LOS ANGELES — When he signed on for this line of work, Braves rookie closer Craig Kimbrel knew there’d be days like this. That didn’t make it any easier to swallow when it happened Thursday afternoon in a 5-3, 12-inning loss at Dodger Stadium.
The Braves rallied to take a 3-2 lead in the ninth on David Ross’ two-out, two-strike, two-run single, but Kimbrel blew it on a two-out, 0-2 single by Casey Blake in the bottom of the inning. The Dodgers won on Matt Kemp’s two-run homer in the 12th.
“Our hitters battled to come back towards the end of the game. I just didn’t get the job done today,” Kimbrel said after his first blown save in six opportunities, including five this season.
“I tried to go fastball away, and it just went back over the plate. I didn’t throw the pitch where I wanted on 0-2, and he made me pay. He turned on the ball and dug in.”
Blake hit a 98-mph fastball through the left side of the infield to bring home No. 8 hitter Jamey Carroll, who had walked to start the inning and advanced on a wild pitch. It was the second earned run allowed by Kimbrel in 28 major league appearances.
Kemp’s homer off Cristhian Martinez with one out in the 12th also came on 0-2 count. Martinez hit Rod Barajas with a pitch to start the inning.
“You can’t make mistakes on 0-2, and we did today,” said manager Fredi Gonzalez, whose Braves lost three of four games in the series. “And we walked the leadoff hitter in the ninth and hit Barajas. Anytime you do that, you’re asking for trouble.”
The Braves have lost 11 of 16 and continue a 10-game trip with a three-game series in San Francisco starting Friday. They’ll finish with three in San Diego.
Reduced to footnotes were a fifth-inning homer by Braves rookie (and California native) Freddie Freeman that briefly provided a 1-0 lead, six eventful innings of seven-hit, one-run pitching by Braves starter Jair Jurrjens and a dramatic comeback in the ninth against Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw.
Manager Don Mattingly left Kershaw in to face Ross after the Braves loaded the bases on two-out singles by Chipper Jones and Dan Uggla and a walk by Freeman, and even though Kershaw had thrown 119 pitches.
Ross fought off an 0-2 inside pitch and pulled a soft liner to left field to score pinch-runner Jason Heyward and Uggla. Heyward had raced from first to third on Uggla’s single to left field, and Uggla had alertly advanced to second on the throw.
“Big hit for Rossy,” Gonzalez said. “I thought that might have gotten us over the hump. But hey, it’s a tough game, a humbling game. You’ve got to get all the outs, and we didn’t do that.”
The day after Jon Garland threw a four-hit complete game against the Braves, they had only two hits against Kershaw before the two-out rally in the ninth.
“I guess there’s some positives, but I don’t think we can see them right now,” Ross said. “Maybe tomorrow. I think this is a tough loss. It’s just one of those things where you fight. ... Kershaw was tough today, and we tried to put some good at-bats together, and we finally got to him in the ninth.”
The Braves were without two key relievers: Peter Moylan (bulging disc) is on the disabled list, and lefty Jonny Venters had what Gonzalez called soreness in the biceps or triceps in his upper left arm. “Not the elbow or shoulder,” Gonzalez said.
Venters hasn’t been used since his 27-pitch, five-out appearance Tuesday, but Gonzalez said he could be cleared to pitch Friday.
“I felt like I was fine to pitch,” Venters said, “but they’re trying to be cautious to make sure, since it’s early in the season. But it was tough [to watch and not pitch].”
After Jurrjens worked through several sticky situations in a six-inning, one-run outing -- he threw 36 pitches in the first and escaped a bases-loaded jam -- Gonzalez turned to veterans George Sherrill and Scott Linebrink in the seventh.
Linebrink gave up a Blake home run that put the Dodgers ahead 2-1.
