CAN'T CATCH 22 ALL GOES RIGHT FOR L.A. IN RECORD WIN DODGERS 22, COLORADO 7.

Byline: Brian Dohn Staff Writer

DENVER - On a milestone Saturday afternoon in which the Dodgers whipped the Colorado Rockies 22-7 at Coors Field, in the process establishing a Los Angeles record for runs scored, Dodgers left fielder Gary Sheffield hit his 300th career homer.

He added his 301st as he homered twice in a game for the second time in three days. And Sheffield also added he might only be at the halfway point of what he thinks could be a Hall of Fame career.

After recently chatting with Barry Bonds about the Giants slugger's chance of reaching the Hall, Sheffield said he was enlightened.

``(Bonds) was more aware of my stats than I was, and he told me what kind of numbers I could put up and get in the Hall of Fame easy,'' said Sheffield, 32, a six-time All-Star. ``I said, `That's easy.' I never thought about it, but 500, 600 home runs, I think I could do that pretty easy. I've never thought about it, so I never thought about making it to the Hall of Fame.''

In order to reach 500 homers, a magical plateau to gain entrance into Cooperstown, Sheffield would have to average 37 homers in the next five seasons and hit 36 this year. Sheffield averaged 32 homers in the last five years.

``I always thought about just hitting 200 home runs and having a great career,'' Sheffield said. ``But I feel like I'm getting better, a lot smarter out there and I conserve a lot of energy, so I think I can last a lot longer.''

Sheffield, a career .293 hitter, led the 23-hit attack with three hits, four RBI and four runs scored. His fifth-inning solo homer put the Dodgers ahead 6-5, and his three-run homer off reliever Dan Miceli in a six-run sixth put the Dodgers' up 12-6.

Bidding for his first three-homer game, Sheffield was intentionally walked in the eighth and then struck out to end the inning. He's batting .287 with 22 homers and 50 RBI.

It was an offensive day all around as the Dodgers turned Coors Field into something resembling a diamond in Williamsport, Pa. They smacked four homers and batted around in the lineup three times.

The Dodgers made it a laugher with a nine-run eighth inning in which Colorado relievers Craig Dingham and Horacio Estrada did their impression of former Dodgers lefty Jose Nunez. The Dodgers had nine consecutive batters reach base, seven via hits, Sheffield being intentionally walked and Bruce Aven being hit by a pitch.

Center fielder McKay Christiansen, making his Dodgers debut, had three hits and and drove in four runs and impressed Dodgers manager Jim Tracy.

``I was very intrigued by what I saw of (Christiansen),'' said Tracy, seeing Christiansen play for the first time. ``He showed me a lot of patience at the plate. He showed me the ability to have a good eye at the plate. I saw a good throwing arm. Obviously, he had good speed.''

Shawn Green began the scoring with a three-run homer in the first and Paul Lo Duca ended it with a three-run homer in the eighth. Between that, every starter had at least one hit and scored at least a run.

Green has already matched his home run total of 2000, hitting his 24th against Rockies lefty Denny Neagle (6-4) in the first inning. He also leads the Dodgers with 73 RBI as he tries to become the first left-handed hitter in Los Angeles history to drive in 100 runs.

Adrian Beltre had four hits and Mark Grudzielanek, Green and Lo Duca each had three hits.

The Los Angeles Dodgers' previous high for runs scored was 19. It was accomplished three times, the last being April 17, 1994, in Pittsburgh. The franchise record of 25 runs was reached twice, but not since 1901.

DODGER DELUGE

The 22 runs scored Saturday were an L.A. Dodgers record and the most in the franchise since Brooklyn beat Pittsburgh 23-6 on July 10, 1943. It was the only record broken, although others nearly came close:

Saturday L.A. record Brooklyn

22 runs 22 (prev. 19) 25

23 hits 24 (Aug. 20, 1974) 28

9 runs in inn. 10 (Sept. 12, 1977) 15

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) no caption (Coors' Field scoreboard)

(2 -- color) The Dodgers' Gary Sheffield watches one of his two homers leave Coors Field on Saturday. They were the 300th and 301st of his career.

David Zalubowski/Associated Press

Box: DODGER DELUGE (see text)