A DIRTY DOZEN VS. GIANTS, ANGELS.

Byline: Rich Hammond  Staff Writer

The Dodgers have spent the past two weeks fattening their winning percentage against teams from the uninspiring American League Central. But starting today and for the rest of this month, every pitch figures to be a little more intense.

Each game counts the same in the standings, as manager Jim Tracy is fond of pointing out, but the Dodgers' next 12 games come against the San Francisco Giants and the Angels, the teams that staged a dramatic seven-game World Series last October while the Dodgers were working the kinks out of their golf swings.

If nothing else, these games have greater symbolic meaning, even though the Angels are struggling to remain above .500 and the Giants, despite their tremendous start, are just two games ahead of the Dodgers in the National League West.

``We know the Giants are playing good,'' Dodgers outfielder Brian Jordan said. ``We can't help but notice them. Anaheim hasn't been playing that good. I have noticed that. But that makes no difference because those are rivalry games.

``The intensity level is going to be there and guys will go out there and hopefully play their best baseball.''

Only one of these teams will look familiar to the Dodgers. The Angels kept almost their entire roster intact, which has proved to be a mixed blessing, but the Giants have thrived despite making significant changes throughout their lineup and pitching staff.

The most notable change came in the manager's office, as Dusty Baker felt unappreciated and left for the Chicago Cubs, and the Giants hired one-time Dodgers managerial candidate Felipe Alou to replace Baker.

Alou has succeeded in handling the super-sized ego of Barry Bonds and in molding a team that underwent significant rebuilding but doesn't seem to have lost much. The potentially devastating loss of closer Robb Nen has been tempered by the strong effort of Tim Worrell, who has 16 saves in 19 chances.

Also gone from the 2002 Giants are second baseman Jeff Kent, third baseman David Bell and outfielder Reggie Sanders, who combined for 80 home runs and 268 RBI on a Giants' offense that scored the third-most runs in the National League.

In their place are Ray Durham, Edgardo Alfonzo and Jose Cruz Jr., who are on pace for a combined 45 home runs and 164 RBI. Yet the Giants' offense hasn't slipped far.

Bonds, forced to deal with nagging injuries and the serious illness of his father, is hitting .315 with 19 home runs and 42 RBI. That's not too far off his numbers after 57 games in 2002, when he batted .353 with 21 home runs and 40 RBI.

The Giants' offense has remained strong because of a great start by first baseman J.T. Snow, steady numbers from shortstop Rich Aurilia and catcher Benito Santiago, and the pleasant surprise of former Dodger Marquis Grissom (.314, nine home runs).

But mostly, pitching has put the Giants in first place. Livan Hernandez and Russ Ortiz were traded in the offseason, and Ryan Jensen was bounced from the rotation after two poor starts in April, leaving the Giants with just two regular starters from 2002.

It hasn't been a problem. Those two, Kirk Rueter (7-1, 3.60 ERA) and Jason Schmidt (5-3, 2.67), are on pace to improve on their outstanding 2002 seasons, and rookies Kurt Ainsworth (5-4, 3.82 but now on the disabled list) and Jesse Foppert (4-5, 4.18), and second-year Damian Moss (7-4, 4.41) all have exceeded expectations.

The same can't be said in Orange County, where, despite increased attendance at Edison Field, the Angels have failed to build on their magical October run.

The Angels have been slowed by injuries to sparkplug center fielder Darin Erstad, as well as decreased production from infielders Scott Spiezio (.255), Adam Kennedy (.268) and David Eckstein (.251), although Troy Glaus in on pace for another big year.

Pitching is the bigger problem though, as Jarrod Washburn (6-7, 3.61), Kevin Appier (4-3, 4.65), Ramon Ortiz (7-5, 5.10) and John Lackey (4-5, 5.76) all are far behind their solid 2002 numbers.

Lackey and Francisco Rodriguez, the two rookie sensations of the playoffs, have been two of the Angels' biggest disappointments of 2003. Rodriguez has a 3.90 ERA and Lackey has allowed at least four earned runs in eight of 14 starts.

Despite all that, the Angels are just five games worse than at this point last season and are in decent position to make another run at the American League wild-card spot.

Of course, the Dodgers and Giants have legitimate postseason aspirations as well, and the next two weeks could go a long way in determining who makes it to October.

Rich Hammond, [phone]

rich.hammond(at)dailynews.com

TODAY'S GAME

San Francisco at Dodgers

7 p.m., FSN2

CAPTION(S):

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DODGERS vs. SAN FRANCISCO

- Brian Dohn