DODGERS FINALLY RUN OUT OF WAY TO GET VICTORY MLB: MARLINS' RAMIREZ HOMERS IN 11TH TO END A RUN OF L.A. MOMENTUM. FLORIDA 5, DODGERS 4.

Byline: Tony Jackson 

Staff Writer

The Dodgers, a team that spent the season's first three months finding ways to lose, spent the first few days of July finding ways to win.

But on Thursday night, whether it was a momentary speedbump or the first sign of a monumental unraveling, that newfound resourcefulness suddenly dried up.

The result was a buzzkiller of a 5-4 loss to the Florida Marlins before 40,417 at Dodger Stadium, a game the Dodgers could have and possibly should have won long before it ever got to the top of the 11th inning.

That was when Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez, who will be in the starting lineup for Tuesday night's All-Star Game for a reason, capped his first career five-hit game with a bomb off Dodgers reliever Brian Falkenborg.

The shot landed halfway up the rightfield pavilion, just to the right of the tarped-off section, and the ball wasn't the only thing that landed with a colossal thud.

In a game the Dodgers never led, Russell Martin had tied it for a second time with his 10th home run of the season, a shot off Marlins reliever Ryan Tucker to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning.

From there, though, the Dodgers would go hitless in five at-bats with runners in scoring position, strand one runner at third and two more at second, including the potential winning run in the bottom of the 10th after Andre Ethier and Martin drew back-to-back, one-out walks from Marlins reliever Joe Nelson.

That final opportunity was blown when Andy LaRoche -- who had one hit in eight previous career at-bats as a pinch hitter but at that point was the only bat left on the Dodgers bench -- struck out batting for Takashi Saito.

After James Loney grounded to second, Dodger manager Joe Torre had nowhere to turn but to Falkenborg.

And with that, the Dodgers missed out yet again on a chance to reach .500 for what would have been the first time in six weeks. They also lost their share of first place in the National League West, falling a game behind division-leading Arizona.

Eight games into the Marlins' 11-game trip to close out the first half, Ramirez is now 17 for 40, with three home runs and 16 RBI.

The Dodgers erased a three-run deficit in the third on a single by light-hitting shortstop Angel Berroa, a sacrifice bunt and three consecutive two-out, RBI singles by Matt Kemp, Ethier and Martin, with stolen bases by Kemp and Ethier wedged in between.

They also got a masterful pitching performance by seldom-used but often-lights-out reliever Hong-Chih Kuo, who got them safely through the seventh inning after starter Chan Ho Park could only get them through the fourth.

In addition to all that, the Dodgers (45-47) played outstanding defense.

There was a perfect throw by left fielder Delwyn Young to gun down Ramirez trying to stretch a single in the second inning. There were three tough ground balls in a row in the ninth, each one fielded flawlessly by Berroa, far to his right, far to his left and far to his right again.

And in what would have easily gone down as the play of the night if the Dodgers had won, a running scoop and stumble by second baseman Jeff Kent who, as he was falling down, managed to underhand the ball to Berroa for the force, ending the seventh with the bases loaded.

Tucker, who graduated from Temple City High School just three years ago and was chosen by the Marlins with a first-round sandwich pick in that summer's draft, had just entered the game in relief of starter Josh Johnson when he gave up Martin's home run. Johnson was making his major-league appearance since last July 4, a month before he underwent Tommy John reconstructive surgery on his right elbow.

Johnson left after five innings in line for the win. But that lasted all of three pitches.

Falkenborg (1-2) had coughed up a game in San Francisco last Saturday night, then bounced back on Sunday to pick up the win, the second of his career and his first since 2004, causing him to joke afterward that victories for him were like the Olympics.

Although he had little trouble retiring the other three Marlins he faced in the top of the 11th, Falkenborg's gopher ball to Ramirez made his comment ring true for now.

Kevin Gregg retired the Dodgers in order in the bottom of the inning for his 18th save.

DODGERS

FRIDAY vs. Florida, 7:30 p.m., Dodger Stadium.

TV: Ch. 9.

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Photo:

Florida's Hanley Ramirez is tagged out by the Dodgers' Jeff Kent while trying to stretch a single into a first-inning double Thursday. Ramirez had five hits.

Keith Birmingham/Staff Photographer