It’s all downhill for Dodgers after Mike Bolsinger leaves

REPORTING FROM PHOENIX â€”  Mike Bolsinger was cruising. By the fourth inning, he hadn’t given up a run in his first trip back to Chase Field since being traded from the Arizona Diamondbacks. Of three hits given up, only one had left the infield.

Then, in the fourth inning, he grabbed his side, looking ill. Bolsinger finished the inning, but he wouldn’t return. He was stricken with what he described as food poisoning.

“It just kind of kept getting worse and worse,� he said, and he was talking about the illness, but he could have also been describing the Dodgers’ 10-6 loss Monday.

Bolsinger left with a 4-0 lead. Over the remaining four innings, the game spiraled into a mess.

Four relievers gave up two runs or more. Justin Turner committed a base-running gaffe. Pedro Baez had a throwing error. Dodgers pitchers ignored base runners, and the Diamondbacks stole six bases.

“It’s not a good feeling,� Manager Don Mattingly said. “This was probably one of the worst feels after a game.�

At first, the Diamondbacks hitters were the ones looking queasy. Bolsinger’s curveballs tumbled in, up high, in the dirt, inside and out.

But the Dodgers were uncertain how long Bolsinger could last. He received an IV before the game and grew more nauseous as the start approached.

In the fifth inning, Bolsinger’s spot in the order came up, so Mattingly pulled him. Both said he might have been able to go for one more inning.

After he exited, the Dodgers bullpen quickly imploded. Joel Peralta and Yimi Garcia yielded two runs in the fifth and sixth innings to tie the score. After the Dodgers rallied to retake the lead in the seventh, Juan Nicasio gave up two runs to tie the score again. Then, in the eighth, Baez gave up a go-ahead double to Welington Castillo, plus three other runs.

It was unfortunate timing for Bolsinger, who was acquired from the Diamondbacks for cash in the off-season. At the time, the move seemed like a footnote. Bolsinger was 1-6 in one season in Arizona. He’d never won at Chase Field.

The Dodgers had several chances to blow the game open. Diamondbacks starter Allen Webster walked the first two batters and hit the third. But Adrian Gonzalez grounded into a double play.

“That’s definitely disappointing in the first,� Mattingly said.

Though Webster’s control remained erratic, the Dodgers managed only a bloop single until the fourth inning.

After the Diamondbacks tied the score in the sixth, Jimmy Rollins countered with a two-run single. The Dodgers blew that too.

“We had the game back in our hands,� Mattingly said.

He decried the Dodgers’ inability to hold runners on base, to hold a lead. But, he said, the team’s veterans should know by now how to respond.

Coming into the game, Dodgers relievers had the fourth-best ERA in the National League, but they couldn’t solve the Diamondbacks lineup the way Bolsinger had.

Exiting the clubhouse, Bolsinger, when asked how he felt, said simply, “Not good.�

The rest of the team could relate. After the disastrous eighth inning, the Dodgers slumped off the field, almost as if, by the end, their stomachs were a bit upset too.

Follow Zach Helfand on Twitter @Zhelfand