DODGERS FIND THEIR WAY HOME MARTINEZ'S HOMER IN 16TH INNING LIFTS L.A. OVER CINCINNATI DODGERS 6, CINCINNATI 5.

Byline: TONY JACKSON  Staff Writer

The easy thing would be to blame Mark Hendrickson.

His failure to hold a three-run lead and failure to last more than three batters into the fifth inning was a big reason why the Dodgers went extra innings in a game they had once seemed to have well in hand. And his repeated failures since he arrived two months ago from Tampa Bay are a big reason why the Dodgers haven't been able to pull away in the pathetic National League West.

The not-so-easy thing -- but clearly the right thing -- would be to blame the rest of the Dodgers, who spent so much time hitting and so little time scoring.

But Ramon Martinez, the utility infielder who has been used so sparingly since the Dodgers acquired Julio Lugo from Tampa Bay at the trade deadline, finally ended the marathon by hitting the first pitch thrown by Cincinnati reliever Ryan Franklin into the left-field pavilion, giving the Dodgers a 6-5, 16-inning victory over the Reds in front of 44,697 Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium.

By the end of the ninth inning, the Dodgers stranded nine baserunners, six of them in scoring position. They wasted leadoff doubles by Toby Hall in both the fourth and eighth innings. They had wasted a bases-loaded, none-out situation in the sixth.

Fortunately for them, though, the Reds didn't fare much better against a typically stingy Dodgers bullpen that seemed to struggle when little was at stake but always made the big pitch or got the big play whenever the game was on the line.

For instance, after dominating the Reds in a 1-2-3 seventh, reliever Tim Hamulack got himself into trouble by walking Rich Aurilia to begin the eighth. But after Brandon Phillips singled with one out -- his fourth hit of the game and seventh in the first two games of this series, including two home runs -- Royce Clayton hit into an inning-ending double play.

Then, after Takashi Saito walked Aurilia with one out in the 10th and gave up a single to David Ross to put runners on the corners, Saito got Phillips to ground into another inning-ending double play. Jeff Kent's relay to first barely got the speedy Phillips, who after making his first out of the game stooped over with his hands on his knees for several seconds.

Meanwhile, the embattled Hendrickson might have taken a step closer to being taken out of the rotation.

He failed yet again to win, something he has done just once in 11starts since the Dodgers acquired him June 27. He now has a 5.07 ERA since the trade.

Moreover, he hasn't come close to affirming his reputation as an innings-eater. He has completed seven innings just once since joining the club.

On the flip side, the Dodgers entered this game having averaged 2.4 runs in Hendrickson's starts. While they gave him a little more to work with this time, they didn't give him nearly what they should have.

Or nearly what he needed.

The question now is what manager Grady Little will do about Hendrickson. The Dodgers are one of a handful of clubs believed to be vying for the services of veteran lefty David Wells, whom Boston is trying to deal.

If the Dodgers got him, he unquestionably would take Hendrickson's spot. Even if they don't -- and they probably won't, given what the Red Sox are asking in return -- Hendrickson could swap with Aaron Sele, the veteran starter who has been pitching out of the bullpen as a long man.

It was Sele who came on when Hendrickson left in the fifth, with the bases loaded, none out and the Dodgers leading 4-3, and it was Sele who got out of the jam with only one run scoring, although he did give up one of his own in the sixth.

Sele could have gone longer than those two innings, but Little pinch hit for him in the midst of a sixth-inning rally that tied the score but should have done much more.

The rally began with four consecutive singles, starting with Hall. It took all four of them to get the slow-footed catcher home, and he barely made it at that, just missing being forced at the plate on a throw from left field after he also just missed being thrown out at first base on his own one-hopper to right. But the rally was snuffed out when Lugo hit into a first-to-home- to-first double play and Garciaparra flied to right to end the inning.

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CAPTION(S):

3 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) Dodgers starter Mark Hendrickson lasted just four innings and gave up four runs on nine hits.

(2) The Dodgers' Jeff Kent hits a home run against Cincinnati on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium.

(3) Toby hall crosses the plate ahead of the throw to tie the score at 5-5 in the sixth inning against the Reds.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer

Box:

DODGERS vs. CINCINNATI

- Tony Jackson