LOS ANGELES -- The Arizona Diamondbacks kept within striking distance all game, but when the big hit was needed, they came up short again and again. The Diamondbacks had the tying run in scoring position and only one out in both the eighth and ninth innings, but couldnt score and fell 4-3 to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night. "We got a couple hits and had some good A-Bs, we just couldnt get anything going with runners in scoring position," Arizona shortstop Chris Owings said. "We were in it the whole game. We just needed that big hit and couldnt get it tonight." The Diamondbacks tagged Dodgers pitching for 13 hits, but it wasnt enough to prevent their third straight loss. Clayton Kershaw held them down for seven innings, allowing eight hits but only one run with seven strikeouts. It was a redemptive outing for the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner after Arizona ripped him for seven runs in just 1 2/3 innings the last time they met. He had won his last three starts since that outing. "You hope to not have any of those clunkers in a season but it happens obviously," he said. "I dont know if Im on a roll or whatever but its been going well." The Diamondbacks rallied as soon as Kershaw left the game. Three of their first four batters in the eighth singled against reliever Brian Wilson, including a one-out RBI single by Tuffy Gosewich that brought them within one. But J.P Howell entered and struck out David Peralta and got Miguel Montero to fly out to end the threat. Justin Turner extended the Dodgers lead in the bottom of the inning with a pinch-hit RBI single to right to score A.J. Ellis from second. The knock extended Turners modest hitting streak to six games and would prove valuable when the Diamondbacks once again staged a rally in the ninth against Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen. Gerardo Parra got the comeback attempt started with a one-out single, Paul Goldschmidt walked and Aaron Hill followed with a single through the left side to score Parra and cut the deficit to 4-3. Jansen buckled down and escaped further damage though, striking out Martin Prado and inducing Cody Ross to fly out to right to end the game and record his 18th save. The Diamondbacks stranded 12 runners on base in the contest and were just 3 for 14 with runners in scoring position. "You look at it and it was a one run game the whole way," Owings said. "We just couldnt get it done." Matt Kemp got the scoring started when he crushed a 2-1 changeup deep into the bleachers in left-centre field in the second to put the Dodgers up 2-0. The blast, measured at 402 feet, was Kemps first home run since May 10. "That was big for us," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "Weve struggled to score early and been getting behind a lot early here at home. It was good for us to get out to a lead." Aaron Hill cut the deficit in half in the top of the third, smacking a grounder down the third-base line just under the glove of a diving Chone Figgins for an RBI double. After that Kershaw went into lockdown mode. He allowed only four baserunners the rest of the game, none of which passed second base. "I think hes been pretty good except (for one start this year)," Mattingly said. "Hes the same old Clayton, right where we want him to be." The Dodgers win spoiled Diamondbacks rookie Chase Andersons bid to make history. Anderson (5-1) was trying to become just the second National League pitcher since 1914 to win his first six career starts. Instead, he suffered his first career loss after allowing five hits and two runs in five innings, with four walks and four strikeouts. NOTES: The Dodgers reinstated C A.J. Ellis from the DL before the game and optioned C Tim Federowicz to Triple-A Albuquerque. .The Diamondbacks recalled OF Tony Campana from Triple-A Reno and placed OF Ender Inciarte on the 7-day concussion DL. . A video tribute commemorating the career of former Dodgers RHP Bob Welch was shown before the game. Welch, who pitched for Los Angeles from 1978-1987, passed away Tuesday at the age of 57. Custom Chiefs Jerseys . 1 Caroline Wozniacki and three-time champion Serena Williams cruised into the semifinals, while last years runner-up Vera Zvonareva succumbed to Aussie Samantha Stosur in Thursdays womens quarterfinal action at the U. Armani Watts Chiefs Jersey . -- Having already fallen behind because of the NFL lockout, Blaine Gabbert couldnt afford a lengthy holdout. http://www.thechiefsshoponline.com/Youth-Chad-Henne-Chiefs-Jersey/. 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Dickey met with the media to preview the season, discuss the clubs decision to keep Josh Thole over Erik Kratz and outline his plans for the next few days. He will not travel with the team to Montreal. Here is a transcript of the conversation: QUESTION: R.A., kind of one last chance to work a few things out as opposed to looking at it as a regular season game? DICKEY: Oh yeah. Today was not a day about results for me. I mean, ideally, it would be great to get out of there with some clean innings but what was paramount for me was to exercise my arm in a way where I felt good and I was able to use a large range of velocities and mix in pitches that I would never throw during the regular season maybe to put it in their head that thats another weapon that I might use on them later. So I did exactly what I wanted to do. I got my exercise. I came out of spring feeling good. It was a good spring for me. My velocity is there. Now its just a matter of going to work." QUESTION: Not to say anything bad about Kratz but with Thole now being named your guy, I mean he has more experience with you than pretty much any catcher. Is that a good feeling to know that Tholes going to be your guy this year? DICKEY: Yeah. Look, Kratz did a great job. He improved every time out. There is, obviously, no replacement for experience and I think thats probably the angle that the leadership was coming from in making the decision to stick with Thole. Its important for us to get off to a good start, I think, this year and whatevers going