SAN DIEGO -- You would have to turn back the hands on the Trevor Time desk clocks the Padres handed out on Friday at PETCO Park to find the last time that San Diego closer Trevor Hoffman blew two save opportunities in consecutive appearances.

As a matter of fact, before Hoffman allowed four ninth-inning runs in a 6-5 loss to the Dodgers before a sold-out crowd of 44,035 -- on Trevor Hoffman Night, no less -- it had been 10 years since Major League Baseball's all-time saves leader suffered such an improbable meltdown.

"A lot of crazy things happened," Hoffman said of the ninth inning that began with San Diego clinging to a 4-2 lead and ended with a relief pitcher other than Hoffman -- Heath Bell, in this case -- finishing an inning that, more often than not, has belonged to the 39-year-old.

Career save No. 487 certainly has been elusive recently. On Wednesday, Hoffman allowed a two-run, game-winning home run to Stephen Drew of the D-backs in a 3-2 loss.

Following Friday's game, Padres manager Bud Black was asked by reporters if the consecutive blown saves by Hoffman merited cause for concern. Black nearly answered the question before the reporter had finished asking it.

"No ... it's just happened in consecutive games," Black said. "No need to be alarmed. His stuff is good. In the same situation, in a critical juncture, he's just made two pitches up in the strike zone."

Black was referring to the home run to Drew on Wednesday and then Nomar Garciaparra's two-run double in the ninth on Friday. Russell Martin later added his own two-run double, a drive to deep center field that glanced off the tip of Mike Cameron's glove.

San Diego (12-11) got a run back in the bottom of the ninth inning when Jose Cruz Jr. hit his fourth home run of the season. But by then, the damage inflicted by the Dodgers (14-9) with their bats, legs and gloves was already done.

After Padres right-hander Clay Hensley turned in clearly his best outing this season -- two runs on six hits in 6 1/3 innings with five strikeouts -- the bullpen took over, as Cla Meredith got the final two outs of the seventh inning and then Scott Linebrink turned the ball over to Hoffman after tossing a scoreless eighth inning.

That's when the bells rang -- Hell's Bells, Hoffman's entrance music, as he slowly trotted in from the bullpen past the center-field fence to face the Dodgers. Almost immediately, Hoffman found himself in trouble.

Pinch-hitter Marlon Anderson started the inning innocently enough, lining a soft single into center field. That's when things got interesting for Hoffman and his teammates, as Los Angeles' speedy shortstop Rafael Furcal dropped down a perfect drag bunt up the first-base line.

San Diego first baseman Adrian Gonzalez fielded the ball, and turned as if he were going to throw to second base for the first out before deciding Anderson was well on his way to the base. Gonzalez then tried to reserve pivot and go to first base but Furcal beat him to it. Hoffman said afterward he made some contact with Furcal while trying to cover the bag, so Furcal might have been safe on interference anyway.

"Gonzo plays an aggressive first base," Black said. "I think he looked at second, saw it wasn't going to be there and with the speed of Furcal, he wasn't able to get back. ... He hesitated for a moment."

At any rate, the Dodgers had baserunners on first and second with no outs, though they would not stay there long as Juan Pierre dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move the two into scoring position.

That brought up Garciaparra, who already had three hits. But Hoffman had a plan for Garciaparra. He would go after him early, though Garciaparra wasn't biting.

"He showed a lot of patience in that at-bat," Hoffman said.

Hoffman then fell behind in the count, 2-1, and offered up a changeup that Garciaparra hammered into the gap in left-center to tie the game.

After Jeff Kent popped out for the second out, Black came out to the mound for a visit, though the discussion wasn't so much about if Hoffman would finish the inning but how they wanted to handle the next batter, Luis Gonzalez. The decision was made to walk Gonzalez to get to Martin.

"I told him let's go after the young kid," Black said. "My thinking was an experienced hitter in Gonzo, go with the guy who hasn't see much of Trevor."

But like with Garciaparra, Hoffman fell behind, 1-0. The Dodgers catcher then got deep into a fastball, sending it toward the warning track in center. Cameron nearly made a fine running catch on the ball, but it hit off his glove as two more runs scored.

"I thought we had a chance," Hoffman said. "He hit it square and gave it a ride. But if Cam can't get it, no one probably can."

It wasn't just the timely hits that went the Dodgers way on Friday but their speed -- they stole three bases -- and their defense. Furcal made several nice plays at shortstop to rob the Padres of hits. Then there were two nice diving catches in right field by Andre Ethier, the last coming in the eighth inning off Kevin Kouzmanoff's two-out line drive with the bases loaded that, had it fallen in, would have made Hoffman's appearance unnecessary.

"That was a great play by Ethier," Black said. "It would have scored two runs, maybe three or maybe an inside-the-park [home run]. A tremendous play."

Hoffman's implosion in the ninth inning prevented Hensley from winning for the second time in his last two starts after opening the season with three losses and looking very bad in doing so.

But Hensley threw more changeups and curveballs on Friday than he had in any of his prior four starts and found great success in doing so. Nearly all of his five strikeouts came on curveballs that the Dodgers fruitlessly chased out of the strike zone.

"I was feeling pretty good, my curveball was pretty good today," he said. "I was throwing fastballs for strikes, my mechanics feel good as far as releasing the ball."

As for Hoffman's blown save, Hensley didn't sound upset or too concerned about the two blown saves in as many opportunities.

"We've got the best closer in baseball," Hensley said.