MILWAUKEE (AP) - Ted Lilly is happy with how he's thrown lately. The Dodgers' offense has given him little joy.

Lilly (7-13) scattered two hits over seven innings, but Los Angeles hit into a triple play, four double plays and had two runners thrown out at home in a 3-0 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday night.

Advertisement

Lilly has seen his last three strong starts end in losses after receiving no run support over his last 21 innings.

``I was happy with the way that I threw the ball. With the exception of the last few starts, I haven't said that a lot,' Lilly said. ``Unfortunately, you want to win those games and we weren't able to do it.'

Lilly retired the first 11 batters until he left an 0-2 pitch hanging to Ryan Braun, who homered for the 23rd time this season in the fourth.

Jonathan Lucroy and Corey Hart homered off Dodgers relievers for the NL Central-leading Brewers, who have won 17 of 19 and have a six-game lead over second-place St. Louis after the Cardinals lost 6-2 at Pittsburgh.

In the second, James Loney hit a grounder that second baseman Josh Wilson grabbed up the middle, flipping the ball out of his glove to shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt. Betancourt threw to Prince Fielder at first and Fielder fired home, where George Kottaras tagged out Matt Kemp.

``Things weren't falling the way we wanted them to,' Kemp said.

In the eighth, Lucroy homered off Scott Elbert and, two batters later, Hart followed with his 18th home run against Mike MacDougal to make it 3-0.

John Axford converted his 32nd consecutive save opportunity and 35th in 37 chances and the game ended with Kemp being doubled off first on Juan Rivera's liner to Fielder.

``It's kind of fitting that you end the game with a double play,' Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said.

Brewers starter Randy Wolf (10-8) dealt with base runners in every inning but the sixth, allowing six hits and five walks. But Milwaukee's defense, considered the weakest part of this team with six weeks left in the season, made several great grabs and all of the routine ones, starting with a double play by Andre Ethier to end the first.

After the second-inning triple play, Milwaukee cut down another runner at the plate in the third.

Dioner Navarro doubled and Justin Sellers followed with a single, but center fielder Jerry Hairston fired home and Kottaras easily tagged out the Dodgers catcher trying to score.

Hairston made an even better play in the fourth. With one on and one out, the 35-year-old journeyman made a diving catch of Kemp's shallow fly ball and then was able to throw out Ethier trying to return to first.

Then in the fifth, Rivera walked to lead off the inning, but Loney hit a grounder to Fielder, who started another double play.

``There were some weird things that were going on,' Lilly said. ``Certainly their defense had some nice plays and big plays and kept us from getting on the board.'

Notes: Lilly has received one run or less in 11 of his 25 starts this year. ... The Dodgers hit into their seventh triple play since the team moved to Los Angeles in 1958. ... Elbert snapped a career-best streak of 10 scoreless innings. ... In the second of this four-game series on Tuesday night, the Brewers will send RHP Yovani Gallardo (13-8, 3.67 ERA) to face RHP Chad Billingsley (10-9, 4.17). ... The Dodgers had won four straight in Milwaukee and seven of their previous eight before Monday's loss.