AN INOPPORTUNE TIME FOR DODGERS HARD-LUCK RELIEVER BEIMEL TAKES LOSS FOR L.A, WHICH SQUANDERS SCORING CHANCES PHILADELPHIA 6, DODGERS 4.

Byline: TONY JACKSON Staff Writer

Joe Beimel got the loss, but he didn't get the blame. Not after he had been such a rock-solid presence for so long in the Dodgers' bullpen.

Not when so many of the balls hit off him Sunday fell just in front of a charging outfielder or just inside a foul line.

Not when the Dodgers wasted so many chances to blow open a game that eventually would be blown open by the Philadelphia Phillies, who stuck the Dodgers with a 6-4 defeat in front of 48,270 at Dodger Stadium.

It was Beimel who took the mound to begin the eighth inning with the score tied, Beimel who gave up three runs while recording just one out, and Beimel's 1.89 ERA that got blown up like the inflatable doll that, for some reason, was being passed around the field-level seats behind third base in the late innings.

But it was Beimel's teammates who grounded into fourdouble plays and stranded sixbaserunners during the pivotal fifth, sixth and seventh innings -- including leaving the bases loaded in the seventh when rookie Matt Kemp grounded out on the only pitch thrown by Phillies reliever Geoff Geary. For his trouble, Geary was awarded the victory.

``It was just a bad day at work,'' Beimel said. ``It just happens once in a while. I'm going to give up some runs, but this seemed like a bad day to do it.''

Indeed.

After Phillies left-hander Brett Myers had stifled them on one hit through four innings, the Dodgers rallied in the fifth, loading the bases with one out. But all they could muster was a run-scoring, fielder's-choice grounder by Russell Martin, and Aaron Sele struck out to strand runners at the corners.

In the sixth, the Dodgers loaded the bases with nobody out. And while the tying run did score, it came on a double-play grounder by J.D. Drew, after which Olmedo Saenz flied to shallow center to leave Ramon Martinez on third.

Finally, after the Phillies took a 3-2 lead in the seventh, Myers pitched his way out of the game with consecutive, two-out walks to Martin and Andre Ethier. Kenny Lofton then tied the score off Rheal Cormier with a single in front of center fielder Aaron Rowand, who threw the ball to the backstop to allow Ethier and Lofton to advance.

After Cormier walked Martinez, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel brought in Geary (3-0), who benefitted greatly from Kemp's youth and inexperience by retiring him on a tapper up the first-base line on the first pitch.

``That was a situation where the kid has a chance to look at a pitch or two,'' Dodgers manager Grady Little said. ``But he got a little anxious in that situation, or the results might have been different.''

That brought on Beimel, who began the seventh just as Sele had begun the sixth, by giving up back-to-back doubles. This time, they were hit by Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley.

Utley's double put the Phillies ahead to stay. The former UCLA All- American finished the four-game series 8for18 with a double, two homers and three RBIs.

``I'm glad he is leaving town,'' Little said.

The Phillies scored their final two runs on botched fielder's-choice plays, runs that would prove crucial when Martin hit a solo homer in the ninth.

The second-place Dodgers (32-25) fell 2 1/2 games behind Arizona in the National League West after the Diamondbacks completed a four-game sweep at Atlanta.

The Dodgers have won 20 of 28 games over the past month, a stretch that has gained them all of 2 1/2 games in the standings.

Despite giving up Martin's third homer, the Phillies' Tom Gordon earned his 17thsave of the season.

The left-handed Beimel (2-1) was brought in to turn around the switch- hitting Rollins, who was hitting just .175 from the right side, and then to face lefties Utley, Bobby Abreu and Ryan Howard.

``We thought we had it lined up just right for Joe,'' Little said. ``This guy has been almost inhuman since he joined our ballclub. Today showed that a little bit of him is human.''

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2 photos

Photo:

(1) Philadelphia's Chase Utley slams into Dodgers catcher Russell Martin during the eighth inning Sunday. Utley, a former All-American at UCLA, scored on a fielder's-choice grounder by Ryan Howard.

(2) Dodgers starter Aaron Sele sulks after giving up a home run to Philadelphia's Chase Utley in the third inning.

Keith Birmingham/Staff Photographer