DODGERS CAN BARELY NIBBLE ON `PORK CHOP' : PITTSBURGH 7, DODGERS 3.

Byline: Tim Brown Daily News Staff Writer

For this, the Dodgers have no defense.

As it played out, they did not score an earned run in 29 innings. They scored five runs in 38 innings. After showing a slight offensive pulse, faint as it might have been, on their past road trip, they once again are last in the National League in hitting.

Therefore, anything less than a marginal pitching performance is ruinous. There wasn't anything marginal about Pedro Astacio's start on Wednesday night. Not even close.

Astacio did not get an out in the fourth inning, though he tried, and the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Dodgers 7-3 before an announced crowd of 32,161 at Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers' fifth starter arrived at the ballpark an hour before game time and with a 2.89 ERA. He left early, at 3.56. Though at times erratic, Astacio had lost only once since April 9, and has been the recipient of several unjust no-decisions. Closer Todd Worrell has blown three save opportunities, two of them with Astacio decisions on the line.

In three innings, plus three hitters into the fourth inning, Astacio (3-4) allowed eight hits and six runs. The Dodgers generally don't win when their opponents score in multiples of two and three, and the Pirates scored three in the third and four in the fourth, for a 7-0 lead. Typically, those kinds of innings don't translate well for the Dodgers, next-to-last in the league in runs.

``It's been a long time since we've been out of a ballgame that early,'' Dodgers manager Tom Lasorda said. ``They were too far ahead for us to catch up.''

Predictably, the Dodgers managed little in the way of retaliation, though they were tossed a rookie three weeks removed from Double-A. His name is Marc Wilkins, and he's a chunky right-hander his teammates affectionately call ``Pork Chop.'' At the last moment he subbed for Denny Neagle, who experienced back spasms and, certainly to his displeasure, Neagle was not allowed his opportunity to pitch to the Dodgers.

There wasn't a Dodgers player who had heard of Wilkins, and a fair sampling was taken. Pirates pitching coach Ray Miller reported a decent fastball and ``an old-fashioned curveball.'' On whether he hoped for something in the range of five-to-six innings out of the young Pork Chop, Miller responded, ``We don't really put any numbers on that. We'll leave that up to the Dodgers.''

Wilkins threw five shutout innings. He allowed two hits. Had it been up to the Dodgers' hitters, he'd still be out there.

Whether Wilkins, who was 2-3 with a 4.01 ERA in 11 appearances for Carolina, is actually the Pirates' next Doug Drabek, or if he merely got fat against the weakling Dodgers, was open to interpretation.

``I don't know how to put it, but I know we weren't hitting,'' Lasorda said.

The fifth inning, however, had a rather pathetic feel to it.

Raul Mondesi, who had three hits, led off with a triple to right-center field. It ended with a head-first slide that thrilled an otherwise chippy crowd that booed just about anything in Dodgers whites, including Mike Piazza.

So Delino DeShields popped up to shortstop.

And Mike Blowers grounded back to Wilkins.

And Juan Castro grounded to second baseman Nelson Liriano.

And Mondesi jogged from third base to the dugout to grab his glove. Wilkins (1-0), who pitched from the stretch in all situations, had his first win.

``Everything worked out well,'' he said with a shrug.

The run of zeros didn't stop until the seventh inning, when Eric Karros homered to center field. It was a solo shot, his 10th, and 30th RBI.

The Dodgers (30-29) have lost two in a row to the Pirates, another mediocre club in the mediocre Central Division.