BELIEVE IT: EVEN AFTER ROUT, L.A. ISN'T DOWN.

Byline: STEVE DILBECK

Meanwhile, back on planet Earth ...

For one afternoon the Dodgers did not leap tall buildings in a single bound, get time-machine performances from creaky old guys, age-defying efforts by kids or overcome a miserable outing by a starting pitcher.

For one afternoon, this really weird thing happened.

They lost.

Not just lost exactly, but were pummeled at home Wednesday by the lowly Florida Marlins 15-4 to end, for the moment, one of the most amazing turnarounds in baseball history.

The Dodgers pitchers gave up 15 hits, five walks (all of which scored) and three home runs. They committed three errors. Their offense managed a total of four hits.

It was an awful day. Tip-toed around embarrassing.

And it was one other thing:

No problem.

The Dodgers mostly shrugged. They didn't like losing, but it was difficult to get too worked up about something so foreign.

``We feel pretty good about ourselves right now,'' said manager Grady Little. ``We know these things are going to happen.''

That's what winning 17 of 18 games will do for a team. Swells the confidence. Makes it feel impervious to daily setbacks, to the echoes of mortality.

Three weeks ago, a loss like Wednesday would have had a locker room of the sheepish, of beaten players.

Three weeks ago, Brad Penny is challenging Kenny Lofton's effort in the dugout.

But three weeks ago, the Dodgers had just lost eight consecutive games and 13 of 14. They were in last place, 7 1/3 games out of first and looking ready to be mounted on the wall.

Then the most dizzying, almost unexplainable turnaround in team history appeared. Expected as an angel, welcomed as a desert oasis, the Dodgers started to roll. Rolled and rolled until they had put together their finest stretch of baseball in modern team history.

Wednesday's loss snapped a six-game winning streak. Prior to their past loss came an 11-game winning streak.

In three weeks, they made up an incredible 11 games in the standings. Played so well, that now they expect to win. Even when they fell behind 4-0 in the top of the first, they managed a charge.

When they trailed 7-2, they kept the pressure on.

``Even when we fell behind early, you could sense we felt we had a chance to win the game,'' Little said.

But a 7-4 Florida lead soon ballooned into 15-4, as some of their weaknesses were again exposed.

The Dodgers have been playing some great baseball, but they are neither as good as demonstrated the past three weeks nor as bad as they were in the 1-13 stretch that preceded it.

``We know we're not going to win 18 of 19 again after this loss,'' Little said. ``Chances are we're not -- we might.''

What they might do is win the division. That's what their amazing run has given them, an opportunity to capture an National League West that is competitive but clearly sans anything approaching a super team.

The Dodgers now embark on a nine-game road trip, all against division opponents, all setting the tone for the September stretch.

What Wednesday's loss did offer was an exaggerated glimpse of the questions that still hover around the Dodgers.

The Marlins put the game away with a pair of home runs, a weapon the Dodgers are about as familiar with as a nuclear device, against the Dodgers' middle relief.

The Dodgers lead the NL in hitting (.278) but are last in home runs (102). In the entire major leagues, only the woeful Kansas City Royals have hit fewer homers.

``We've got more than them?'' Little asked, surprised as anyone.

Home runs can make up for a lot of mistakes, but after having played 121 games, no Dodger has more than 13 home runs.

Jeff Kent, who has played only 77 games because of injuries, has 12 home runs; he hit 22 or more in his previous nine seasons. J.D. Drew, who hit 31 home runs the year before signing a $55-million deal with the Dodgers, has 11 home runs, the same as rookie Andre Either. Nomar Garciaparra, coming off several injury-riddled seasons, leads the Dodgers with 13 homers.

The Dodgers have a nice, balanced lineup but it lacks an Albert Pujols or David Ortiz, or even a Lance Berkman or Carlos Beltran.

``You gotta go with what you got,'' Little said.

If the Dodgers are to continue their winning ways, they will have to keep doing the little things -- advancing the runner, taking walks, fielding, middle relief -- well, have to continue to execute.

That's a lot to ask of a team over the course of a season, but this is mostly a veteran team, and their hot streak has left them in position to make it happen.

For the moment, the Dodgers have something going for them they lacked in July -- belief in themselves, belief they can win every game, belief they can come back.

``We always feel that way,'' Garciaparra said. ``We always feel we're going to make a run. We've had that attitude since spring training.''

Maybe they flirted with it, but it didn't really take hold until the last few weeks. When losses became strange and unfamiliar things that suddenly belonged to opponents.

Wednesday they had a nightmare game against the Marlins. And left feeling good about themselves.

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