CASE OF PROS, CONS FOR JACKSON IN WIN EFFORT IS IMPRESSIVE BUT INCONCLUSIVE DODGERS 5, MILWAUKEE 2.

Byline: Rich Hammond  Staff Writer

For those who believe Edwin Jackson should have had a spot in the Dodgers' rotation coming out of spring training, Wednesday night's game provided both an endorsement and a rebuttal.

In his first major-league start this season, the 20-year-old Jackson struggled with his control at times and lasted only five innings because of a high pitch count. But he also showed flashes of the electric stuff that convinced the former Dodgers regime not to trade him over the winter.

Scott Podsednik's leadoff home run was the only hit that hurt Jackson, who won for the third time in four career starts as the Dodgers beat the Milwaukee Brewers 5-2 in front of 27,871 at Dodger Stadium. Eric Gagne got the final four outs for his 76th consecutive save and 13th of the season.

``Being here is just a bonus,'' Jackson said. ``Everything is a bonus for me because I'm just a young pitcher who is trying to establish himself.''

With the victory, the Dodgers won their second consecutive series after losing four in a row. They took advantage of Milwaukee starter Ben Hendrickson, a 23-year-old right-hander making his major-league debut and pressed into service because of Ben Sheets' ear infection.

The Dodgers scored three runs in the first three innings and, after Podsednik's homer, Jackson kept the Brewers scoreless despite several jams. Jackson allowed three hits, walked three, struck out three and threw 96 pitches in his first start since Sept. 27, when he threw six shutout innings to beat San Francisco.

``I had some excellent defensive plays behind me,'' Jackson said. ``That's one of the good things about this team, is that you can make pitches and the defense will be behind you 100 percent.''

Despite his strong effort, the Dodgers are expected to return Jackson to Triple-A Las Vegas, where he can start on a regular basis. Tracy said after the game that Jackson would accompany the team to Arizona, but that's believed to be only a precaution in case Hideo Nomo suffers a setback in today's rehabilitation start.

After Podsednik's homer, the Dodgers didn't trail for long. They loaded the bases in the first on a single and two walks. Paul Lo Duca then hit a slow grounder through the left side that allowed Cesar Izturis and Milton Bradley to score for a 2-1 Dodgers lead.

Izturis had reached on a single to extend his hitting streak to 11 games.

Dave Roberts led off the third with a triple, which got past diving right fielder Ben Grieve, and scored one out later on Hendrickson's wild pitch.

The Dodgers added a run in the fifth when pinch hitter Jason Grabowski doubled, went to third on an outfield error and scored on Izturis' squeeze bunt. Hendrickson allowed four runs on seven hits in five innings. Lo Duca hit a solo home run, his second of the season, off Matt Kinney in the sixth for his third RBI of the game.

Jackson, meanwhile, didn't cruise but stayed out of significant trouble. He stranded runners on third in the second and fourth innings, but he had three-ball counts on nine of the first 12 batters he faced.

``The one thing I was most pleased about with Edwin was that he pitched through a lot of deep counts,'' Tracy said. ``You have to make some good pitches when you fall behind hitters in the major leagues, and he did that.''

Brooks Kieschnick singled home a run against Gagne in the ninth.

Rich Hammond, [phone]

rich.hammond(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo:

(color) Alex Cora dives for a grounder off the bat of Milwaukee's Lyle Overbay, who could not beat Cora's throw to first Wednesday.

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer

Box:

GAME RECAP