DODGERS LET ONE GET AWAY : FIVE-GAME STREAK ENDED BY PHILLIES PHILADELPHIA 5, DODGERS 4.

Byline: Eric Noland Daily News Staff Writer

The water cooler was in one piece. There were no profane outbursts. The six boxes of pizza in Tom Lasorda's office hadn't been flung across the room with an angry swipe.

The Dodgers were subdued in their anguish Sunday afternoon, not giving vent to any of these traditional expressions of baseball rage - even though they would have been fully justified. Just a lot of blank faces that seemed to reflect equal parts disappointment and disbelief.

The Dodgers saw their five-game win streak slam to a halt in a 5-4 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies before 38,178 fans at Dodger Stadium, and in the contest saw several aspects of their play - which had been so crisp of late - fray a bit at the edges.

Wasted along the way were rallies to tie the game after the Phillies went ahead 3-0 in the first inning and 4-3 in the seventh.

``You hate to lose any game, but it just wasn't our day today,'' said first baseman Eric Karros. ``We played well, we just had missed opportunities.''

Quite a few, in fact.

Down a run in the ninth, the Dodgers got two men on base with no outs, but they were busted square in the teeth of their lineup by Phillies closer Ricky Bottalico, who struck out Mike Piazza, Karros and Raul Mondesi . . . in order.

In the first inning, lapses in defense enabled Philadelphia to jump out to a 3-0 lead against Ramon Martinez. Center fielder Roger Cedeno lost a ball against a brilliant, hazy sky and had it carry over his head for a ground-rule double. Then Mondesi lost his bearings on the warning track in right, and bumped into the wall before he could jump for the eminently catchable three-run home run of Benito Santiago.

A Dodgers' relief pitcher who hadn't been scored on yet this year, Scott Radinsky, picked an unfortunate time to be tagged for his first - it represented Philadelphia's winning run in the ninth, as noted Dodger-killer Jim Eisenreich singled in Kevin Stocker with two out.

``A tough loss. Very tough,'' said Lasorda, a manager who is a slave to hyperbole, but not generally where defeats are concerned. ``My guys battled. They battled hard.''

And what an odd finish. Trailing 5-4 entering the bottom of the ninth, the Dodgers got Chad Fonville aboard when he drew a four-pitch walk, and Cedeno followed him onto the bases when struck in the left hand while deflecting a Bottalico fastball away from his face.

Next up: Piazza and his .354 average and 35 RBI. Whiff! Then Karros, who was 2 for 4 to that point, having creamed a two-run home run off Curt Schilling in the sixth. Whiff! And Mondesi, who was batting .357 on the homestand, with two home runs. Whiff!

``You couldn't ask for any situation better - two on and our guys coming up,'' said Lasorda. ``The kid struck out three guys who are outstanding hitters.''

``It wasn't too smart putting two guys on with their big three coming up,'' agreed Bottalico, who earned his league-leading 12th save (in as many opportunities). ``I had a pretty good idea of how I wanted to face those guys.''

That meant a clever mix of fastballs and sliders and avoidance, at all costs, of any mistake pitch that could be hit a great distance.

For the Dodgers, the inning was just the last in a long string of might-have-beens.

The Phillies' first inning provided the first such example, as two batted balls that should have been outs wound up producing three runs.

Cedeno look two steps in on a drive off the bat of Eisenreich, and the ball carried lazily to the warning track, bouncing over the wall for a double. Cedeno admitted that he's fighting to get acquainted with Dodger Stadium's unforgiving daytime backdrop.

Mondesi, who has been a full-time right-fielder for two years now, should be granted less latitude. He backed up for Santiago's gentle fly ball, but just as he prepared to jump he banged into the wall, and the ball ticked off the top of the wall foir a cheap homer.

``I tried, but I didn't think it was that far,'' said Mondesi, said.