DODGERS CAN'T SEE THE LIGHT JUDD, DEFENSE STRUGGLE AS PIRATES AVOID SWEEP PITTSBURGH 8, DODGERS 6.

Byline: Matt McHale Staff Writer

By the time you read this, Mike Judd will be gone, back to Albuquerque after getting scorched Tuesday afternoon in the big-league sun.

His one-day Dodger teammates, however, are still here, left wondering where the momentum went in an 8-6 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

They had won the first two games of the series to move into third place and had extended the Pirates' losing streak to six. But Jeff Shaw isn't the only one who has had trouble closing out teams this season. The Dodgers haven't swept a three-game series since May 21.

``No, we didn't sweep,'' acting manager Jim Tracy said. ``But we did take two of three. I'll take that.''

But the Dodger Stadium crowd of 34,872 had trouble buying four errors, which could have been five when Gary Sheffield lost John Vander Wal's eighth-inning liner in the sun. Vander Wal was credited with a double, but the boos told a different story.

Sheffield, who has become one of the team's most popular players, leads the majors with 32 homers, but he got an earful, too, just like everyone else.

The Dodgers, who are only 22-22 at home, loaded the bases in the seventh but didn't score. The eighth might have been even more painful after reserve catcher Paul LoDuca opened with a single. The Dodgers had the heart of their order coming up, but Sheffield, Shawn Green and Eric Karros couldn't get LoDuca past first.

The Dodgers had a built-in excuse of having to turn to a minor-leaguer to fill the spot of suspended Carlos Perez, who despite his own problems this year has an ERA under three in his last five starts.

Judd, who has failed in brief callups the previous two years, impressed pitching coach Claude Osteen warming up in the bullpen. That all changed when Judd walked Warren Morris to open the first, then hit Jason Kendall and gave up a three-run homer to Wil Cordero. The Pirates added two more in the second.

``He's got a good arm, I don't know how long it is going to take to get over this hump and have a little more confidence in himself,'' Osteen said. ``A couple of times Paul came back to the bench after an inning and said, `When he gets ahead of the hitters, they aren't hitting him.' ''

It looked like Judd might get bailed out when the Dodgers scored six runs in the third.

It didn't happen. The Pirates went back on top in the fifth when Morris walked and Kendall homered to left.

``Home runs happen,'' Tracy said. ``The problem is putting guys on base before the home runs. That's what put us in a hole. At one time they had seven runs on four hits. There's the answer to this game.''

LoDuca, who caught Judd in the minors, said the early runs shook the pitcher's confidence.

``You know that he wanted to do well and maybe he put too much pressure on himself,'' LoDuca said. ``But this guy is going to win some games in the big leagues. He has too good a stuff not to.''

The same could be said for the team, which opens a two-game series tonight against Colorado, the team that took back third place Tuesday by routing Oakland.

The Dodgers had two six-run innings in this series. The first led to a victory Sunday night, but Tuesday's only brought more frustration.

Green, who has been battling a slump the past month, had a two-run double off Pirates starter Todd Ritchie. Green just made contact on a 1-2 breaking ball to stay alive, then drove the next pitch, sailing it over Vander Wal's head in right.

Later in the inning, Karros had a two-run single and shortstop Kevin Elster gave the Dodgers a 6-5 lead with a two-run single.

It was Green, though, who made Tracy smile. After an exciting first two months with the team, Green has gone into a tailspin. Earlier this month he had an 0-for-17 slump and entered Tuesday's game just 3 for 20 on the homestand.

But he had a game-tying RBI single against the Angels last week in an extra-inning, come-from-behind victory. Monday night, he had a triple. And even though he was thrown out attempting an inside-the-park homer, the crowd gave him a standing ovation.

``He'll be there for us,'' Tracy said. ``It doesn't happen overnight.''

DODGERS vs. COLORADO

Time:7:05 p.m. at Dodger Stadium.

TV/Radio: Fox Sports Net 2; 1150-AM, KWKW-AM (Spanish).

Matchup: In the first of two games against the Colorado Rockies, Kevin Brown (8-3, 2.52) will test the tender right shoulder that forced him out of his start last Friday. Brown threw Monday in the bullpen and reported no discomfort in the shoulder. Brown faces Rolando Arrojo (5-7, 6.22), who came over from Tampa Bay during the winter. In the second game of the series Thursday (7:05 p.m., Fox Sports Net 2) Chan Ho Park (9-7, 4.21) looks to end a three-game losing streak when he faces right-hander Masato Yoshii (4-10, 5.71).

- Matt McHale

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo:

Dodgers starter Mike Judd is downcast after giving up a go-ahead, two-run homer to Jason Kendall (18) in the fifth inning.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer

Box: DODGERS vs. COLORADO (See text)