CALL THE DODGERS FUMING MAD : DISPUTED PLAY LEADS TO EJECTIONS AND 9TH-INNING LOSS TO CARDINALS ST. LOUIS 2, DODGERS 0.

Byline: Eric Noland Daily News Staff Writer

Mike Piazza was so mad he jumped up and down like a toddler in full tantrum. Manager Bill Russell, third baseman Tim Wallach and relief pitcher Mark Guthrie, three of the most mild-mannered souls you'll ever find on a baseball field, protested so angrily that they got themselves tossed out of the game. The fans booed long and loud, chanted unpleasant remarks and had to be warned not to throw anything on the field.

The Dodgers felt they were robbed by an umpire's call in the ninth inning of a 2-0 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night at Dodger Stadium.

And TV replays indicated they had an extremely strong case.

The beef erupted in the top of the ninth in a scoreless game, when Cardinals baserunner Miguel Mejia tried to sneak home from third when a throw was made to first on a sacrifice bunt.

Second baseman Delino DeShields, covering first, fired back to the plate. Piazza caught the throw, blocked Mejia off the plate, and appeared to apply a tag directly to Mejia's left knee, a good two feet in front of the plate.

Home-plate umpire Gary Darling ruled . . . safe.

Bedlam ensued.

There's a pennant at stake here. Involving both of the participants in this game. And passions ran high Friday night.

Russell and Wallach were thrown out after arguing the play. And the Dodgers seemed to have their spirit broken by it.

After the run gave St. Louis a 1-0 lead, Luis Alicea followed with a sacrifice fly to left to drive in Mike Gallego. Guthrie was tossed after screaming at Darling at the inning's conclusion.

The loss prevented the Dodgers from broadening their National League West lead over San Diego, which lost to Cincinnati. The Dodgers (82-65), losing for only the second time in eight games on this homestand, remain a half-game up on the Padres (82-66).

St. Louis (80-68) widened its first-place edge over Houston (78-81) to 2-1/2 games in the NL Central.

Afterward, Darling and the rest of umpiring crew needed a nine-man security contingent to escort it beneath the stands behind home plate.

If nothing else, the game served notice that the Dodgers are in for a fight the rest of the way.

Through most of this month, they fattened up on a steady diet of teams far out of playoff contention.

Philadelphia. New York. Pittsburgh. Cincinnati. They provided the opposition over a stretch of a dozen games, and the Dodgers, scrambling to gain an edge in the National League West race, welcomed them all. And beat on them unmercifully.

This weekend, however, the Dodgers are playing host to the Cardinals, a team fighting to maintain its edge atop the NL Central. And the opposition, consequently, is proving to be a bit more tenacious.

The Cardinals were forced to persevere in this game in the face of a nightmarish inning suffered by their starter, Todd Stottlemyre.

In the fifth, the veteran right-hander first stumbled off the mound while delivering a pitch, causing him to awkwardly lob a ball toward the plate. Just five pitches later, Todd Hollandsworth drilled a line drive back through the box that caught Stottlemyre - who was helpless as he completed his follow-through - flush on the lower right leg, just below the knee.

He collapsed to the grass in front of the mound, where he remained for several minutes, and needed help getting off the field. Stottlemyre was sent out for precautionary X-rays.

To that point, Stottlemyre, who has won 12 games for the Cardinals this season, was working on a two-hit shutout.

The Dodgers' Pedro Astacio was matching him pitch for pitch. Astacio, who has done his part in the pennant drive by compiling a 2.65 ERA and 6-1 record since July 1, pitched shutout ball into the eighth inning before appearing to tire.

With one out and two on - and Astacio's pitch count at an even 100 - Antonio Osuna was summoned to quell the trouble. After Piazza gunned down Ray Lankford trying to steal third, Osuna blew down Brian Jordan on strikes, the third of which was a wicked curve off the outside corner that Jordan couldn't reach.

Each team had ample opportunities to push across runs throughout the game.

The Cardinals stranded three runners at third and two at second through eight innings, as Astacio repeatedly came up with clutch pitches.

The Dodgers left two runners at third and one at second over the same stretch, and also had one doubled off second.

In the eighth, Hollandsworth opened with a bloop double just beyond the grasp of retreating shortstop Ozzie Smith. But one batter later, he was doubled off while running on Chad Curtis' sinking liner to left, which was gloved by Ron Gant.

WILD FINISH

A look at the NL playoff race and the chase for the league batting title:

Dodgers ( 1/2 game up in West): Lost to St. Louis 2-0.

San Diego ( 1/2 game up for wild-card spot): Lost to Cincinnati 3-1.

Montreal ( 1/2 back for wild-card spot): Beat Florida 3-2.

Mike Piazza: 0 for 4 (.347)

Ellis Burks, Colorado: 2 for 3, HR (.342)

Tony Gwynn, San Diego: 1 for 4 (.352)

- does not have enough plate appearances to qualify.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos, Box

Photo: (1--color) Luis Alicea slides into second on a steal as Chad Fonville looks on.

(2) St. Louis pitcher Todd Stottlemyre is attended to after taking a line drive off his right leg.

Associated Press

Box: WILD FINISH (see text)