AND SEO IT GOES FOR L.A. PITCHER JUST OK; DODGERS TRAIL IN SEVENTH PHILADELPHIA AT DODGERS, LATE.

Byline: VINCENT BONSIGNORE Staff Writer

As progress goes, Jae Seo's pitching start Friday against the Phillies was a definite upgrade from his last time out.

Then again, Seo needed only to get through the third inning to improve on the 2.2 innings he managed last weekend in Washington.

Seo was chased out of the nation's capital after giving up six earned runs and seven hits Saturday, so the fact he arrived safely in the fourth inning against Philadelphia was somewhat encouraging.

`Somewhat' being the key word.

He still gave up three runs on five hits through the first four innings, including a pair of long home runs to Chase Utley and Ryan Howard, and was pulled after the fourth in favor of Odalis Perez.

Seo left trailing by one run, but by the end of the fifth he no longer figured in the decision after the Dodgers pounded Phillies starter Ryan Madson to take a 5-3 lead into the bottom of the sixth inning.

After trailing 3-0 in the fourth, they used a two-run double by Willy Aybar in the fourth and a pinch-hit home run from Matt Kemp in the fifth to tie the game 3-3.

Nomar Garciaparra put the Dodgers ahead 4-3 later in the fifth when he singled home Rafael Furcal. Joel Guzman followed with an RBI single to score Garciaparra to make it 5-3.

For Guzman, it was his first career hit and RBI.

Garciaparra now has 37 RBI's and came into the game batting .357.

Kemp's home run was his second in as many games, giving him two for his career. The young outfielder was recently promoted to the Dodgers all the way from Double-A Jacksonville, and though his stay in Los Angeles isn't expected to last long, he's certainly made a memorable first impression.

As far as impressions go, Seo is in desperate need of a better one.

More consistency would be a good start.

The 27-year old right-hander's up and down season has left the Dodgers perplexed. He's not a particularly hard thrower, relying on ball placement and movement to compensate for his lack of velocity. But when he's hitting his spots he's proven an effective pitcher.

In his two previous starts before Saturday's thud in Washington Seo went a combined 13 innings while giving two earned runs. The Dodgers won both games, with Seo earning a win and a no-decision.

But too often he's mixed a good outing with an awful one, usually due to poor pitch location. And when that happens, opponents pounce on him.

He's given up five or more runs three times, and opponents scored 10 or more in three games he's started.

Friday marked the fourth time in nine starts Seo couldn't get into the fifth inning.

The inconsistency has left his status in the rotation tenuous at best. Seo started the year in the bullpen, and throughout the year manager Grady Little's used off days to either push back a Seo start or skip over it all together.

Thanks to youngsters like Aybar, Kemp and Guzman Seo's ineffectiveness was minimized.

Perez, himself banished from the starting rotation to the bullpen, pitched a scoreless fifth inning, giving up one hit.

He was relieved in the sixth by rookie Jonathan Broxton.

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CAPTION(S):

3 photos, box

Photo:

(1) L.A.'s Andre Ethier, right, scores in the fifth inning as Phillies catcher Mike Lieberthal gets the throw late.

(2) The Dodgers' Joel Guzman scores in the fourth inning of Friday's game at Dodger Stadium.

John McCoy/Staff Photographer

(3) PENNY

Box:

DODGERS vs. PHILADELPHIA

-Vincent Bonsignore