DODGERS NOTEBOOK: THIGPEN CAN THANK IZTURIS.

Byline: Rich Hammond  Staff Writer

SAN FRANCISCO - Meet the newest member of the Cesar Izturis fan club: Bobby Thigpen.

The Dodgers took a 1-0 lead into the ninth inning in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader against the San Francisco Giants, seemingly putting Eric Gagne in excellent position to get his 56th save of the season, which would have put him one away from tying Thigpen's 1990 single-season record.

But then the Dodgers' offense, which cost the team so many games this season with its inefficiency, amazingly scored four runs in the ninth off the Giants' Tim Worrell. Izturis' two-run single gave the Dodgers a four-run lead and cost Gagne a chance at the save in the Dodgers' 5-0 victory.

``This game is sometimes ironic,'' said Alex Cora, who popped up in the ninth inning.

Nobody else was warming up in the top of the ninth, so Gagne recorded three outs in the nonsave situation to end the game.

``For Gagne's sake, sometimes you find yourself hoping that we don't score any more than three runs,'' Dodgers pitching coach Jim Colborn said. ``He's a better man than to focus on his personal stats. He's first and foremost a team guy.''

The Dodgers failed to score four runs in a game 83 times this season, but Gagne and manager Jim Tracy rejected the idea the team should have stopped hitting.

``You can't do that; that's ridiculous,'' Gagne said.

--Mental or physical? Kazuhisa Ishii said he plans to have tests during the offseason on his left knee, which previously was diagnosed with a ligament strain. Ishii missed four weeks in August because of the knee and after his return went 0-2 in six starts with 18 earned runs allowed in 26 innings.

Team officials stopped short of saying the knee still is bothering Ishii but acknowledged it might be having a mental effect, and that Ishii might be compensating.

``Since he tried to come back from the knee injury, he hasn't been right,'' Colborn said. ``You can help but wonder if there are some lingering effects from that, even if it's just subconscious. ... The body takes a long time to forget that it was injured, so that could be part of it.''

--Edwin, meet Barry: Edwin Jackson, the Dodgers' 20-year-old rookie pitcher, started the first game Saturday and looked impressive, no more so than in the fifth inning when, with a runner on second and two outs, he struck out Barry Bonds on a 3-2 fastball.

``There was a base open,'' Jackson said. ``I was pitching him aggressively because if you miss, then he just walks.''

Jackson hit Bonds with a pitch in the first inning and intentionally walked him in the third.