[0] NO DODGING THIS DEFEAT; CARDINALS HAND SLOPPY DODGERS THEIR FIFTH LOSS IN SIX GAMES : ST. LOUIS 10 DODGERS 6.

Byline: Brian Dohn Daily News Staff Writer

Inconsistent: not consistent; lacking agreement.

Also see, Los Angeles Dodgers.

They will look like the $80 million ballclub of destruction on one night. They will self-destruct and give the impression of being one of the more thrifty ballclubs on another night.

There is no rhyme. No reason. No explanation. No way to know which is coming.

The bad came Friday against St. Louis in a 10-6 loss to the Cardinals before a sellout crowd of 53,683 at Dodger Stadium.

The fifth loss in six games for the stumbling Dodgers (21-20) was a clinic in how not pitch, beginning with starter Ismael Valdes and going through reliever Doug Bochtler.

Every time the Dodgers scored to pull within striking distance after falling behind 6-1 in the fifth inning, the Cardinals answered in the next inning to provide a cushion.

``You can't win them all,'' Valdes said. ``Once in a while you're going to have these kinds of games in the season. I'd rather have them early than later on.''

The Dodgers' bullpen was summoned early because Valdes (4-2) lasted only 4-1/3 innings - his shortest outing of the season and the first time he failed to pitch into the sixth.

But Onan Masaoka and Bochtler allowed four runs on four hits in four innings. Mike Maddux walked in a run before getting out of a bases-loaded jam with a double play.

``We're going to make bad pitches, but we're going to make more good pitches than bad pitches in the end,'' said Masaoka, who allowed a solo homer to Fernando Tatis in the seventh inning. ``We put up six runs. Our team is going to hit for us. As a pitcher, and I know everyone else will do the same, I'm going to try my best. Once in a while we're going to make some bad pitches. We have to come back from that.''

Even what the Dodgers did offensively was matched or bettered by St. Louis, which has won five of the seven games between the clubs this season.

Dodgers left fielder Gary Sheffield hit two homers and drove in three runs, but Cardinals left fielder Ray Lankford also smacked two homers and had three RBI.

Darren Bragg paced a 10-hit St. Louis attack with four hits and stole one of seven bases against Dodgers pitchers and catcher Todd Hundley.

``Too many fastballs over the plate,'' Johnson said. ``I don't want anybody getting down. It's discouraging when our pitching isn't more consistent.''

It was ugly all around as the Dodgers committed four errors - three of which were by third baseman Adrian Beltre, though he was only discredited with two. Inexplicably, first baseman Eric Karros was given an error when he couldn't dig Beltre's throw out of the dirt in the fourth inning.

Beltre's other two errors led to a pair of unearned runs.

``Beltre had a rough night,'' Dodgers manager Davey Johnson said. ``He had three errors. Brooks Robinson had three errors in one night, too. It's just part of the learning experience. He was aggressive after (the third) one.''

After trailing 6-1 in the sixth inning the Dodgers got the tying run to the plate, thanks partly to the still-developing role of St. Louis' Juan Acevedo. Making his second start of the season, Acevedo (3-1) was limited to 78 pitches (48 strikes) in five innings.

Before giving way to an equally inept Cardinals bullpen, Acevedo dominated. The only hit he allowed was Sheffield's solo homer in the fourth.

After that, everything seemed to be a gamble.

Struggling for any kind of offense, the Dodgers got successive RBI singles from Hundley, Karros and Devon White to pull within 6-4 in the sixth inning.

But the momentum gained was abruptly lost in the seventh when Tatis hit his 12th homer of the season to stake St. Louis to a 7-4 lead.

In the bottom of the inning Cardinals reliever Rick Croushore allowed a one-out walk to Eric Young and two batters later Sheffield hit a two-run homer just inside the left-field foul pole to make it 7-6. It was the third time this season Sheffield has hit two homers in a game.

No matter, because the recently acquired Bochtler gave the two runs back in the eighth when Lankford hit a two-run homer to push the Cardinals' lead to 9-6.

The Cardinals added a run in the top of the ninth on Joe McEwing's sacrifice fly but Manny Aybar allowed a leadoff double to Mark Grudzielanek and walked Dave Hansen to start the ninth before pitching out of trouble for his first save.

``We kept scoring but we couldn't stop them from scoring,'' Valdes said. ``It was one of those nights. I don't know what it was. I was feeling good before the game.''

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

Photo: (1--Color) It was a tough night for Ismael Valdes, who turned in his shortest outing (4-1/3 innings) of the season.

(2) Mark McGwire remained homerless in Dodger Stadium but the Cardinals didn't need him Friday.

Michael Owen Baker/Daily News