DODGERS EXPOSE MORE INSTABILITY IN LOSS TO EXPOS; PARK FALTERS, BULLPEN NO HELP : MONTREAL 5, DODGERS 4.

Byline: Matt McHale Daily News Staff Writer

The Dodgers should be ashamed.

They didn't blow a four-run lead in the eighth inning Tuesday night to the Atlanta Braves or San Diego Padres.

The Montreal Expos are 30 games out of first place in the National League East. Their entire payroll is just slightly more than Gary Sheffield's salary for this year. The Expos are using three rookie pitchers in this series you may never see again.

But it was the Dodgers who appeared vulnerable in a 10-inning 5-4 loss in front of 10,515 at Olympic Stadium.

The Dodgers, who looked like contenders over the weekend while splitting with the New York Mets, had gotten through the rough part of this road trip with series against two clubs competing for the wild card. Or so they thought. This was the first of nine consecutive games against teams with sub-.500 records, and their hottest pitcher, Chan Ho Park, was on the mound.

``When a team like the Dodgers or Atlanta or New York come in here, everybody is so sky high,'' said new Dodgers shortstop Mark Grudzielanek, who watched former Expos teammate Chris Widger single home F.P. Santangelo with the winning run against Darren Hall (0-3) in the 10th. ``It's a chance for players to maybe show off for someone they might play for someday. To be on this side now is weird, but we have to win these games. This was embarrassing.''

Worse, the Dodgers, 4-1/2 games behind the Cubs in the wild-card race, are expected to play without Gary Sheffield and Raul Mondesi for the rest of the series. Sheffield began serving a three-game suspension for his June 28 fight with Pittsburgh's Jason Kendall. Mondesi, who hit two homers Monday, has returned to the trainers' room with lower back pain.

``This is not a good time for this,'' said Mondesi, who doubled home the Dodgers' second run before leaving the game. ``We had a chance to build on something and blew it. But if I don't take care of this now, I could be out for the rest of the season.''

Even without those two, the Dodgers should have run away with this one. They built a 4-0 lead in the seventh on a two-run single by Eric Karros off Mike Maddux.

But Park, the National League Pitcher of the Month, faced four batters in the eighth and did not retire any. He had a 4-0 record and a 1.05 ERA in July, but suddenly he was mush, allowing two walks and two singles. Through seven innings, only one Expos runner had reached third.

``There were a couple of spots in the game where he started to lose his way, but he always regained his composure,'' manager Glenn Hoffman said. ``Until the eighth he was pitching fine.''

It was so quiet in the ballpark, you could hear the momentum shift. It could have come in the top of the eighth, when rookie Adrian Beltre was doubled off first on Charles Johnson's fly ball to center.

Or maybe it was a couple of blown chances to turn a double play in the Expos four-run eighth.

But when the Dodgers turned around after the inning, the lead was gone. And without Sheffield and Mondesi, the heart of the lineup was Trenidad Hubbard, Karros and Matt Luke.

Now it was a fair fight.

Antonio Osuna gave up the game-tying run on Vladimir Guerrero's fielder's choice in the eighth. The Expos had a chance to win it in the ninth, but former Dodger Wilton Guerrero grounded out with the bases loaded.

The seldom-used Hall retired the first two batters in the 10th, then he walked Santangelo. Widger then drove the ball over the head of Roger Cedeno in left for the game winner.

``After we came back last night I thought, `This is the start,' '' said Hoffman, whose team beat the Mets 8-5 after trailing 5-1. ``We have to win these games. There is no excuse.''

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2 Photos

PHOTO (1--Color) Dodgers' second baseman Eric Young avoids Montreal's Bob Henley on a double-play attempt.

(2) The Dodgers' Roger Cedeno prevents Montreal's Orlando Cabrera from completing a double play.

Paul Chiasson/Associated Press