DODGERS AGAIN OUT OF SYNC; MISTAKES THWART L.A.'S CHANCES : ST. LOUIS 6, DODGERS 4.

Byline: Brian Dohn Daily News Staff Writer

The Dodgers have seen the best the National League has to offer in Arizona, San Diego, Atlanta and now St. Louis.

And, for now anyway, those teams have much more to offer.

The Dodgers' slide continued as they finished a six-game homestand with a 6-4 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday in front of a sellout crowd of 53,857 at Dodger Stadium.

After beginning the season 5-1, the Dodgers are 9-10. They've lost four straight series, one each to the aforementioned clubs, and followed a 2-5 road trip with a 2-4 stretch at home.

``I have no idea,'' Dodgers center fielder Devon White said of what's wrong. ``It seems like we're on and off. We can't pinpoint what's going on right now. I think the players are all working hard.''

The Dodgers are working hard, but they're not working together. On days the offense is clicking, the pitching falters. When the pitching is strong, the clutch hits disappear. And on a day when both are average, like Sunday, the opponents' are just a bit better than average.

The Dodgers couldn't even win a series in which the Cardinals' Mark McGwire went 1 for 9 (single) with five strikeouts.

``I think it's luck. A lot of things have been going wrong,'' Dodgers reliever Pedro Borbon said. ``We are expected to win and we have the people to win. There's always going to be frustration when things are not going right, but there's not a guy on the team who doesn't think we're going to win a championship.

``Once we find a formula, we're going to be fine. I really think we're going to turn it around soon. No way this team is going to be below .500. We have too many talented players in here for that.''

In the series finale against the Cardinals it was more of the Dodgers helping the Cardinals win.

Eric Davis hit a two-run homer in the first and had an RBI single in the third, but errors set up both innings as St. Louis built a 5-0 lead. The Cardinals' three-run first inning was aided by Dodgers starter Darren Dreifort's inability to handle a comeback bouncer.

The Cardinals added two more runs in the third, the second of which scored when Dreifort dropped Eric Karros' toss at first base.

``I cost the team four runs because I blew two plays,'' said Dreifort (3-1), who gave up five runs on seven hits in four innings. ``I screwed up a ground ball back to me and I screwed up a play at first base. You have to make the plays.''

The Dodgers committed four errors, pushing their season total to 19. Even so, Mark Grudzielanek's solo homer in the fourth started a comeback that saw the Dodgers trim a 5-0 lead to 6-4 on Eric Young's groundout in the eighth.

Raul Mondesi then had an opportunity to pull the Dodgers closer, but he grounded into a force play with runners on first and second and two outs. Again, the clutch hit was missing.

``I don't really worry about the physical errors, I worry about the mental ones,'' Dodgers manager Davey Johnson said. ``We have our work cut out for us, but we certainly have the strength and character (in the clubhouse) to come back. This is nothing. We haven't had it going our way yet. If it was easy, it wouldn't be any fun.''

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PHOTO The Dodgers' Mark Grudzielanek can't get a grip on the ball as St. Louis' Shawon Dunston slides into second.

David Crane/Daily News