DODGERS NOTEBOOK : PITCHERS FEEL PRESSURE AS HITTERS PRESS.

As the Dodgers continue to strain mightily to push a baserunner across the plate, it's clear the hitters aren't the only ones feeling the tension. Apparently, their pitchers are beginning to press, too.

``I knew when I was walking to the mound today, I knew I had to keep it as close as I could,'' Ramon Martinez said Tuesday afternoon, ``because we haven't been scoring runs.

``It didn't work.''

Had Martinez not been so conscious of the Dodgers' lack of sock - they've scored just two runs over their past 40 innings - he might not have tried to pick Rickey Henderson off second base on a one-out comebacker. Thus, he might not have committed the second of three Dodgers errors in the inning.

``We haven't been hitting,'' said Martinez, who dipped to 7-4 with his third loss in his past four starts. ``It was a big problem when they got all those runs (two in the first, four in the second). I was trying to keep it close, but nothing was working.''

Long division: The Dodgers remain in first place in the National League West, but the Padres and Colorado Rockies have joined them in a tight knot.

The Dodgers, after taking over sole possession of first place on June 17, have responded with the mediocrity of .500 ball (13-13).

``We have had opportunities to distance ourselves a little bit, maybe take over the division,'' Delino DeShields lamented of a task that, obviously, has been left undone. ``There's a lot of parity in our division, a lot more than people realize.''

Spark arresters: The Dodgers aren't getting much life at the top of their batting order, and interim manager Bill Russell has just about depleted his options.

Chad Fonville emerged as his leadoff man of choice soon after Russell took over for Tom Lasorda, but Fonville fell out of favor with an extended hitting slump. Fonville, who grounded out in a pinch-hitting appearance Tuesday, is hitless in his past 13 at-bats.

Roger Cedeno, who had been Lasorda's favorite for the role, isn't faring much better. On a pinch-hit appearance in the seventh, he made out on an infield squibber, which extended his hitless streak to 24 at-bats.

DeShields, to whom the duty has fallen by default (as was the case earlier in the season), is batting .121 (4 for 33) since the All-Star break. He has also struck out five times in his past 10 at-bats.