[0] LONG SHOTS; DODGERS STAY ALIVE WITH SHOW OF POWER : DODGERS 9 COLORADO 5.

Byline: Kevin Acee Daily News Staff Writer

At Coors Field more than anywhere, finished does not mean finished.

That is the Dodgers' thinking as they hope against everything they held to be true two days ago that if they are really, really good they can win the National League West.

A 9-5 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Thursday kept hope on a respirator.

In the major leagues' only race left to be officially decided, the San Francisco Giants lead the Dodgers by two games with three to play. The Dodgers must sweep the Rockies and the Giants must lose two against the visiting Padres for there to be a one-game playoff Monday afternoon in San Francisco.

``I think everyone in here has in the back of their mind, whether they admit it or not, that the last breath isn't out of us yet,'' said Todd Zeile, who sensed his teammates were more relaxed Thursday after Wednesday's listless loss to San Diego all but buried them.

The Dodgers, led by Zeile's second two-homer game in three nights, hit four home runs against Rockies starter Pedro Astacio, who a little more than a month ago was their teammate and a little less than a week ago beat them in Los Angeles.

Hideo Nomo allowed the Rockies three runs on five hits in seven innings, and Antonio Osuna and Todd Worrell held off the Rockies the final two innings. Nomo joined Chan Ho Park as the Dodgers' second 14-game winner.

Zeile acknowledged tension has at times filled the Dodgers clubhouse and dugout and spilled into the batter's box. Thursday, he said, the Dodgers stopped playing not to lose.

``It seemed like we had a little more life, a little more energy,'' he said. ``Maybe it's coming to Colorado, where it's an uplifting place to play. . . . We've got nothing to lose now. We're in the underdogs' seat.

``The way we hit the ball tonight, the way we pitched, it showed we've got some spark left in us. We can say, if we win the next three games, who knows?''

That Zeile is keeping hope alive is interesting. He was chief among the realists Wednesday night. ``I'm not going to say it's over,'' he said then. ``But. . . .''

That, evidently, was just the reason the Dodgers needed to play like the team they were in July and August.

Zeile got the Dodgers started with a solo home run out of left-center field in the second inning. It was his 30th homer of the season and seventh in the past 31 games.

Darren Lewis' first home run since Aug. 8, 1996 scored three runs and extended the Dodgers lead to 4-0 in the fourth. Eric Karros' 30th homer of the season, well into the left-field bleachers, drove home Mike Piazza in the fifth. Two batters later, Zeile added two runs by driving in Raul Mondesi with his second homer of the night. The shot to left center gave Zeile his fifth two-homer game of the season. He is batting .386 with seven home runs and 18 RBI in the past 18 games.

All this was enough to make Astacio, a Dodger until last month, lose his composure. It was a side of Astacio the Rockies had not seen in his previous six starts with them.

After Zeile's homer, Astacio's next pitch was near Lewis' eyes. After home-plate umpire Larry Vanover spoke with Astacio and both managers, Astacio's next pitch sailed high over Lewis' head and all the way to the backstop. Dodgers players crowded the railing. Karros stood on the top step. Rockies manager Don Baylor replaced Astacio, who suffered his first loss as a Rockie.

The Rockies would never get closer than four runs, though they scored two runs in the seventh against Nomo and two more in the eighth against Osuna.

Zeile finished with three runs scored. Mondesi singled twice and scored both times. Eric Young was 2 for 4 in his first game in Colorado since the Dodgers acquired him in a trade for Astacio on Aug. 18.

``We're just going to go out and play,'' Karros said. ``We lose one more game, that's it. We're on a life-support system right now anyways.''

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2 Photos

Photo: (1--Color) Greg Gagne greets Darren Lewis after his three-run homer, one of four hit off ex-Dodger Pedro Astacio.

(2) Todd Zeile's solo homer in the second inning came before another one in the fifth, giving him 31 for the season.

Associated Press