DODGERS FINALLY LOVE PHILADELPHIA L.A.'S FIRST WIN IN PHILLY SINCE 2002 SEEN AS POSITIVE SIGN DODGERS 10, PHILADELPHIA 2.

Byline: Tony Jackson  Staff Writer

PHILADELPHIA - The city that gave birth to a nation finally gave birth to a Dodgers victory Wednesday night, 10-2 over the Philadelphia Phillies in front of 31,164 at Citizens Bank Park. The Dodgers, who hadn't won here since 2002, can only hope that it gives birth to something else.

There have been several games, after all, when they have appeared to break out of their season-long offensive doldrums, only to quickly revert to form on every occasion. But in the giddy moments after the Dodgers scored as many runs as they had managed in their four previous games combined, there was cautious optimism that this time would be different.

``This will help morale, for sure,'' said slumping outfielder Jayson Werth, who helped his own morale with a double and a two-run homer. ``We'll see (today) how it affects us.''

To a man, those in both the Dodgers' clubhouse and the Dodgers' front office insist this club is still in the mix of a National League West race that has become laughingly weak from top to bottom. And the fact division-leading San Diego lost again, dropping the Padres to just five games over .500 and moving the third-place Dodgers within 7 1/2 games of the top, actually lends a faint flicker of credence to that claim.

But if the Dodgers come out in this afternoon's series finale and fail to come through with runners in scoring position, fail to give their pitching staff even the slightest margin for error and fail to mount much of a challenge against Phillies right-hander Jon Lieber - who is second in the majors with 24 home runs allowed - then all that talk of possibly catching the Padres will amount to little more than whistling past the graveyard.

With apologies to the late Robert Frost, the Dodgers are looking at two roads diverged in a wood. And this time, they darn well better take the one less traveled by, because that - and only that - will make all the difference.

``I think the follow-up is what we will be wanting to see,'' Dodgers manager Jim Tracy said. ``A lot of the guys who had a big night for us are key guys in our lineup, and, obviously, some of those guys have been struggling offensively. The key is to give your starting pitcher some runs to work with and not create additional opportunities for the opposition by mishandling balls (defensively). We'll wait and see what happens.''

The Dodgers broke open a scoreless game with nine runs in the fifth, seven off Phillies starter Cory Lidle (8-8). The outburst didn't let up even after homers by Werth and Jeff Kent cleaned up the bases. Werth's opposite-field shot followed a leadoff single by Mike Edwards. Lidle then walked Jason Repko, gave up a hit-and-run single to right to Dodgers pitcher Derek Lowe, allowed an RBI double to the sizzling Oscar Robles, then served up a three-run gopher ball to Jeff Kent.

After reliever Robinson Tejeda finally got the first two outs, the Dodgers mounted another rally. Edwards singled for the second time in the inning, Tejeda hit Werth, and Repko made it 9-0 with a two-run triple.

Lowe (6-10), who hadn't won since June 6 and had been torched for six runs in 4 2/3 innings Friday against San Francisco, cruised from there. He turned in what would have been seven shutout innings if not for ever-shaky infielder Antonio Perez - who had been in the game defensively for about five minutes - costing him two unearned runs with a two-out error in the seventh. David Bell then homered for the Phillies' only runs.

``(That) was frustrating,'' Lowe said. ``To shut this team out would have been very tough. ... (But) I have been on a bad string. I realized after the last game that this wasn't going to fix itself. (Pitching coach Jim Colborn) and I have been working to try to figure it out. I made a mechanical adjustment, going back to the way I was pitching earlier in the year. When you put in a lot of hard work and you see some results, you feel like the time you put in was worth it.''

Werth knows the feeling. So does Cesar Izturis, who broke out of his slump with three hits; Kent, who drove in four runs; and Edwards, who in two games in front of a large contingent from his hometown of Mechanicsburg, Pa., is 3 for 6 with a double and two runs.

And Oscar Robles, who has nailed down the everyday third base job and forced the granite-gloved Perez to the bench, went 2 for 4 with two doubles and a walk, raising his average to .355 and his on-base percentage to .425.

Tony Jackson,[phone]

tony.jackson(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, 5 boxes

Photo:

(1) Derek Lowe cruises through seven innings in the Dodgers' 10-2 win.

George Widman/Associated Press

(2 -- color) no caption (Derrek Lowe)

Box:

(1) DODGERS at PHILADELPHIA

- Tony Jackson

(2) GAME RECAP

(3) HOW THE RUNS SCORED

(4) ALMANAC 

(5) THE LOWE-DOWN