to help us do that, so to take that doubt, even if it was just a miniscule doubt, out of the equation completely is good for me. Its good for everybody. QUESTION: But they didnt ask you personally what you thought? DICKEY: No and I didnt want them to. I wanted them to evaluate it on their own. They have enough baseball people in place to be able to see with their own eyes and make the decision accordingly. Thats a tough position for a teammate to be put in and I didnt want any part of it. QUESTION: Are you comfortable throwing to (Kratz) if that happens later in the season? DICKEY: Absolutely. I thought he did a very good job of improving every time out. QUESTION: Are you as ready as you think you can be for your Opening Day assignment? DICKEY: Yes. I feel prepared. I feel confident, which is great. Last year, I didnt feel very confident simply because I didnt feel as prepared. Im really looking forward to getting started and being able to adjust my schedule this year in a way that really maximizes my preparedness has been great. To have the two games where I pitched eight innings and then to have this taper down outing is great. QUESTION: R.A., what are your plans for the two or three days the team is in Montreal? DICKEY: Well, Im going to be hanging back and staying with Josh. Josh is going to stay back. Well throw a bullpen on Friday and then well probably head over together on Saturday, meet the team and it will become regimen after that. The season will begin and Ill just be working out at the minor league complex until its time to go. QUESTION: At the beginning of camp, you were talking about how hopefully somebody steps up and becomes that surprise guy. Now youve got McGowan and Hutchison making the rotation. Has camp pretty much gone as you expected that, you know, you get some kids that come out and maybe a McGowan that no one expected? DICKEY: Yeah, I dont think it ever goes as you expect it to. Theres always a knuckleball thrown in there, you know, for lack of a better word. This year, you know, some guys have been called on to step up that maybe werent expected to. McGowan probably didnt come into spring training thinking he was going to be a starter. He may be our fourth guy in the rotation and great, hes got the stuuff for it and I think he wants to do it.dddddddddddd Like I said early on, its going to take one or two guys that you dont really count on when you come into camp stepping up and doing something special and weve got those guys in place right now. QUESTION: R.A., the routine you got back to this spring, was it very similar to what you would have done in New York or were their adjustments? DICKEY: No, its almost exactly like 2011, 2012 for me where I was able to pitch a lot early on and then get to a place where I felt comfortable with my stuff and could just go out there and get my exercise that last outing. Again, this outing in particular for me was not at all about results. It was much more just about conditioning. QUESTION: You had that upper back and neck issue, obviously, last year. Was that something that was even bothering you at the end of camp or was that something that didnt really pop up until later? DICKEY: No, I was having to kind of step on the gas. A lot of times you labour to get to where you want to get to and I was labouring last year. This year, I feel like its just coming pretty naturally for me so thats a big encouragement. QUESTION: Is there an overall different feeling with the team as you get set to break camp compared to last year? There was so much going on, expectations were different. Whats the difference in feeling this year? DICKEY: I think the heartbeat is a lot different this year. I think, one, were very comfortable. If I had a word to describe what this camp has been, its been comfortable. Guys really know that this is a big year for us collectively. Were kind of getting a mulligan this year. Last year, a lot of things went wrong. This year, were pretty much all healthy, were here, weve been here all spring, weve been able to do relationship with one another and now were in a much different place than we were last year and its a much more comfortable place. QUESTION: So does that mean it was uncomfortable a year ago? DICKEY: It was for me, sure. I mean, coming in and out of camp, WBC, people flying all over the place, people getting hurt, yeah it was uncomfortable. I dont think it was what anybody wanted last year but every team has to deal with adversity throughout the season. We just were forced to deal with it very early on. Hopefully, this year, we will not have to do that. QUESTION: Your thoughts on pitching Opening Dday. You got to do it last year but theres got to be something special about taking the mound in that first game? DICKEY: Yeah, Ive worked my whole career to try to be trustworthy. I think thats something Ive always longed to be for a team is a trustworthy component. When you get the ball on Opening Day, the manager is saying, We trust you. Thats a special thing and its not something I take lightly at all and so Im very excited and very honoured to have the honour. QUESTION: Getting back to the health issues, did you do anything differently in the offseason to change your conditioning regimen in response or in a way that might curb the possibility of a recurrence? DICKEY: Yeah, I started earlier. I started earlier in the sense that last year, at the World Baseball Classic, I had to be game-ready a lot earlier in the spring than I did this year because youre competing in, basically what it came down to, an Olympic event. You just had to really step on the gas and my body just wasnt ready for that. This year, I didnt have that. I could really take my time and I did take my time. I started a little bit earlier and I was able to pump the brakes a little bit when I needed to and get to a place where I felt very comfortable taking the next step and then the next step. Youre always trying to eliminate excuses. You dont want to have to say, well I dont feel great, or I have a WBC or we werent together. 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