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Jun 1, 2010 - 6:03 AM By ALAN FERGUSON STATS Writer

Arizona (20-31) at Los Angeles (28-22), 10:10 p.m. EDT

It's been three weeks since Los Angeles Dodgers starter John Ely beat the Arizona Diamondbacks for his first major league win.

For the Diamondbacks, it's been a long three weeks.

Arizona will attempt to defeat Ely and avoid a ninth consecutive loss Tuesday night as it continues a three-game series at Dodger Stadium.

After falling short of a win in his first two starts, Ely (3-2, 3.00 ERA) allowed two runs over six innings in Los Angeles' 13-3 rout at Arizona on May 11. The rookie right-hander also won his following two starts and pitched well again Thursday at Chicago. He limited the Cubs to one run, four hits and two walks over 7 1-3 innings, but wound up on the wrong end of a 1-0 score.

With a 2.18 ERA in his past five starts, Ely will try to bounce back by topping the Diamondbacks again.

"I've been pretty focused," he told the Dodgers' official website. "Everything is becoming routine for me, and that's the way I like it."

Unfortunately for the Diamondbacks, losing is becoming routine. Their current eight-game skid is their longest since dropping nine in a row Aug. 5-14, 2004, en route to a franchise-worst 51-111 finish.

Arizona (20-32) has blown late leads in its last two losses, including suffered perhaps its most unusual loss of the current slump in Monday night's series opener.

Los Angeles (29-22) scored twice to tie the game in the eighth inning after Kelly Johnson made a fielding and throwing error on an Andre Ethier grounder. In the ninth, reliever Esmerling Vasquez was called for a balk with two outs, allowing Casey Blake to score and give the Dodgers a 5-4 victory.

The previous day, the Diamondbacks' bullpen blew its 11th save in 21 opportunities when San Francisco scored twice in the ninth inning off Chad Qualls. Carlos Rosa gave up the deciding run in the 6-5 defeat an inning later.

"This team sorely needs a win," Hinch said. "Losing this way is just excruciating."

The Diamondbacks will turn to Dan Haren (5-4, 5.35) in their attempt to earn that much-needed victory, but the right-hander is coming off his roughest outing of the season.

Haren surrendered a season-worst eight runs and 10 hits in Thursday's 8-2 loss in Colorado, dropping to 1-3 with a 7.92 ERA over his last four starts.

He was on the losing end of Ely's first win, allowing four runs and 10 hits over 6 1-3 innings to fall to 1-4 with a 4.06 ERA in his last eight starts against Los Angeles. Haren is also 0-2 with a 5.32 ERA in his last four outings at Dodger Stadium, where he earned his only win July 19, 2003, while pitching for St. Louis.

Los Angeles, which leads the overall season series 6-1, will try to beat Arizona for the 15th time in the last 19 meetings at Chavez Ravine.