Late magic in short supply as LA falls Depleted lineup mounts charge, but lacks impact bat By Ken Gurnick / MLB.com LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers made runs at literally every available big bat last winter, but the one that general manager Ned Colletti really had in his sights passed on free agency and remained a Cub. So as Aramis Ramirez was touring the bases Saturday on his 12th home run, the Dodgers could only watch and wonder what might have been, while dealing with the reality of what became a 4-2 loss to Chicago that could drop Los Angeles into a tie for first place with San Diego. Mark DeRosa followed Ramirez's home run with one of his own, the back-to-back shots off Mark Hendrickson in the second inning followed two innings later by another two-run rally, while the Dodgers could muster only two runs off Carlos Zambrano. Even though one of the Dodgers' runs came on the fifth home run from part-time third baseman Wilson Betemit (an 0-2 pitch), the lack of an impact bat like Ramirez was underscored by the lineup the Dodgers fielded Saturday. Cleanup hitter Jeff Kent was already scheduled for a day off following a late night game, and an hour before first pitch, shortstop Rafael Furcal was a defection with a stiff right knee. As a result, Russell Martin became the cleanup hitter, Tony Abreu batted second (one hit, two strikeouts) in his third Major League game and Ramon Martinez (0-for-3) started at shortstop. The starting nine boasted a total of 16 homers on the season, only four more combined than Ramirez has alone. Of the Dodgers' 14 current position players, seven have no Major League homers this year, and Nomar Garciaparra has only one after tying for the club lead last year with 20. Garciaparra's home run drought has reached 136 at-bats. He's still clutch enough to lace an RBI single past former teammate Cesar Izturis during the Dodgers' eighth-inning rally, but there would be no miracle comeback like the night before. Martin followed Garciaparra's single with a walk to load the bases, but Will Ohman caught pinch-hitter Kent looking at a called third strike on a breaking ball to end the inning. A last-gasp ninth-inning bid against Chicago closer Ryan Dempster also fell short as Olmedo Saenz, whose pinch-single started the eighth-inning rally, ended the game with a double-play grounder. Juan Pierre and Andre Ethier had two hits apiece for the Dodgers. "We put ourselves in a position to come back, it just didn't happen," said manager Grady Little. Hendrickson pitched better than four runs in five innings looked. DeRosa's home run barely made it into the right-field box seats. "Those were probably pitches just a little bit up, outside, and they hit them out," said Hendrickson. "I felt good. There were some hits that were unfortunate and some hits that really hurt. It just wasn't meant to be today." Hendrickson is winless with a 6.86 ERA over his last four starts, but he also has the lowest run support in the Major Leagues going back to the start of 2006. When he left after five innings, the Dodgers were being shut out. In the fourth inning, the Cubs fought off several sliders for soft singles, and the inning was extended when Zambrano legged out a slow roller to Martinez, the fill-in shortstop, a play that might have turned out differently with Furcal's rifle arm. "I know he runs well, he's a good athlete, so I had to hurry," said Martinez. "I would have barehanded it, but I didn't want to take a chance." Furcal said the club didn't want to take a chance with his right knee, which tightened up in the later innings of Friday night's wild 9-8 comeback victory. It's the same knee that was operated on early last year after he signed a three-year, $39 million contract. "The last three innings I started to feel it a little bit, and I sat down after an inning and when I got up, I felt it and, 'Oh, what's going on?' " he said. "I didn't feel 100 percent, I was limping and they didn't want to take a chance it would be longer. I came to the park today and in my mind I want to play. I think I'll be OK tomorrow. I took a lot of treatment today." Kent is expected back Sunday, and he won't have to fight Martin to get back the cleanup spot. "I'll let Jeff handle it tomorrow," said Martin, who went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts in his first game batting fourth. Chad Billingsley followed Hendrickson with three scoreless innings, allowing only one infield single with three strikeouts. Brett Tomko made his first relief appearance since coming out of the rotation earlier in the week and pitched a perfect ninth inning. -- 红红的花开满了木棉道~长长的街好像在燃烧 沈沈的夜徘徊在木棉道~轻轻的风吹过了树梢 木棉道我怎能忘了~那是去年夏天的高潮~木棉道我怎能忘了~那是梦里难忘的波涛 啊 爱情就像木棉道~季节过去就谢了 爱情就像那木棉道~蝉声绵绵断不了 --

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