A SWEEP TASTE OF DEFEAT A POOR START, LACK OF HITTING PROVE COSTLY OAKLAND 5, DODGERS 2.

Byline: TONY JACKSON  Staff Writer

OAKLAND -- The Dodgers went limping home Sunday from their longest road trip of the season so far. That they arrived still clinging to a share of first place says a lot more about the National League West than it says about them.

After another poor starting pitching performance and another staggering array of first-pitch outs in key situations by their hitters, the Dodgers suffered their third consecutive defeat at the hands of the sizzling Oakland A's, this time 5-2 in front of a sellout crowd of 35,077 at McAfee Coliseum.

With that, the A's became the first team to sweep a three-game series from the Dodgers this season. Unless something dramatically changes, and quickly, they won't be the last.

Aaron Sele, whose bubble of a career resurrection might finally be on the verge of bursting, allowed 11 batters to reach base in his all- too-brief, four-inning stint, including the leadoff man in all four. As a result, he gave up five runs, which was more than the A's would need on an afternoon when the Dodgers allowed a middling Joe Blanton to get through eight-plus innings on 96 pitches.

So much for working the count. So much for having a plan at the plate.

``We're not satisfied with making first-pitch outs, but that happens,'' Dodgers manager Grady Little said. ``They came in abundance here in this series. ... We'll address it. (Hitting coach) Eddie (Murray) and the other coaches will address it when it needs to be addressed. I'm not sure when that is, but I think the time is now.''

The time also might be now to consider a change in the starting rotation.

Left-hander Odalis Perez, whose stock had fallen so far that he never was called upon during Saturday night's 17-inning loss, ate up all four of the innings after Sele's departure and didn't allow a run.

Sele had three wins and three no-decisions in his first six starts and hadn't allowed more than threeearned runs in any of them. He hasn't pitched past the fourth inning in either of his past two, giving up 10runs -- six earned -- and getting tagged with the loss in both of them.

Perez, meanwhile, has dutifully held his tongue during his banishment to the bullpen. But if his performance against the A's made a case for his return to the rotation, the rebuttal comes in the form of his 3 2/3-inning, seven-run stinker against the New York Mets in which Little did decide to give him another shot at starting June 7.

``I'm just going to go out there and do my job,'' Perez said. ``Right now, I'm a reliever. ... I see what is in the papers. People keep saying I have lost it. But I'm 29years old. If I'm getting paid this amount of money, it's because they believed I could be one of the best in the game, so why not (be) that?''

Actually, it was former general manager Paul DePodesta who believed Perez was worth a three-year, $24 million contract, of which the Dodgers still owe him about $18.5 million. Little has continually said he will make whatever moves give the Dodgers their best chance of winning, and there is a question of whether the aging Sele, a former All-Star who was 6-12 with Seattle last year, can still do that.

``We're not scared to change,'' Little said. ``I think we have shown that already. But there is no decision on that right now.''

The Dodgers (36-32) lost six of nine on the trip and helped the A's extend their winning streak to 10 games. They also fell into a first- place tie with San Diego, making last week's series in which the Dodgers dropped two of three to the Padres loom ever larger.

Sele (3-2) walked Bobby Crosby to begin the second inning, then gave up an RBIdouble to Jay Payton that gave Oakland a 1-0lead. The A's extended that to 5-0 with a four-run fourth, a rally that began with Payton's leadoff single. Sele walked Dan Johnson, and Marco Scutaro singled home Payton.

That brought up Bobby Kielty, who broke the Dodgers' backs with a two-run triple, then later scored on Jason Kendall's fielder's choice grounder.

Nomar Garciaparra homered off Blanton (7-6) in the sixth inning and went 2 for 3 to run his league-leading batting average to .355.

[e-mail]

[phone]

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

Oakland A's closer Huston Street pitched a perfect ninth inning, striking out one, to earn his 17th save of the season and send the Dodgers to their fifth loss in their past six games.

Dino Vournas/Associated Press