[0] DODGERS CATCH BREAK IN 10TH PITCHERS RULE EARLY, BUT GOODWIN DELIVERS DODGERS 1, PHILADELPHIA 0.

Byline: Brian Dohn Staff Writer

Even in this pinball era when 25 homers and 100 RBI are more staples of good seasons rather than benchmarks, pitchers prove they still own the game.

Phillies lefty Bruce Chen and Dodgers right-hander Kevin Brown had one of those time-warp nights in which pitching dominated with no solution.

Neither starter budged. The Dodgers finally got to Philadelphia's bullpen in the 10th inning and won 1-0 Saturday in front of 37,244 at Dodger Stadium. Jeff Branson doubled to right off reliever Vicente Padilla and Branson eventually scored on Tom Goodwin's two-out single to center as the Dodgers won for the 10th time in 13 games.

The Dodgers had few chances against Chen - acquired in the Andy Ashby deal with Atlanta in July - but it didn't start out that way.

In the first inning, they were poised to do something, but Goodwin's misread on Mark Grudzielanek's pop-up to right field cost them. Goodwin led off with a single, but he wasn't sure if Phillies second baseman Marlon Anderson would catch Grudzielanek's bloop.

Anderson got a glove on it, and Goodwin turned to return to first. Anderson dropped it, but center fielder Doug Glanville quickly picked it up and threw to second to force Goodwin.

Third baseman Scott Rolen booted Gary Sheffield's grounder to put runners on first and second, but Eric Karros flew out to right and Shawn Green popped out to second.

The only other runner the Dodgers got off Chen in the next six innings was Grudzielanek's two-out single to right in the third.

Todd Hundley broke Chen's string of retiring 13 straight with a leadoff single to right in the eighth, but failure to execute hurt the Dodgers. Branson, starting at shortstop in the place of the ill Alex Cora, popped out on his bunt attempt. Jim Leyritz popped out in front of home plate for the second out. Goodwin singled to right to push Paul LoDuca, running for Hundley, to third, but Grudzielanek grounded into a fielder's choice to end the inning.

Chen tied a career-high with eight strikeouts in 8 2/3 innings. He walked one and allowed four hits.

Brown held the Phillies scoreless through his seven innings, yielding four hits and striking out nine. But it was a battle most of the time. In the first six innings, the Phillies had a base runner in all innings but the fifth.

Catcher Mike Lieberthal, a Westlake High product, led off the second with a double and went to third on Travis Lee's grounder to first. Needing a fly ball to score a run, Rob Ducey instead struck out. It was the first of seven consecutive strikeouts recorded by Brown. He got out of the inning by whiffing Marlon Anderson.

The Phillies had another threat in the fourth when Rolen led off with a single and Lieberthal was hit with a pitch. However, Lee and Ducey struck out and Anderson tapped harmlessly back to the mound to end the inning.

Such a pitching performance is nothing new for Brown, or actually any of the Dodgers' big three. Brown, Chan Ho Park and Darren Dreifort haven't been the problems, but the end of the rotation has been inconsistent.

However, Brown did go through a three-start stretch in which he wasn't the dominating, overpowering intimidator he usually is. In fact, included in that span was a messy, 1 1/3-inning, nine-run outing against the Florida Marlins.

But in his last three starts, Brown's been pitching the way he's pitched since joining the Dodgers after the 1998 season. He took a perfect game into the seventh inning in an Aug. 23 start against Montreal and wound up yielding one run in seven innings.

Though Brown allowed three runs in seven innings in his last start at Milwaukee, he was pitching just two days after being confined to his hotel room with flu-like symptoms. And he was staked to a 5-0 lead in the first inning and didn't mind trading a hit here and there in exchange for outs.

DODGERS VS. PHILADELPHIA

Time: 5:10 p.m., Dodger Stadium.

TV/Radio: Fox Sports Net 2; 1150-AM, KWKW-AM (1330 Spanish).

Dodgers right-hander Chan Ho Park (14-8, 3.60 ERA) can tie hiscareer-high for wins in a season if he can beat the Phillies. Park's pitched better than anyone on staff since the all-star break. He's coming off a career-high 14 strikeouts in a win against the Brewers. Park is 3-0 with a 1.13 ERA with 31 strikeouts in his last three starts. He's 4-1 with a 2.86 ERA in 11 career outings against the Phillies. Philadelphia Right-hander Robert Person (7-4, 3.19) has won his last two decisions and has a 1.38 ERA in his last four starts.

-- Brian Doh

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, 2 boxes

Photo: (1) SNIDER

(2) SHEFFIELD

Box: (1) CHASING DUKE

(2) DODGERS vs. PHILADELPHIA (See text)