BETEMIT MAKING A DIFFERENCE DODGERS WIN 14TH OF 15 GAMES SINCE GETTING THIRD BASEMAN DODGERS 6, SAN FRAN. 5.

Byline: TONY JACKSON Staff Writer

The Dodgers breathed new life into Wilson Betemit's career when they acquired him from the Atlanta Braves late last month. Betemit has spent the two weeks since that trade breathing new life into the once-dying Dodgers.

His latest puff of oxygen came in the fifth inning Saturday, a tie-breaking two-run homer that ultimately gave the Dodgers a 6-5 victory over the gracelessly aging San Francisco Giants in front of 46,444 fans at Dodger Stadium.

The score was tied 4-4 after Dodgers starter Brad Penny had blown leads of 3-0 and 4-3 -- the latter on an unearned run because of errors by Julio Lugo and Andre Ethier in the top of the fifth. Ethier led off the bottom half with a slow roller that 10-time Gold Glove shortstop Omar Vizquel couldn't get to quickly enough. The switch-hitting Betemit then stepped into the left-handed box against Giants starter Matt Cain.

Giants manager Felipe Alou opted not to pull the fading Cain in favor of a left-handed reliever, despite the fact Betemit began the day hitting .367 against righties and .091 against lefties. Cain fell behind Betemit 3-1.

With Ethier breaking toward second, Cain threw Betemit a fastball on the inside half of the plate, and it wound up halfway up the bleachers in right field.

With that, Alou finally came to get Cain (8-9), at least one batter too late.

By then, the Dodgers were well on their way to their 14th win in 15 games since acquiring Betemit for reliever Danys Baez, infielder Willy Aybar and cash July 28. It was their 11th win in the 11 games Betemit has started. Perhaps most amazingly, they have climbed a game over .500 for the second half, this after dropping 13 of their first 14 out of the break.

``That's a quick turnaround, man,'' said Dodgers center fielder Jason Repko, who entered defensively to start the ninth inning and made a running catch on the warning track to rob Steve Finley with the tying run on first. ``I just think it's great. This was exactly what this team needed. I bet no one would have expected this big a turnaround this quickly. We're piling on enough runs, pitching and defense.

``Hopefully, we can just keep rolling with it.''

Betemit went 2 for 4, raising his average to .311 since the trade. Once one of the Braves' most prized prospects, he never quite established himself as an everyday player in their lineup. While Dodgers manager Grady Little still plans to occasionally weave Julio Lugo in at third base, he did admit after the game that the position now belongs, for the most part, to Betemit, whose 13homers have already shattered his previous career high.

Four of those homers have come with the Dodgers. Three of them have either tied a score or put the Dodgers ahead.

``He has certainly done a good job since he has been here,'' Little said. ``This guy has some kind of juice in that bat, and he has played capably on defense. He has a good chance to be a good player for us for a while.''

The first-place Dodgers (61-56) clinched the weekend series with the Giants, who easily have the oldest starting lineup in the National League West and find themselves mired in the division's basement after dropping 15 of their past 18 games. A win in tonight's nationally televised finale would give the Dodgers their fourth sweep in their past five series, the only exception being last week's four-game set with Colorado, during which the Rockies managed to salvage onegame.

Penny (13-5) took over the NLlead in wins after facing the minimum through the first three innings and gutting his way through the next three. After Betemit's homer gave him the lead, Penny retired the Giants in the sixth and took a seat.

The game's seminal moment came in the seventh inning, after Vizquel already had doubled in a run to make it 6-5. With Vizquel on third and Ray Durham on first, Barry Bonds stepped in against Joe Beimel, and the Dodgers employed a radical shift that had shortstop Rafael Furcal on the right side of the second-base bag and second baseman Lugo in shallow right field.

On a 1-1 pitch, Bonds grounded sharply to Furcal, ending the threat and leaving Bonds 1 for 9 for his career -- albeit with a home run -- against Beimel.

Takashi Saito pitched around a one-out single by Randy Winn in the ninth for his 13th save.

[e-mail]

[phone]

CAPTION(S):

3 photos, box

Photo:

(1) Wilson Betemit touches home plate after hitting what would prove to be the decisive homer.

(2) San Francisco slugger Barry Bonds strikes out in the second inning against Brad Penny. Bonds went 1 for 4 with a run scored.

(3) The Dodgers' Kenny Lofton beats the throw to the plate to score on a first-inning double by Julio Lugo.

David Sprague/Staff Photographer

Box:

DODGERS vs. SAN FRANCISCO

- Tony Jackson