BULLPEN GIVING DODGERS GRIEF, NOT RELIEF L.A. CAN'T HOLD LEAD IN SECOND STRAIGHT LOSS TO MARINERS SEATTLE 8, DODGERS 5.

Byline: TONY JACKSON  Staff Writer

The Dodgers' bullpen has been described all season as being leaky. On Wednesday night, the pipes officially burst.

And for the second night in a row, the Dodgers were done in by their one- time hero.

Seattle third baseman Adrian Beltra pulled a two-run double down the left-field line off Danys Baez in the eighth inning, turning a one-run Dodgers lead into an instant deficit. It was the decisive blow, as the Mariners handed the Dodgers their fifth straight defeat, 8-5, inf ront of 40,419 at Dodger Stadium.

Beltre went 3 for 4 with a walk and two RBIs. In the first two games of his first series against his former club- which he left for free agency following a spectacular 2004 season that helped the Dodgers win a division titel - Beltre is 5 for 7 with two doubles, a home run, three walks, four RBIs and six runs scored.

A three-run lead, courtesy of a stirring, sixth-inning rally that featured more heroics by season-long bench heroes Olmedo Saenz and Ramon Martinez, had gone by the wayside almost immediately when oft-used rookie Jonathan Broxton failed to retire a batter in the seventh, allowing the Mariners to close within 5-4.

Danys Baez, who rescued Broxton from that jam and to that point had allowed only one run in his past 10 inings, then gave up a game-tying homer to Jeremy Reed to start the eighth. Baez would record only one more out.

Rene Rivera and Ichiro Suzuki singled ahead of Beltre's double, and Jose Lopez singled after it, scoring Beltre with the insurance run that buried the Dodgers yet again.

It got so bad at that point that manager Grady Little actually brought in Hong-Chih Kuo to stem the tide. Even more amazing was the fact Kuo actually did it, but not before loading the bases on a walk to Mike Morse. Kuo struck out Reed, the 10th batter of the inning, to end it.

The latest bullpen implosion ruined a solid performance by rookie Chad Billingsley, who was making his second major-league start and first at Dodger Stadium. As usual, he threw far too many pitches to last deep into the game. But as usual, the opposing club couldn't take advantage.

Billingsley wound up going five innings, allowing two runs on five hits. And while he left with no chance to get his first big-league win -- the Dodgers were trailing 2-1 -- he kept the team in the game well enough to set the stage for the heroics of Saenz and Martinez.

They became the answers to a trivia question the past two evenings, the last two men to start at third base for the Dodgers before the Cesar Izturis experiment officially begins tonight. In the frenzied sixth inning, with the Dodgers trailing 2-1 and having failed to mount much in the way of offense against veteran left-hander Jarrod Washburn, Saenz blasted a high-arcing, two-run homer to the bleachers in left-center.

Three batters later, with Washburn clearly tiring and still not out of the inning, Martinez came off the bench and sent a sizzling line drive to the wall in left-center, scoring Matt Kemp and Russell Martin to give the Dodgers a 5-2 lead.

Saenz was double-switched out of the game after the inning and he finished 2 for 3, raising his average to .299 for the season. Martinez's hit raised his own average to .348, an impressive number for a guy who, like Saenz, has spent most of the season coming off the bench.

Thanks to Izturis' new status as the everyday third baseman, that doesn't figure to change. Izturis entered the game defensively in the seventh, at his more comfortable position of shortstop, and got his first hit of the season, a single, in the eighth. He has reached base twice in two plate appearances since coming off the 60-day disabled list before Tuesday night's game.

Saenz also contributed a spectacular defensive play that might have saved a run in the first inning. With Adrien Beltre on first and one out, Jose Lopez pulled a scorching line down the third-base line that appeared headed for the corner. But Saenz dived to his right to spear it, then scrambled to his knees and made an off-balance throw to second to force out the sliding Beltre.

The Dodgers (37-34) fell two games behind San Diego in the National League West.

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CAPTION(S):

4 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki slides home safely, just beating the tag of Dodgers catcher Russell Martin in the eighth inning.

(2) Dodgers catcher Russell Martin, left, and pitcher Chad Billingsley have a conference on the mound during Wednesday's game at Dodger Stadium.

(3) Seattle starting pitcher Jarrod Washburn allowed five runs and eight hits in six innings in Wednesday's game.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer

(4) TOMKO

Box:

DODGERS vs. SEATTLE

- Tony Jackson