The Los Angeles Dodgers are fading right along with their first-half star. Kazuhisa Ishii was badly out of sync as he failed to make it out of the third inning Tuesday night, and the Dodgers had three errors and a run-scoring passed ball that helped the Reds pull away to a 12-4 victory.

        Ishii (12-7) gave up a season-high eight runs in 2 2-3 innings — his shortest outing in 21 starts since arriving as a free agent from Japan. The left-hander walked six of his 20 batters and gave up homers to Jason LaRue and Aaron Boone as the Reds pulled ahead 8-0.

        As soon as he walked Barry Larkin to open the Reds' first inning, it was apparent Ishii was off. He wound up walking Larkin three times in three innings.

        “The tone was not good at all,” manager Jim Tracy said. “Kaz did not pitch good tonight, right from the start. With all of the walks and constantly getting behind in the count, it just continuously rolled over and over.”

        Ishii showed little emotion as the runs piled up. When Tracy finally hopped from the dugout to replace him, Ishii tucked his glove under his left arm, wiped his face and forcefully rubbed the ball a few times before handing it over.

        “It was just one of those things today,” catcher Paul Lo Duca said. “He struggled early with the strike zone, and they were swinging the bats well. It wasn't one particular pitch, just one of those nights.”

        The Dodgers led the NL West by 2 1/2 games at the All-Star break, but have gone into a 5-13 nosedive that has dropped them into a second-place tie with San Francisco, five games behind Arizona. The slide has coincided with Ishii's swoon.

        Ishii, who pitched for 10 years in Japan, won his first six starts for the Dodgers and was 10-1 on June 8. Since then, he's gone 2-6 in nine starts with a 4.96 ERA.

        By most measures, this one was his worst. He threw only 35 strikes out of 72 pitches.

        “I hope I can figure out what's wrong and try to correct it by the next start,” Ishii said through a translator. “Getting that first strike is very important, and I want to make a conscious effort to get first strikes in my next start.”

        Notes: RHP Kevin Brown threw 90 pitches in the bullpen at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday without problem. Brown will throw in the bullpen again Thursday, then start a rehab assignment with Triple-A Las Vegas. Brown, 37, had surgery on a disc in his lower back. ... RHP Darren Dreifort had arthroscopic surgery to remove torn cartilage from his right knee.

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