DODGERS' FRUSTRATION IS EVIDENT IN LOPSIDED LOSS : ARIZONA 10 DODGERS 1.

Byline: Brian Dohn Staff Writer

All of the feel-good thoughts from the successful post All-Star road trip have been supplanted by what now threatens to decimate the Dodgers for good.

They were swept three games in two days by then-last place Colorado, then came to Arizona to be obliterated by the Diamondbacks 10-1 Friday night at Bank One Ballpark in the opener of a three-game series.

The Dodgers have lost four straight, but a more telling account of what's been wrong all season was displayed in one ugly half-inning against the Diamondbacks. It was punctuated by right fielder Raul Mondesi spending the top of the fifth inning in the Dodgers bullpen rather than on the bench.

Gary Sheffield ruined the shutout with his first homer since June 27. He led off the sixth with his 17th homer of the season, ending a streak of 69 homerless at-bats. It was one of two hits the Dodgers had.

First, though, the undoing.

That was complements of a five-run fourth inning that began when Dodgers second baseman Eric Young failed to make the pivot and threw wildly to first on what was a perfect double-play grounder to shortstop Mark Grudzielanek. It was with slow-footed catcher Damian Miller batting.

Instead of two outs and none on, the inning digressed with left-hander Carlos Perez misplaying pitcher Omar Daal's bunt to load the bases. Jay Bell and Luis Gonzalez each doubled in a pair of runs to give the Diamondbacks a 7-0 lead. Gonzalez went to third when Mondesi's throw to second was off line and went into left field.

Diamondbacks third baseman Matt Williams, who hit a two-run homer in the first, ended the inning with an RBI single to right as Arizona went ahead 8-0.

After the inning ended, Mondesi opted to sit in the right-field bullpen instead of on the Dodgers bench, re-emerging from the bullpen for the bottom of the fifth.

Mondesi's frustration is no doubt a carryover of what has been going on at the plate. He's tied for the team lead with 22 homers, but he's hit four in the last two months, is unhappy about batting sixth in the lineup and entered the night with a .246 batting average. Mondesi's previous career-low is last season's .279, and he's a career .295 hitter.

Usually, the eight runs in four innings would signal the end for Perez. But with the Dodgers having played a doubleheader the day before and the risk of burning out the bullpen in a rout eminent, Perez stayed in.

He proceeded to allow an RBI double to shortstop Edwin Diaz, the first of his career, in the fifth.

As remarkable as it seems in what's been a lost season, Perez reached a new low despite going six innings. He allowed a career-high 10 runs, all of which were earned. His already-unthinkable 6.88 ERA rose to 7.43 and he fell to 2-10. It's the sixth time this season he's allowed at least six earned runs, and the third time he's allowed at least seven.

However, in an ironic twist in just how mixed up things are, it was the first time since May 11 that Perez went six innings in back-to-back starts.

Daal, meanwhile, didn't allow a hit until Young singled off Diaz's glove with one out in the fifth. He improved to 9-5 and beat the Dodgers for the second time this season after allowing one run on two hits in seven innings. And though Daal walked five, the Dodgers failed to take advantage of his wildness.

This outing came after general manager Kevin Malone said the next five to seven days would determine the course the Dodgers would take with the non-waiver trading deadline being a week from today.

A collapse, albeit one that would have to be further than the current one, would signal time to retool and think about next season.

``That being said, you still have to find the right match (if you decide to trade),'' Malone said.

The Diamondbacks took a 2-0 lead in the first on Williams' 24th homer. They made it 3-0 in the third on Bell's RBI single.

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Photo: RAUL MONDESI

The right fielder spent one-half inning in the bullpen instead of returning to the bench.