LOS ANGELES -- For the third straight start, Derek Lowe could not go past the fifth-inning mark. And in the first inning in Saturday's 11-7 loss to the Giants, it seemed like he couldn't get anything past the Giants' batters.

"He just couldn't get a first strike," catcher Toby Hall said.

Lowe threw 102 pitches in 4 2/3 innings and gave up eight hits and seven runs at Dodger Stadium. He recorded two strikeouts and gave up two home runs, including one to Giants pitcher Noah Lowry.

Lowe lasted five innings with two runs in his previous start, but the Dodgers' bats propelled him to a win against Arizona. While the Dodgers' offense was there Saturday, a 4-0 deficit after one inning would prove too much to overcome.

Lowe's final June start saw him give up nine runs to Minnesota, his worst outing of the season. Manager Grady Little said he is not worried about Lowe's recent short performances, however.

"His first half has been up and down, but he has pitched more good games for us than he has pitched poor ones," Little said. "He won't be perfect all the time, but we like it when he's on the mound."

Lowe, on the other hand, was not as easy on himself.

"Clearly there is something going on that we have got to figure out before the next start," Lowe said.

It looked like it was going to be a long day from the start of the game. The three-hour, 32-minute game in 90-degree weather started with a five-pitch walk to Randy Winn.

Two singles followed and the Giants led, 1-0. Ray Durham hit a 2-0 fastball for a three-run home run to make it 4-0. Pedro Feliz notched a hit to left -- and Lowe had yet to record an out.

"It makes for an uphill battle and that's what it turned out to be today, an uphill battle all the way," Little said. "We'd start getting close to the top and would flip back down again."

The Dodgers put three on the board in the third after the 6-7-8 hitters had three consecutive hits. Hall had a two-RBI single to left-center field, and he came home on Rafael Furcal's single to left.

Los Angeles continued to play catchup from then on. The Giants took a 7-3 lead before the Dodgers scored another run in the sixth. The Dodgers could have done more with the bases loaded, but two popouts ended the inning.

The Dodgers did not let up and Olmedo Saenz brought his team within one run at 8-7. He sent a 2-1 pitch deep to right-center field with Furcal on base in the eighth. The close margin didn't last long, as the Giants added three runs in the ninth against Jonathan Broxton.

The winning run came to the plate in the bottom of the ninth when pinch-hitter Russell Martin batted with the bases loaded. Martin popped out to Winn to end the game.

For Lowe, the loss seemed to be made up of little mistakes that, in some cases, did not make sense.

For example, he said, he threw a four-seamer to Lowry, who drove it to left field for his first career home run. The count had been at 2-1 and Lowe had expected the Giants' starter to take another strike.

"It didn't work out too well," Lowe said.

"He pitched a normal game," Little said. "He made a couple mistakes. You make those kind of mistakes with a veteran ballclub, with veteran hitters like those across the way over there, you're going to have to pay. Today, they made him pay."

That's exactly what 11-year veteran Durham did. He finished the game with two hits, four runs, one walk and three RBIs.

Hall was 3-for-5 and had three RBIs on the day.

The loss dropped Los Angeles two games behind the first-place Padres in the National League West, a half-game ahead of the Rockies and Giants.