DODGERS GO WILD IN BEATING CARDS : DODGERS 10, ST. LOUIS 8.

Byline: Matt McHale Daily News Staff Writer

A day later, the Dodgers witnessed something infinitely more rare than a Mark McGwire home run.

Just five outs from another loss to the struggling St. Louis Cardinals, they put together the kind of run they often boast about but seldom pull off.

During a stretch of four batters in the eighth inning, Raul Mondesi doubled, Gary Sheffield homered, Eric Karros singled and rookie Matt Luke homered Saturday to give the Dodgers a 10-8 victory in front of 44,598 at Busch Stadium and a television audience.

There is a good chance even some of the Fox people broadcasting the game turned away from this one after their Dodgers twice fell behind by five runs.

After all, McGwire, who continued his record pace Friday night with two more homers, didn't even hit the ball out of the infield.

And Fox certainly couldn't sell a glitzy promo like, ``Home runs by Ray Lankford and Pat Kelly helped chase Dodgers starter Dave Mlicki before the fifth inning.''

But there was plenty of film left in the can.

``This was our turn to show what we could do,'' said Mondesi, who had three hits, including his team-leading 22nd homer. ``We are starting to play well, but we have to keep it going.''

In the second half, the Dodgers appear to be more cohesive, but they are still only 6-4 and have even lost ground to the division-leading San Diego Padres. However, they are only four back of the San Francisco Giants in the wild-card race.

There were plenty of players responsible Saturday for what was only the Dodgers' sixth victory in 44 games when trailing entering the eighth inning.

Luke was in danger of losing his left-field platoon job when he came to the plate in the eighth with only one hit in his previous 20 at-bats.

But remember, this is a guy who didn't get his first big league at-bat until he was 27 and was brought back by the Dodgers last month after being shipped to Cleveland.

He has faced much tougher opponents than Cardinals closer Jeff Brantley, whose 0-1 pitch he drove into the St. Louis bullpen.

``Matt never stops believing in himself,'' Dodgers manager Glenn Hoffman said. ``Plenty of players would have folded when they got down. He brings a lot to this team.''

Closer Jeff Shaw, who took over for Mark Guthrie (2-1) in the bottom of the eighth, pitched two scoreless innings for his 25th save and second as a Dodger.

More than that is the growing sense that games are over once he enters them.

``Do you see what that guy is doing?'' said GM Tom Lasorda, who still has to address the future of his faltering ex-closer Antonio Osuna. ``In his first three games with us, he faced just nine batters. Wow.''

Besides Luke and Shaw, there was Tripp Cromer, who came off the disabled list after almost a year (reconstructed right elbow) and hit a home run on the first pitch with two outs in the fourth.

It cut the Cardinals' lead to 7-3 and seemed insignificant at the time. The Cardinals even got the run back in the fifth. But they never felt comfortable again.

``The Dodgers have too much team to ever write them off,'' Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. ``They look like they are putting it together.''

Mondesi and Sheffield are a big reason, although their performance the past few weeks has been lost in the Dodgers' (49-48) struggle to make a statement in the West.

Mondesi came in just 1 for 9 in the series, although the only hit was a three-run homer in Thursday's series-opening victory. In his past 19 games, Mondesi is batting .373 with three homers and 20 RBI.

Sheffield drove in three more runs Saturday and now has 67 RBI for the year. He has reached base in 30 consecutive games and is batting .346 in his past 15 games.

``This was a day when I hit a wall, but they were there to pick me up,'' said Mlicki, who was looking for his fifth victory as a Dodger without a loss. ``That's what good teams do. They pick up each other.''

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos

PHOTO (1--Color) Raul Mondesi, right, is greeted by Juan Castro after he belted a two-run homer in the sixth inning.

(2) The Cardinals' Brian Jordan steals second as the ball gets away from the Dodgers' Wilton Guerrero.

Mary Butkus/Associated Press

(3--Ran in Final Edition only) MONDESI