He apparently hurt himself when he had to accelerate — something he wouldn’t have had to do if he had run hard out of the box — trying to avoid getting thrown out at first on what should have been a gimme single to right — something he wasn’t able to avoid. Not only did he suffer that colossal embarrassment, but he also had to leave the game after throwing four pitches in the bottom of the inning. He responded when he got to the dugout by heaving his glove against a wall in disgust, right in front of a TV camera with the red light on. Dodgers have run themselves into two outs tonight, including Kent getting thrown out at second trying to stretch a single in the second inning. If Lowe misses significant time, it could force the front office’s hand before next week’s trading deadline. Now, the Dodgers might have to give up a couple of their top prospects to get another starting pitcher. Well, the evening is certainly going well for the boys so far. … Astros 1, Dodgers 0, bottom 5

I thought for sure I had seen Albers listed as a lefty — although after watching Betemit predictably whiff with runners on first and second and two outs to end the fourth, I’m still not sure why he is in the lineup — or on the team, for that matter. Dodgers are 0 for 5 with four strikeouts tonight with RISP. Nice situational hitting. Astros 1, Dodgers 0, middle 4

Dodgers got a leadoff triple from Loney in the third, but he got no farther. Matt Kemp, who for all his potential is still very much a work in progress, needed to do nothing more than put the ball in play to get Loney home with the Astros infield playing halfway. Instead, he appeared from this angle to be trying to hit the ball into the next zip code. He struck out, of course, as did Derek Lowe, who was on deck at the time. Rafael Furcal then grounded weakly to second — albeit after a prolonged at-bat that got Matt Albers to 52 pitches for the game — to strand Loney. D-Lowe, meanwhile, was working on a perfect game until Eric Muson got him for a one-out homer in the bottom of the third. Typical Lowe start, so far: zero offensive support and just enough mistakes — one, in this case — to cost himself the game. Astros 1, Dodgers 0, top 4

Betemit is playing in place of Nomar against Matt Albers. He has his average all the way up to .250 (7 for 28), with two doubles, a homer and two RBI, against lefties. Betemit might play 2B tomorrow night against Rodrigo Lopez. It would be his first start of the season at the position, which he played a lot in the minors.

SS Furcal
CF Pierre
C Martin
2B Kent
LF Gonzo
3B Betemit
1B Loney
RF Kemp
RH Lowe

Also, I am Rick Monday’s pregame radio guest tonight (already recorded it), so if you want to hear my words of wisdom, turn to KFWB 980-AM.

There was some computer glitch that wouldn’t allow me onto the web site last night, so no blogging. Looks like it is all fixed now, though, so back to normal — even though there isn’t a lot of news for this early in the day. I do have this little tidbit, though, from the Dodgers’ game notes: In the 12 games since the All-Star break, the Dodgers led the N.L. in hits (147) while ranking second in runs (76), RBI (72), average (.324) and on-base percentage (.377), with the Phillies leading in all those categories. The Dodgers are tied for first with four triples and tied for second with 25 doubles, while ranking third in slugging percentage (.485). Not that any of that helped them last night, when they fell back into their old, freeswinging habits against Jason Jennings, who hadn’t beaten an N.L. club all year. The Dodgers made five outs in five pitches over one stretch between the third and fourth innings. That can’t continue if they hope to have success the rest of the way.