DODGERS ARE PLAYING LIKE AN AFTERTHOUGHT.

Byline: KEVIN MODESTI

Much more of this, and the only sports fan paying attention to the Dodgers will be Dr. Frank Jobe. They'll all be in his waiting room, reading magazines that are so old, the Dodgers will be listed as division leaders.

Is it time to give up on the Dodgers?

The team just lost seven games in a row, it's losing healthy arms and legs right and left, and now it risks losing the city to any or all of the distractions of summer.

There's that other L.A. baseball team to steal our attention. There are the Lakers, instant-message fodder again thanks to the mere presence of Phil Jackson. There are the Trojans, whose face masks stare out from the season-preview magazine covers that are beginning to dominate the newsstands.

Wimbledon is starting, the Tour de France isn't far away, and we have our golf games to worry about.

On TV, Misty May and Kerri Walsh keep playing the same beach-volleyball match against a couple of Brazilians.

What were we talking about?

Oh, the Dodgers.

It's too soon to give up on them.

Three reasons:

--The National League West is the bat-and-ball equivalent of the U.S. Open, everybody struggling to meet par. (Not that we're paying attention to golf as long as the Dodgers are in contention).

In any other division, you lose seven games in a row, and you're buried. Around the major leagues, there have been 19 losing streaks of six or more games this season. In 15 cases, the teams were in last place when their slumps ended.

The Dodgers just lost six in a row to the Royals and White Sox, and all that happened was that they slipped from second to third, dropping from 2 1/2 to 5 1/2 games behind the first-place Padres after Monday's 1-0 loss to San Diego.

The Dodgers couldn't drop out of this race if they tried to. For more than a month through Sunday, every team in the division had a losing record. Since May 17, the Dodgers were 11-18, but the Padres are 14-15, the Diamondbacks 12-18, the Giants 10-19 and the Rockies 11-20.

Bogeys might be enough to win this title, as it was for Michael Campbell. (That's if we were ruminating about golf, which we're not).

--The Dodgers' lineup during this losing streak has had more holes than the U.S. Grand Prix. (Car racing, another sport that doesn't even cross our minds, what with the Dodgers in the hunt and all).

Not to minimize the importance of Eric Gagne this season, but the Dodgers are 21-20 when their ace closer has been on the disabled list and are 12-15 when he has been available. He might have prevented the bullpen's meltdowns Saturday and Sunday on the South Side of Chicago, but he wouldn't have stopped the disastrous trend that has seen them give up the first run in 21 of their past 29 games.

Anyway, Gagne should find out from Jobe today if he can avoid elbow surgery and pitch again this summer.

For a batting order scoring less than three runs a game lately, it's Cesar Izturis (hamstring) and Milton Bradley (finger) who are most sorely missed. Izturis returned Sunday after missing four games, all losses. Bradley might be as little as a week away from playing, having missed 19 games, including 12 losses. Izturis is an All-Star voting leader sending rookie Mike Edwards back to the bench. Bradley will bring his 10 home runs back to the lineup and knock Jason Grabowski's .188 average out of it.

If Izturis' and Bradley's health would change a lot on the offensive side, Odalis Perez's would stabilize the pitching rotation. He's in the minor-league rehabilitation phase of his recovery, meaning D.J. Houlton's days as a starter are numbered (5.77 being a perfectly relevant number).

Injuries weren't the only reason the Dodgers went into this spin. But getting their lineup and rotation back in shape could set them right. Think of it as replacing a blown-out tire. (Ralf Schumacher could elaborate, if a race driver weren't the furthest thing from our imaginations right now).

--The schedule is about to break the Dodgers' way, sort of the way things get comfortable for Robert Horry when the playoffs start. (An allusion that would mean something to us if watching basketball were even a slight temptation, here in the heat of a Dodgers pennant race).

Assuming the Dodgers survive their series against the Padres, Angels and Padres in the next week and a half, they'll have the advantage of playing six of their next seven series against teams that began Monday's games at .500 (Diamondbacks) or below (Rockies, Astros, Giants, Mets, Reds).

There is recent history on their side. A year ago this week, the Dodgers had a six-game losing streak and fell into third place and 3 1/2 out of first place.

They won 20 of their next 24 to take over the division.

A lot would have to change quickly for the Dodgers to run off with the division this season. The disabled list would have to empty out, Paul DePodesta would have to make some big moves at the July trade deadline, the hitters would have to get to work in the clutch.

But give up on them now?

Relax, as Robert Horry might say. (Whoever he is).