Bohanon Stranded by Dodgers

Brian Bohanon has been the biggest surprise for the Dodgers, who haven’t had many reasons to smile this season.

The husky left-hander has helped provide stability to a pitching staff in transition, and he had another impressive performance Wednesday night.

Bohanon pitched a complete game against the San Diego Padres, but his teammates didn’t do enough in a 3-2 loss before an announced crowd of 29,163 at Dodger Stadium.

Bohanon (7-11) tossed his second complete game with the Dodgers and pitched at least seven innings for the ninth time in 12 starts, giving up eight hits and three runs. Tony Gwynn’s solo home run in the fifth provided the difference, making a winner out of Padre starter Andy Ashby (17-9).

San Diego closer Trevor Hoffman pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings to earn his major league leading 52nd save. The Dodgers stranded runners at third base in the sixth, eighth and ninth innings.

“It has been a lot of bad luck,” said Bohanon, who struck out six and walked three while throwing 127 pitches, 71 for strikes.

“For some reason, something goes wrong for us when I’m out there. It’s frustrating, but what can I do about it?”

The Dodgers cut the Padres’ lead to 2-1 in the third on a run-scoring single by Eric Karros.

With two out and Angel Pena on third, Karros singled to left. Karros has 87 runs batted in, only three fewer than team-leader Raul Mondesi, who has had about 100 more at-bats.

In the fourth, Matt Luke led off with his 11th homer. The blast to right field tied the score, 2-2, and provided another exciting moment for the rookie outfielder.

“I’ve gotten some opportunities to contribute this year, and I think I’ve helped the team,” said Luke, who started in left Wednesday. “I’ve had a lot of good experiences.”

Ashby has as well, though not lately.

Ashby has struggled since he won his career-high 16th game on Aug. 12, going 0-3 with an 8.70 earned-run average in six starts before Wednesday.

His overall ERA increased from 2.50 to 3.34 in those starts, and Ashby dropped out of contention for the National League Cy Young Award.

On Wednesday, Ashby gave up seven hits--including Luke’s homer--and two runs in six strong innings in finally earning his 17th victory. He struck out six and walked one while throwing 90 pitches, 56 for strikes.

Ashby improved to 2-0 against the Dodgers in two starts. He defeated the Dodgers, 4-1, on July 11, giving up one run in eight innings while throwing only 88 pitchers.

The Padres staked Ashby to a 2-0 lead in the second. Jim Leyritz walked to open the inning and took third on a double by Steve Finley.

Leyritz scored on a groundout by Carlos Hernandez, and Finley scored on Chris Gomez’s single to right. That ended Bohanon’s scoreless streak at 17 1/3 innings, spanning three games.

“It’s not something you really think about,” Bohanon said. “You just go out there and throw your game and hope it all works out.

“Obviously, everyone would like to pitch a shutout each time out. But that’s not going to happen all the time with the hitters in this game.”

Gwynn is among those at the top of the list. The eight-time NL batting champion gave the Padres a 3-2 lead with a one-out solo homer--his 15th--in the fifth against Bohanon.