DODGERS WALKING THE PLANK : PITTSBURGH 8 DODGERS 3.

Byline: Brian Dohn Staff Writer

It's the state of the Dodgers in which one win has torched the bullpen and cost them a chance for, can you believe, a second straight win.

Right-hander Chan Ho Park pitched well for six innings, but with the Dodgers trailing by a run, manager Davey Johnson asked Park for one more inning.

In return, Johnson received one-third of an inning and the Pittsburgh Pirates received five runs. Math, the Dodgers way, added up to an 8-3 Pittsburgh win Thursday at Dodger Stadium as the Pirates won the three-game series in which they scored 24 runs.

``Unfortunately, (Park) ran out of gas at the end, but I wasn't going to go hurt my bullpen unless we had a lead,'' Johnson said. ``I was hoping he would give me another half-inning or inning, but he just couldn't do it. I would have liked to hold him after six, but I figure the way my bullpen was, I'd give him another inning and the chance for a win.''

The Dodgers bullpen is tired because the team used a plethora of pitchers in splitting the first two games against the Pirates. Kevin Brown lasted three innings and Carlos Perez followed that with a 3-1/3-inning stint. Johnson had to to use five pitchers in each game.

Plus, Johnson had reason to think Park, who allowed the leadoff man on in his last five innings, could provide the seventh inning.

Park was coming off a long rest after serving his seven-game suspension for his part in a June 5 fight and said he felt strong. So after throwing 90 pitches in six innings and allowing only a pair of solo homers to Pittsburgh right fielder Brant Brown, Park went out in the seventh with the Dodgers trailing 2-1.

He left seven batters later as the Pirates were in the midst of batting around and scoring five runs. Park's inning began by allowing a basehit to winning pitcher Kris Benson (5-5) and ended with a walk to Warren Morris. The Pirates scored two via a Brian Giles double, one on Jason Kendall's infield single, one when reliever Doug Bochtler hit Brown with a pitch with the bases loaded, and another on a fielder's choice as they took a 7-1 lead.

``The seventh inning, it was hard, it was tough,'' said Park, who fell to 4-4 after allowing seven runs on 11 hits. ``The pitcher got that hit and it made me mad. I was wrong. I thought negative. It's really hard. I have to believe in myself more. I have to believe in my teammates.''

It dropped the Dodgers (30-34) to 4-10 in June. They haven't won back-to-back games since June 4-5 and have lost five of six to the Pirates this season. Also, Brown remains the only Dodgers starter to win this month.

The Dodgers also aren't scoring runs early to ease the burden on the pitchers. Since beating Atlanta two of three games, the Dodgers have lost 11 of 15. In those 15, they've scored three runs in the first inning and twice in the second inning.

In contrast, in this three-game series, the Pirates (34-30) scored five runs in the first and five runs in the second inning.

``The offense is not kicking in, the pitching has not (kicked in),'' said Dodgers center fielder Devon White, who went 2 for 3 with an RBI. ``It's been bad both ways. I don't know what the solution is. You usually get out of it. Most teams I've been on, we get out of it. You'd like to see it earlier. People are frustrated. People are pressing.''

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Photo

Photo: (Color) Chan Ho Park, back after a seven-game suspension, allowed seven runs on 11 hits while striking out seven and walking four.

Eric Grigorian/Special to the Daily News