DODGERS IN THE RIGHT BUT LOSE : BRAVES' SMOLTZ HAS TOO MUCH FOR L.A. ATLANTA 3, DODGERS 1.

Byline: Eric Noland Daily News Staff Writer

It's no secret that the Dodgers' offense, while packing plenty of potential clout, nonetheless leans heavily to the right. The teeth of the order - Mike Piazza, Eric Karros, Raul Mondesi and Mike Blowers, who occupy the Nos. 3-6 slots - are all right-handed batters.

John Smoltz of the Atlanta Braves surveys that lineup and drips drool down his shirt front. Last season, after all, his powerful right arm limited right-side swingers to a batting average of just .206, lowest in the National League in the category.

Form held Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium. Smoltz carved his way through the Dodgers' best, striking out 10 en route to a 3-1 Atlanta victory before 35,570 fans.

Piazza, Karros, Mondesi and Blowers? Well, against Smoltz and right-handed closer Mark Wohlers they combined to bat .067 (1 for 15), with six strikeouts.

``He does (have an edge), but you can't use that as an excuse,'' Piazza said when it was over. ``He made the pitches when he had to. He threw strikes. He got ahead of us and made us swing at his pitch, not our pitch.

``It was a little frustrating for us. We couldn't get our offense going.''

Smoltz (1-1), who recorded his 10 strikeouts over 7-2/3 innings, says he tried to keep his emotions in check when he scanned the lineup card. ``Sometimes you make the mistake of getting too excited about thinking, `I can get them out,' '' he said. ``But I don't fear any right-handed hitter. If you look at the teams I have a lot of success against, it's the right-handed lineups - the Cubs, the Dodgers, the Rockies.

``Sometimes you get in a groove with your pitches.''

In this game, Smoltz said, it was the fastball that served him best. He usually relies on his slider as his out pitch, but he found early on that he could pop the glove - especially on the outside corner against the right-handed power - at will. ``Tonight,'' he said, ``I got more strikeouts on my fastball than I ever have.''

The formidability was inarguable. In the third inning, Smoltz required only 12 pitches to strike out the side. With only one foul ball.

``Most of the time he throw hard,'' said Mondesi. ``He controlled everything.''

In the face of this, the Dodgers didn't have much margin for lapse. And Pedro Astacio (0-2) found it.

After allowing only one (unearned) run through five innings, he was tagged for two home runs in the space of four pitches in the sixth. Astacio fell behind Ryan Klesko 3-0 . . . boom, a home run to right that didn't seem to climb much higher than about 10 feet. Then the pitcher promptly fell into a 2-0 hole with Javier Lopez . . . whack, a homer over the short fence in the left-field corner.

``If he keeps the ball down and gets his other pitches over, he's OK,'' said pitching coach Dave Wallace. ``He just cannot pitch behind (in the count) or get the ball up. It sounds elementary, but it is so true.''

The Dodgers had their opportunities, too, but had much less success converting them.

A prime chance came in the eighth, when Smoltz tired. On his 109th pitch of the night, Delino DeShields drove a double down the right-field line, putting runners at second and third with one out, and chasing Smoltz from the game. But the threat was quelled when Terrell Wade got Brett Butler to lift a harmless fly ball to shallow left field, and Wohlers, after walking Piazza to load the bases, retired Karros on a fielder's-choice grounder to short.

Earlier, the Dodgers stranded a man at third base in the second inning and runners at second and third in the fifth.

``We're trying to make them relax,'' manager Tom Lasorda said of the Dodgers hitters. ``I'm sure that they're trying too hard. That's without a doubt.

``We're leaving entirely too many men on base. We've got to start producing. We've got to start getting those base hits with men in scoring position. We'rea just not being situation hitters. You've got to hit differently when you've got men in scoring position.''

At one point Tuesday night, the Braves didn't necessarily hit better with a runner at third. They just hit to the correct guy. Atlanta's first run was pushed across in the third inning when David Justice's two-out smash to Blowers at third was bobbled for a run-scoring error.

It was the Dodgers' 11th error in nine games this season, and six of those have been produced by the rebuilt left side of the infield - Blowers and shortstop Greg Gagne.

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2 Photos

Photo: (1) Dodgers pitcher Pedro Astacio waits for the s ign during his stint against the Braves at Dodger Stadium.

(2--color) Dodgers second baseman Delino DeShields is late with the tag as Atlanta's Marquis Grissom steals at Dodger Stadium.

Gus Ruelas / Daily News