DODGERS HIT DAAL-DRUMS IN BLOWOUT L.A. SUFFERS HITTING, PITCHING BREAKDOWNS HOUSTON 6, DODGERS 1.

Byline: Rich Hammond  Staff Writer

There are 21 games remaining in their season, but the Dodgers will find out a lot about themselves this afternoon. If they can rebound from a horrible offensive game and defeat the ace pitcher of a team still holding postseason aspirations, there will be plenty to smile about.

The Dodgers need a victory today to win their 10th consecutive series. They had a chance to extend that streak Saturday afternoon, but Omar Daal faltered and the offense managed just six hits in a 6-1 loss to the Houston Astros in front of 30,626 at Dodger Stadium.

Today the Dodgers face Houston's Roy Oswalt, who looks for his 19th victory and a chance to bolster the Astros' playoff hopes. Saturday's loss, coupled with San Francisco's victory over Arizona, leaves the Dodgers 4 1/2 games behind Arizona in the National League West, and two games ahead of the Giants and 7 1/2 ahead of Houston for the wild card.

``During the course of these series, we've played some tough teams,'' Dodgers manager Jim Tracy said, ``and they've trotted out Curt Schilling, Randy Johnson, Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux and Wade Miller. We've faced some of the best pitchers in the National League ... so this is just another challenge for us.''

Carlos Hernandez (7-5), a 22-year-old left-hander with shoulder problems who had won just one of his previous six starts, baffled the Dodgers on Saturday with an effective curveball and a cutter that jammed right-handed hitters throughout Hernandez's seven innings. He allowed five hits, walked three and struck out four.

``He was keeping the ball down and changing speeds,'' said left fielder Brian Jordan, who drove in the Dodgers' only run with a first-inning single. ``Today was his day, and he put them over the top. That cutter is deceiving; it's not that hard but it runs up on you.''

Hernandez exposed what could be a problem for the Dodgers throughout this playoff run. If they don't get a solid pitching effort, they usually don't have the offense to bail out their struggling starter. The Dodgers have scored more than six runs just once since Aug. 17, and that came in the 19-1 anomaly against Arizona.

The top five hitters in the Dodgers' order went 2 for 16, the only hits coming from Jordan and Paul Lo Duca, who singled and scored in the first. After that, the Dodgers managed solitary hits in the fifth, sixth and ninth innings but never got a runner to third base.

Houston scored two runs in the fourth inning, two in the fifth and one each in the sixth and seventh, and the Dodgers had no answer.

``When they put four or five runs up like they did in the middle innings, we dig a hole too deep for ourselves to climb out of,'' Tracy said. ``After the first inning, Carlos got settled in and pitched extremely well. After the first inning, we didn't have a lot of balls hit that would open your eyes.''

The Dodgers had a chance to blow the game open early, as Adrian Beltre walked, Jordan singled and Eric Karros walked to load the bases. But Mark Grudzielanek swung at the first pitch and popped up to short left field to end the inning. Hernandez then retired 14 of the next 16 batters he faced.

For a while, it looked as though one run might be enough for Daal (11-7), who had not lost in his past eight starts and allowed just four runs in his past 26 2/3 innings. He escaped a no- outs, first-and-third jam in the second inning, but otherwise breezed through the first three innings.

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Despite running into Houston teammate Jason Lane, right, Craig Biggio catches Mark Grudzielanek's fly ball.

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer

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