BROWN LOOKS SHAKY AGAIN PITCHER ALLOWS THREE RUNS IN RELIEF IN LOSS FLORIDA 6, DODGERS 3.

Byline: Rich Hammond  Staff Writer

Kevin Brown, the Dodgers' multimillion-dollar middle-relief insurance policy, couldn't do enough by himself to lead his team to victory Tuesday night.

Brown, making his first appearance at Dodger Stadium since May 16, relieved Kazuhisa Ishii in the sixth inning and gave up three runs in three innings as the Dodgers gave up ground in the National League wild-card race and lost to the Florida Marlins 6-3 in front of 40,503.

San Francisco beat New York to move to within 2 1/2 games of the Dodgers.

Dodgers manager Jim Tracy chose to put Brown in the bullpen as the right-hander comes back from back and elbow surgeries, and Brown made his second appearance since being activated from the disabled list.

He didn't overpower the Marlins, allowing the first four runners he faced to reach base. Preston Wilson singled but was later thrown out trying to steal third. Derrek Lee walked, Juan Encarnacion had an infield single and Mike Lowell singled to right to score Lee.

Brown then induced two fly outs to end the sixth, and allowed one hit but otherwise got through the seventh without trouble. Tracy allowed Brown to hit in the bottom of the seventh, and Brown ran into trouble in the eighth.

Lee led off with a single and Encarnacion hit the first pitch he saw over the left-field fence for a 6-1 Florida lead. Brown retired the next two batters but then gave up a walk to Tim Raines and a single to Homer Bush, but got out of the inning on a Mike Redmond comebacker. He allowed seven hits, walked two and struck out one.

It was a much better game for Florida starter Brad Penny (6-4), who allowed one run on four hits in seven innings.

Not so long ago, Ishii (13-8) seemed a sure bet to win 20 games and his name placed high on potential National League Rookie of the Year lists. The thought of Ishii winning the Cy Young Award wasn't too farfetched either, but now the Dodgers would just like him to string together a couple of quality starts.

They didn't get one Tuesday. Ishii was once again done in by his inability to get through the early innings without trouble. He allowed the Marlins one run in the second inning and two in the fourth, and the Dodgers' offense, strong on the recent road trip, couldn't bail Ishii out.

It was a predictable loss for Ishii. In the first four innings of his last five starts, dating back to July 30, Ishii has allowed a total of 22 runs in 20 innings. Ishii struggled to get ahead of batters Tuesday, although things looked good early when he struck out the first two batters he faced and retired the side in order in the first.

But Ishii's success was not long-lived. Wilson led off the second with a walk, stole second and scored when Encarnacion doubled to left field with one out. Ishii got out of the inning and the Dodgers tied the game in the bottom of the second when Dave Hansen singled home Shawn Green from second.

Ishii rebounded nicely in the third, retiring the side in order, and seemed as though he might be able to make it deep into the game and break his recent trend of poor starts. But the Marlins struck quickly in the fourth.

Kevin Millar led off with a walk, followed by Wilson with a single to left. Lee then hit a 2-2 pitch into left to score Millar from second and Ishii struck out Encarnacion, but Lowell hit a fly ball deep enough into center field to score Wilson and give the Marlins a 3-1 lead.

Ishii retired the side in order in the fifth but left for a pinch hitter in the bottom of the inning and the Dodgers managed little offense after that. Penny retired the last eight batters he faced.

CAPTION(S):

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Photo:

The Dodgers' Dave Roberts dives but can't catch the ball in a 6-3 loss to Florida on Tuesday.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer

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