going 7-4 in 12 outings following a trade last July 31 from the Chicago Cubs.
"I'm sure he probably had a couple of pitches he didn't get where he wanted to," Mattingly said. "He's not overpowering, so he's going to get burned at times. And if he's not locating, it changes his game. But he's going to keep competing and keep us in the ballgame."
Andre Ethier, whose 30-game hitting streak ended on May 7 at New York, was 0 for 4 after reaching base either by a hit or a walk in 37 straight contests and was 1 for 11 in the series with a run-scoring infield single. Cleanup hitter Matt Kemp was 0 for 3 with two strikeouts Sunday, after grounding into a game-ending double play on Saturday.
"Their 3-4 hitters are among the best in the game, especially in the National League," Kennedy said. "And to keep them down, it pretty much keeps their whole offense down."
Kennedy, who has a 1.50 ERA over his last six starts, was coming off three straight no-decisions after beating Philadelphia 4-0 for his first big league shutout. The right-hander needed help from Esmerling Vasquez, David Hernandez and Putz, who earned his ninth save in as many chances.
Putz gave up a leadoff double to James Loney before striking out Navarro. After a walk to Uribe, Barajas came up and drove a fastball to the warning track in center — where it was caught by Chris Young.
"The at-bat before, he was struggling to throw strikes. So I was trying to just look for a strike and not go out of the zone," Barajas said. "I knew hit it good, but I wasn't sure how the ball would carry. Usually in day games, it carries pretty well. I tried to put a good swing on it, but I didn't quite get the head of the bat out quite enough."
The Diamondbacks, held to just one hit in Saturday's 1-0 victory over Chad Billingsley, scored all of their runs in the second inning. It snapped a string of 22 consecutive innings by Dodgers starting pitchers without allowing an earned run — not counting the two scoreless innings by Jon Garland that were washed away by the rain in Pittsburgh on Thursday.
Nady and Roberts both homered into the left field bullpen after a leadoff walk to Stephen Drew. The next batter, Miguel Montero, was hit with an 0-1 pitch and Gerardo Parra followed with a bunt single. Both runners advanced on Kennedy's bunt, and Young capped the rally with a sacrifice fly.
Lilly plunked Montero again in the third inning, loading the bases after a two-out walk to Roberts, but Parra flied out.
The Dodgers loaded the bases in the first with singles by Carroll and Miles, a double-steal on Kennedy's strikeout of Ethier, and a walk to Kemp. But Loney flied out to shallow center field and Navarro struck out, making the Dodgers 3 for 30 with the bases loaded.
Miles, who had three of the Dodgers' six hits, got Los Angeles on the board in the third with an RBI single.
Notes: Roberts, who missed the previous two games because of flulike symptoms, did not have an RBI in 47 career at-bats against the Dodgers before his home run. ... The Dodgers' bullpen took another hit on Sunday when RHP Blake Hawksworth was placed on the 15-day disabled list because of a groin strain. RHP Javy Guerra made his major league debut with a scoreless ninth after getting promoted from Double-A Chattanooga. ... Castro, in his fourth stint with the Dodgers at age 38, made his season debut and started at 3B for the first time since June 26, 2010 with the Phillies.
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