Another wasted inning

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