BLUE GRIT; DODGERS WITHIN 4 OF GIANTS : DODGERS 9, SAN FRAN. 3.

Byline: Kevin Acee Daily News Staff Writer

Small signs of some mania - does Dennismania or Reyesmania sound better? - and bigger signs of a manic pennant race were in evidence Sunday at Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers got six quality innings from a 20-year-old Mexican left-hander whose mannerisms had pretty much everyone in the stadium remembering Fernando Valenzuela, and they rebounded from what might have been a devastating loss to beat the San Francisco Giants 9-3.

By taking three of four from the National League West leaders, the Dodgers moved up two games to sit four back. By coming back a day after the Giants scored seven runs in the ninth inning to beat them 8-5, the Dodgers displayed more grit than they had all season.

``I think we showed something today,'' said shortstop Greg Gagne, who extended his hitting streak to 14 games, the longest of his 13-year career and longest by a Dodger this season. ``That was probably the biggest win of the year so far. There's still a lot of work to do, but it was definitely a step in the right direction. We accomplished what we had to.''

The day after closer Todd Worrell, briefly bad defense and a gaggle of missed opportunities spilled their opportunity at a sweep, the Dodgers sent Dennis Reyes to the mound to face Giants ace Shawn Estes.

Reyes, the first Dodgers starter to deliver from the left side in 681 games and the youngest pitcher in the majors, sprinkled four hits and four walks throughout his six innings of work to earn the victory in his major-league debut. He also got a stolen base, albeit a bogus one, and scored the tying run.

When Reyes, who is filling in for the injured Ismael Valdes, was called back to the dugout for a pinch hitter in the sixth inning, he was given a loud ovation. He came to the top of the steps to wave to the crowd standing behind the Dodgers dugout.

After being admittedly nervous and giving up a two-run homer to Barry Bonds in the first inning, Reyes allowed just one more run on one hit. He stranded three of the four runners he walked. He avoided a three-run homer by Bonds by picking off leadoff hitter Darryl Hamilton at first after Hamilton singled to open the game.

``Our reports said that with men on base, he battles,'' Dodgers manager Bill Russell said.

Reyes tied the game 3-3 in the fifth inning. After reaching on a walk and going to second on Brett Butler's single, he appeared to be caught in a rundown between second and third. Giants catcher Damon Berryhill threw to shortstop Jose Vizcaino, who sailed a throw to third well over Mark Lewis' head and into the Dodgers dugout, allowing Reyes to score.

The Dodgers, who trailed 2-0, 2-1 and 3-2 Sunday, took off after that.

Raul Mondesi, who had twice stranded a runner in scoring position by grounding into an inning-ending double play, lined the first pitch of the bottom of the sixth inning out of left field to give the Dodgers a 4-3 lead.

Giants starter Shawn Estes, the All-Star who said he looked forward to ``silencing the Dodgers' bats'' when he was moved up a day in the rotation so he could face them, followed Mondesi's homer by hitting Todd Zeile, walking Gagne and giving up a single to Tripp Cromer to load the bases.

Julian Tavarez came in to face pinch-hitter Todd Hollandsworth, who batted for Reyes. Hollandsworth singled through the middle of the infield to score Zeile and Gagne and give the Dodgers a 6-3 lead. For Hollandsworth, who has not started since July 2, the single upped his RBI total the past two games to five. His three-run homer in the ninth on Saturday provided a little excitement as the Dodgers attempted to recover from the Worrell disaster.

That comeback was too little, too late. Sunday was perfectly timed resiliency.

``For us to come out and play like we did today shows we haven't lost our focus,'' said Butler, who scored twice to run his scoring streak to six games.

And Roger Cedeno, the 22-year-old kid with the face-wide smile and the eight-game run-scoring streak, might have put it best.

``It was hard for us to get up,'' he said, referring to the Dodgers' rise from eight games behind the Giants to four games back that required them to win nine of their past 10 games. ``Now we're up. We didn't want to go down.''

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4 Photos

Photo: (1--Cover--color) REYESMANIA!

Dodgers close within 4 games of the Giants as rookie pitcher has Fernando-like debut.

(2--Cover--color) Fans show appreciation as Dennis Reyes leaves the game

Phil McCarten/Daily News

(3-4--color) Dodgers pitcher Dennis Reyes, left above, is congratulated by Mike Piazza after scoring the tying run in the fifth inning. Reyes was even better on the mound than the basepaths. Right, Dodgers outfielder Raul Mondesi leaps unsuccessfully for Barry Bonds' first-inning home run.

Phil McCarten / Daily News