Daring escape their midnight dreary, the Dodgers scored as many runs in the ninth inning tonight than they had scored in any of their past eight games. Rafael Furcal broke out of his recent slump with a single, double, solo homer and two walks.

But still, the Dodgers lost, in maddening fashion. A three-run rally in the ninth inning fell one run short, and Los Angeles fell 4 1/2 games back in the National League wild-card race with a 6-5 defeat.

Merely this, and nothing more.

After being held to two runs yet again over the first eight innings tonight, the Dodgers’ comeback felt as much like their luck turning as anything else. Jamey Carroll’s force-out grounder avoided being a double play by a hair. Scott Podsednik’s long fly ball was run down by center fielder Andres Torres but clipped off his glove for a triple.

But on the other hand, Furcal had a legit perfect night at the plate (though not so perfect on the basepaths, as he was thrown out trying to stretch a double into a triple earlier in the night). And after James Loney was hit by a pitch (Giants pitchers hit three more Dodger batters tonight), Matt Kemp worked his way from a 1-2 count to go with a 3-2 slider, like the grownup everyone wants him to be, and single to center field, driving in Furcal and putting Loney on third as the tying run with two out, tapping at our chamber door.

Just as your eyes started to widen with hope, Casey Blake grounded into a force play at short.

Darkness here, and nothing more.

Giants ace Tim Lincecum once again looked surprisingly beatable, allowing eight baserunners in the first three innings, but the Dodgers let him off the hook in the top of the third, failing to score after Furcal’s leadoff homer despite a single, a double and a hit batter. (Andre Ethier was easily thrown out at home on a fielder’s choice.) Carlos Monasterios mostly kept San Francisco at bay tonight, leaving in the sixth inning with the Dodgers trailing, 3-2, but you picked a fine time to leave me, Jeff Weaver. For the second Friday in a row, Weaver came in with the Dodgers down a run and let things get out of hand, allowing an inherited run and two others to score.

The deficit turned out to be not quite as insurmountable as we thought, but it was insurmountable enough. The Dodgers fell to 5-10 since the All-Star Break.

These things pass, they do pass, but then again, so do kidney stones. It’s a painful, painful process. One of the last things the Dodgers have been able to cling to, their dominance of the National League West, has been chipped away with three consecutive defeats. Essentially, they have to start over.

Maybe the ninth-inning rally took some of the sting out by at least giving the impression the Dodgers hadn’t surrendered, maybe the five runs will prove helpful in reminding the offense it’s capable of producing runs, but these are not pleasant times. And the 1 p.m. Saturday trade deadline brings little encouragement. Mike Petriello of Mike Scioscia’s Tragic Illness had the line of the night: “Most fans of ‘buyers’ are excited to see who their team picks up at the deadline. We’re just terrified. Its like anti-Christmas.”

Someday we’ll say, “Nevermore.”