[0] TALK IS REAL CHEAP; DODGERS LOSE AFTER MEETING : FLORIDA 3, DODGERS 2.

Byline: Matt McHale Daily News Staff Writer

The Dodgers can talk all they want before the game. They still stutter on the field.

An impassioned half-hour meeting Wednesday was designed to turn them around, but in the end they lost 3-2 to the lowly Florida Marlins in front of 36,452 at Dodger Stadium.

Eric Young, a keynote speaker at the meeting, also stepped up during the game with two two-out RBI hits. But in the end, it was more of the same for a team that is 2-6 during a stretch of games against sub-.500 teams that is leading up to a weekend series against the mighty Atlanta Braves.

Marlins first baseman Derrick Lee hit a game-winning home run with one out in the eighth off Dodgers reliever Antonio Osuna, who had just entered the game in place of starter Carlos Perez.

For Lee, it was his 14th homer. For the Dodgers, it was their third consecutive loss.

But with the beauty, or the perversity, of the wild card, they remain just 5-1/2 games back with 42 to play. The top of the wild-card picture changed hands Wednesday when the front-running New York Mets lost in 14 innings to St. Louis and the Chicago Cubs beat San Francisco.

The Dodgers are close, but they are hardly playing like champions.

Their sixth and the Marlins' seventh were good examples of the lack of intensity on the home team.

With the game tied 1-1 in the bottom of the sixth, Raul Mondesi appeared to get something started when he legged out an infield single to short. But with slumping Gary Sheffield at the plate, Mondesi was picked off first.

Sheffield, who entered the game just 2 for 11 on the homestand, flied out. Eric Karros blooped a single off the glove of Marlins' second baseman Luis Castillo in shallow right but was thrown out trying to stretch the play into double.

The Marlins' seventh was worse.

Castillo grounded wide of first base and beat Karros' throw to Perez at the bag. One out later, John Cangelosi grounded a playable ball to third, but it bounced off Adrian Beltre's glove and rolled away from Dodgers fielders. By the time it stopped, Castillo scored all the way from first and Florida led 2-1.

The Dodgers had taken a 1-0 lead in the fifth against left-hander Kirt Ojala, the second of three Marlins rookie starters they will face in this series.

Ojala walked Charles Johnson with one out but appeared to get out of trouble when he struck out Perez for the second out. Young had other ideas. He doubled to the gap in right-center and Johnson scored from first base.

The Dodgers tied it in the seventh, with Young again the catalyst. Rob Stanifer took over for Ojala to open the inning. Bobby Bonilla, who was booed for the second consecutive game, drew cheers when he led off with a ground single to right. Roger Cedeno pinch ran and moved to second on a sacrifice by Beltre. Johnson struck out, but pinch-hitter Jim Eisenreich kept the inning alive with a walk.

Young, who came in just 3 for 14 on the homestand, slapped his third hit of the game over second base and Cedeno scored.

After batting practice, the entire team, minus coaches and manager Glenn Hoffman, retreated to a players' lounge to discuss how to turn around their season.

They entered the game 2-5 in their last seven games, all against teams with losing records. It was no longer a matter of catching the San Diego Padres, who have run away with the National League West.

The problem has been intensity and the fans are noticing. In Tuesday's 8-6 loss to the Marlins, fans loudly booed every Dodgers mistake.

``We have to start playing like this is our last game,'' Mondesi said after the meeting. ``Believe me, we are trying hard, but it isn't enough. There is time, but we have get this thing going. We have to feel like every game is big. I don't want to go back to the Dominican and watch other teams in those playoffs.''