[0] DODGERS CRACK IN EIGHTH OPPORTUNISTIC ATLANTA MAKES THE MOST OF L.A.'S WILDNESS ATLANTA 5, DODGERS 3.

Byline: Brian Dohn Staff Writer

This is why the Atlanta Braves won a club-record 15 in a row. It's why the Dodgers have lost five in a row and why they must still prove they are playoff contenders.

The Braves hung around long enough until they made something happen, which turned out to be a three-run eighth inning in a 5-3 win against the Dodgers on Tuesday at Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers did so many things wrong to allow the Braves to hang around. The result was their fifth loss to Atlanta in five games.

For the second straight outing Dodgers starter Chan Ho Park tied a career high by walking seven. He allowed only three hits and two runs, but couldn't finish the seventh inning because of his wildness. He gave way to reliever Terry Adams with a 2-1 count on Quilvio Veras.

Adams walked Veras but got out of the inning by getting Chipper Jones to ground out. However, Adams, who had a 1.35 ERA in 12 outings, had his own problems in the eighth. He walked Brian Jordan and Bobby Bonilla, threw a wild pitch and was victimized by passed ball. It set up Andruw Jones' two-run single to center as the Braves took a 4-3 lead.

Even when the defense appeared to bail out the Dodgers, it was only momentarily. Mike Fetters relieved Adams and with runners on second and third and one out got Andres Galarraga to ground to third. Adrian Beltre threw home to get Andruw Jones at the plate. But the Dodgers gave the run up anyway when Fetters' pickoff throw glanced off first baseman Dave Hansen's glove and allowed Javy Lopez to score.

Adams (2-2) was the loser in relief. Atlanta's Bruce Chen (4-0) pitched a scoreless inning for the win. John Rocker recorded his second save of the series and seventh of the season.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers' offense had two hits in 12 at-bats with runners in scoring position. Left fielder Gary Sheffield, who carried the Dodgers offense through the first month, grounded into three double plays. The third one came with the bases loaded and none out in the seventh and the Dodgers trying to add to a 3-2 lead.

After scratching and clawing for opportunities the first four times they played this season, the Dodgers had plenty of them against Terry Mulholland. And they frittered a bundle of them away. Mulholland allowed 10 hits and walked one in six innings, but the Dodgers could push across only three runs.

Todd Hundley's first of two doubles put runners on second and third with none out in the second. Kevin Elster's RBI groundout to third gave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead, but Park struck out and Devon White flied out to right.

The Braves tied it 1-1 on Lopez's two-out double in the fourth, but the Dodgers were able to turn Park's leadoff double in the fifth into a 2-1 lead, though it took a little longer than the Dodgers would have liked. Park's drive to the right-field fence was initially ruled a home run, but first-base umpire Larry Young changed his decision and said a fan reached over the fence.

Park was sent to second and eventually scored on Shawn Green's blooper to left. But Sheffield grounded into a double play with runners on the corners to end the inning.

Again, the Braves tied it, this time on Wally Joyner's first homer of the season. He hit Park's 2-0 pitch into the right-field bleachers.

In the first four games this season against the Braves, the Dodgers scored five runs. This didn't constitute a windfall of offense, but the Dodgers did regain the lead again in the bottom of the sixth.

Adrian Beltre doubled down the right-field line with one out and Hundley followed with an RBI-double to right-center as the Dodgers went ahead 3-2. But the struggle with runners in scoring position continued. Just 2 for 8 at that point, Elster grounded out to first and Park grounded to third to end the inning.

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Photo: (color) Shawn Green pokes an RBI single to left, scoring Chan Ho Park in the fifth during the Braves' 5-3 victory.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer