DAY LATE, GAME SHORT DODGERS DONE AFTER GIANTS WIN TO CLINCH DODGERS 14, SAN DIEGO 2.

Byline: Brian Dohn Staff Writer

The Dodgers wanted a miracle, and instead one was discovered in San Francisco. Tom Goodwin became an offensive force.

When the Dodgers think back to their first playoff race in five seasons, they will count a handful of games that got away. They also will remember who did them in.

While the Dodgers' bench players were finishing off Saturday's 14-2 rout of San Diego at Dodger Stadium, most of the veterans were in the clubhouse watching former teammate and enigma Goodwin drive the final stake into the Dodgers' playoff hopes.

Goodwin's pinch-hit, two-run, seventh-inning single gave the Giants a three-run lead over Houston, and Robb Nen closed out the ninth inning a few moments before Dodgers reliever Paul Quantrill recorded the last out for the Dodgers.

San Francisco's victory eliminated the Dodgers from the National League wild-card race, sparking a celebration at Pac Bell Park and turning an apprehensive atmosphere in L.A. into a melancholy postgame mood.

The Dodgers (92-69) can equal their best victory total since 1991 with a season-ending victory today, but it will be a hollow feeling knowing they join Seattle and Boston as 90-win teams not in the playoffs.

``There's an emptiness here for me today,'' second-year Dodgers manager Jim Tracy said. ``You know you're going to have at least 92 (wins), but the potential for 93, and you've got a ticket home, that's the big pill you have to swallow that is so very difficult.''

Look no further than Goodwin as to the reason why. He had a game-winning single and a home run in two games at Dodger Stadium this season, and he gave San Francisco the three-run cushion Saturday against the Astros.

Those hits become more painful considering Goodwin was released by the Dodgers in spring training and was paid about $3.5 million by L.A. this season.

``We knew what the (Giants') score was throughout the game, and when most of us came out ... it was a 3-2 game,'' Dodgers first baseman Eric Karros said. ``I watched the at-bat Goodwin had, and he got the two-strike hit. That was a little tough to swallow. It gave them the (three-run) lead, and (the announcers) were making comments that he had 14 RBI, and five were against us, and then he gets those two right there. It's kind of ironic.''

The Dodgers were booted from the wild-card race by a surging Giants team that has won its past seven games. The Dodgers, winners of four in a row, are 6-2 in that span.

But the Dodgers were in that precarious position only because of two awful second-half stretches that caused them to lose their lead in the West Division and, eventually, in the wild-card race.

Leading the division by 2 1/2 games at the All-Star break, the Dodgers started the second half by losing 10 of 12, including five of seven to eventual division winner Arizona and San Francisco.

The Dodgers stabilized their season and led the wild card by three games Sept. 6 but then lost nine of 12 as the Giants won eight of 12. Included in that span, the Dodgers lost four of six to the Giants, who turned their deficit into a two-game wild-card lead in 12 days.

``We can't go and get in a rut we were in right after the All-Star break,'' Dodgers second baseman Mark Grudzielanek said. ``There were periods in the second half where we played terrible, absolutely terrible. We knew what we were up against. We just came up a little short. We didn't have the month we should have had.''

San Francisco has won 28 of 38 since Aug. 19 and went 11-8 against the Dodgers this season. The Giants are the only team in the division the Dodgers didn't have a winning record against.

``They played better than we did, so they deserve to be in that position,'' said Dodgers left-hander Odalis Perez, who would have pitched today if the game had playoff implications. ``It's tough for me to come here the first year and be close to the playoffs and not make it.''

The Dodgers got what they needed Saturday from right-hander Kevin Beirne (2-0). He pitched 5 2/3 innings of a laugher to become the first Dodgers starter other than Perez and Hideo Nomo to win since Sept. 3.

Brian Jordan led the offense with four hits and three RBI and was one of the many players in the clubhouse watching the Giants' game after wholesale changes were made to the lineup with the Dodgers leading 12-2 after six innings.

``To get 92 wins, possibly 93 at the end of the year, is a great accomplishment,'' Dodgers right fielder Shawn Green said. ``We didn't reach our goals, but it's still a pretty successful season.''

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3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color) Dodgers manager Jim Tracy (top) might already have known his team's fate Saturday, after San Francisco clinched the final NL playoff spot (bottom) minutes before L.A.'s victory.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer

Eric Risberg/Associated Press

(3) The Dodgers' Shawn Green (15) slides home safely in the second inning as San Diego's Tom Lampkin awaits the throw Saturday at Dodger Stadium.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer