DODGERS-GIANTS SERIES: AGAIN, SEASON ON THE LINE.

Byline: KEVIN MODESTI

DENVER - It didn't take the Dodgers long to turn the page. Or, in this case, to change the channel.

With a remote-control click Sunday, Dodgers-Rockies was over and Dodgers-Giants was on, not a moment too soon for the baseball fans of Los Angeles and their favorite team.

Barely 20 minutes after Shawn Green's bid for a tying home run died on a far-away warning track at Coors Field to complete a 5-4 defeat and a 3-1 series loss to the Colorado Rockies, someone switched on the television sets above the sofas in the middle of the Dodgers clubhouse and suddenly the lifeless room was abuzz again with pennant-race electricity.

On the screen, the San Francisco Giants were in the process of knotting their game with the help of the ugly San Diego Padres' defense, and the Dodgers - who craned their necks to watch as they pulled on their travel-day sport coats - winced and grunted a collective ``Geez.''

They were just getting in the mood for tonight's opener of a four-game Dodgers-Giants series at Dodger Stadium, the final meetings of the season between old rivals battling again for a pennant shot, a showdown that should determine which team gets the National League wild-card spot.

Knowing tonight's Hideo Nomo-Jason Schmidt duel was 28 hours away helped the Dodgers clear their heads after their missed opportunity to pick up easy victories against the pointless Rockies.

Except that nothing about this series shapes up easy for the Dodgers.

The Giants have less pressure, coming in with a one-game lead in the wild-card race, having lost to the Padres in that game on the clubhouse TV long after the Dodgers left for the airport.

The Giants have all the momentum, coming in with victories in 19 of their last 27 games while the Dodgers have been losing eight of their last 11.

The Giants have experience in the manager's seat, Dusty Baker having been through September pressure over and over, Tracy getting his best chance to prove himself.

The Giants have history on their side, knowing, if only in their collective unconscious, that beginning with Thomson's home run in 1951, the New York-San Francisco franchise has frustrated Brooklyn-Los Angeles six of the nine times they finished 1-2 in the race for a postseason berth.

And the Giants have the pitching matchups as they want them after Baker juggled his rotation for the season's second-to-last week.

Schmidt-Nomo tonight: The hottest pitchers on their respective staffs square off. Schmidt, tough down the stretch again, has won four of five decisions. Nomo, nails all season, has won five in a row. Nomo has held Barry Bonds and Jeff Kent under .200. Edge to the Dodgers in the nervous opener.

Kirk Rueter-Omar Daal, Tuesday: The Giants are 22-8 in Rueter's starts and he's 8-3 on the road, although the Dodgers tend to kill him. Daal has hit the skids in losses to Houston and Colorado and has served up four homers and 14 RBI in 29 Bonds at-bats. Edge: Giants.

Russ Ortiz-Kevin Brown, Wednesday: A classic handicapping challenge pitting a form horse, Ortiz (4-0, 1.52 ERA recently), vs. an old class horse, Brown (making his second start since May). Brown is perfectly capable of finding greatness deep inside him, and the Dodgers need that right now. Slight edge: Giants.

Livan Hernandez-Odalis Perez, Thursday: Perez would have a 1.90 ERA over his past six starts except, inconveniently, for his 6-5 loss in San Francisco last week in the opener of the Giants' 2-1 series win. Perez, career-wise, against Bonds: 4 for 9, two homers. Hernandez does some of his best work against L.A. Tossup.