PHILADELPHIA -- In the aftermath of the Dodgers' four-game sweep at the hands of the Phillies this weekend, capping a stretch of seven losses in nine games, they can at least take solace in the schedule.

Besides six showdown games against National League West-leading Arizona, Los Angeles will not play another team all season with a record better than 10 games under .500.

That stretch starts Tuesday with a three-game series against the Nationals, the club with the worst record in baseball.

"You have to play your game," said Dodgers manager Joe Torre. "We can't go out there and leave 80 guys on base, I don't care who we play. You only like the schedule if you're able to beat the teams you play, and the only way you can do that is to play the game you're capable of playing, and we haven't done that."

The Dodgers' remaining schedule includes the Washington series, a series at last-place Pittsburgh, three series against last-place San Diego, two against San Francisco and one at Colorado -- besides the six games against Arizona.

"I think if I'm sitting there in the broadcast booth, you can look at the schedule and say, 'Oh yeah,' but it doesn't always pan out that way," Torre said. "That's why this game is as unpredictable as any sport you can imagine, because any team can beat any team at any time. That doesn't happen in football, it doesn't happen in the other sports."

Therefore, Torre knows his club must approach the next three games against Washington the same way it did contests against St. Louis, Milwaukee and Philadelphia the past three weeks, a stretch in which the Dodgers went 7-7 sandwiched between series losses to the Giants and Rockies.

"We can't look past anything," Torre said.

Pitching matchup
LAD: RHP Derek Lowe (10-10, 3.89 ERA)
Lowe remains on a short leash. Once known as an innings-eater, he was lifted in his last start with a 2-1 lead after issuing a one-out walk in the seventh inning against the Rockies, having thrown 107 pitches. He allowed four hits and struck out seven. He also has double figures in wins in seven consecutive seasons. Lowe went 8-1 two years ago after Greg Maddux was acquired, and he's 1-0 this year with Maddux as a teammate.

WSH: RHP Collin Balester (2-6, 4.99 ERA)
Last Wednesday, Balester gave the Nationals six effective innings, giving up three earned runs, but Washington couldn't push a run across despite notching nine hits off Philadelphia starter Brett Myers. Balester is on a personal three-game losing streak.

Tidbits
Cory Wade (right shoulder inflammation) gave up one hit in one scoreless inning Monday in a Minor League rehab start for Class A Great Lakes. He could return to the Majors as early as Wednesday. ... Jason Schmidt (shoulder surgery) will have his scheduled Minor League rehab appearance pushed back from Tuesday to Friday so he can meet with Dr. Neal ElAttrache, who returned to the country on Monday after working the Olympics. ... The Phillies swept four games in Philadelphia from the Dodgers for the first time since Sept. 24-26, 1929, when the Dodgers were called the Brooklyn Robins. The Dodgers swept a four-game set from the Phillies in Los Angeles last week for the first time since July 2-4, 1962. ... First pitch for the Dodgers' Sept. 5 game against the D-backs has been moved from 7:40 p.m. PT to 7:08 p.m. to accommodate an ESPN telecast.

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On the Internet
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On radio
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Up next
• Wednesday: Dodgers (Greg Maddux, 6-10, 4.25) at Nationals (Tim Redding, 8-8, 4.54), 4:10 p.m. PT
• Thursday: Dodgers (Clayton Kershaw, 2-4, 4.11) at Nationals (John Lannan, 7-12, 3.95), 4:10 p.m. PT
• Friday: Dodgers (Hiroki Kuroda, 7-9, 3.87) at Diamondbacks (Yusmeiro Petit, 3-3, 2.83), 6:40 p.m. PT