COLORADO ROCKS DODGERS : COLORADO 5, DODGERS 2.

Byline: Brian Dohn Staff Writer

Good pitching beats good hitting, but does bad hitting offset bad pitching? The answer is unfolding at Coors Field.

The Rockies have the worst pitching in the National League; the Dodgers are the worst-hitting club. Two games into the series, the decision is leaning toward bad pitching.

After yet another team meeting in which manager Davey Johnson spoke with the hitters, the Dodgers managed six hits in a 5-2 loss to the Rockies.

The Dodgers reach the halfway point of the season 11 games under .500 and 11 games behind the front-running Giants going into their Tuesday-night game with San Diego, and the idea of the playoffs is nothing but a far-off dream.

``You know a .500 team isn't going to make it, so you have to play 11 games over .500 in the second half just to get to .500, and then go 15 games over that to get to the playoffs,'' said Todd Hollandsworth, who went 1 for 4. ``You're looking at 55 wins. I'm not saying it's hopeless. This team can catch fire. I know it. I believe it. It's just got to happen.''

The Dodgers, losers of eight of their last nine, are also three games behind, or ahead, of the Rockies (38-43) in the basement race.

``This is getting real old,'' Dodgers leadoff-man Eric Young said. ``It's just a shame because we've tried a lot of things. Not any one thing seems to work. (The halfway point) means we have to win at least 50 games in the second half to have a shot.

``Can we go 50-31? We can do that. But when all of us are struggling collectively, you're not going to muster anything. There's not one guy hitting in our lineup.''

Colorado starter Pedro Astacio had a 6.71 ERA at home and has allowed the second-most hits in the NL. The Dodgers, second to last in NL in runs scored, managed two second-inning runs off him. Six times they were retired in order as Astacio threw his fourth complete game. The former Dodger struck out 10 and didn't walk a batter.

That comes a night after Darryl Kile brought an 8.02 ERA into Coors Field and allowed two runs in seven innings.

Coors Field is supposed to be a haven for hitters. In 39 games, teams have scored 10 or more runs 19 times. Eight times both teams scored at least 10 runs.

The Dodgers? They averaged three hits in the first two games while watching their team average dip to .259. And that's nothing new. They scored 28 runs in six games here last season. Their 4.66 runs per game was the lowest of the 12 teams to play at least five games in the mile-high air.

``Everybody makes it seem, at times, this team is lackadaisical, and it appears that way at times,'' Hollandsworth said. ``But this team is suffering. I think the guys are so down, we need a way to pick ourselves up.''

The only offense they produced against Astacio came when Devon White doubled in a run and Mark Grudzielanek had an RBI single to give the Dodgers a 2-0 lead in the second.

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PHOTO (Color) Pedro Astacio entered the game with a 6.71 ERA, then struck out 10 Dodgers and walked none.

David Zalubowski/Associated Press