DOUBLE PLAY WITH GRAND HAND FROM FINLEY, DODGERS WIN FIRST WEST TITLE SINCE 1995 DODGERS 7, GIANTS 3.

Byline: Tony Jackson  Staff Writer

The climactic scene, the sign that it finally was OK to go crazy, came the last way anyone expected it to. But in retrospect, no one should have expected anything less.

For weeks, they had counted down the Dodgers' magic number, all the while envisioning a more comfortable, more conventional clinching, the kind that comes with a player catching a flyball in a ho-hum ninth inning and jumping for joy while his teammates mob the pitcher's mound.

Ultimately, though, there was nothing comfortable or conventional about it. Ultimately, the Dodgers' 7-3 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Saturday, giving Los Angeles its first National League West title in nine years in front of a sellout crowd of 54,594 that literally shook the foundation of Dodger Stadium, was one for the ages.

Simply put, it was the only kind of clincher good enough for the 2004 Dodgers.

It had every element necessary to capture the flavor of this team and of this season.

It involved the Dodgers falling behind early, as usual because a pitcher with virtually no margin for error -this time emergency starter Elmer Dessens - proved to be slightly imperfect while his teammates wasted what few scoring opportunities they were able to generate.

It involved another stellar effort by the bullpen, keeping the Giants at bay until the Dodgers could stage another of their patented, late-inning rallies.

It involved no shortage of luck. Dustin Hermanson, the Giants' usually reliable closer, fell apart in the ninth inning, walking three of the next four batters after giving up a leadoff single to Shawn Green. And shortstop Cody Ransom, inserted for defense, botched a routine play.

It involved an interminable, edge-of-your-seat thriller with the hated Giants, the middle game of a season-ending weekend pitting what are, with apologies to those in the Northeast corridor, the game's greatest rivals.

``I would say after the last 10 days that this rivalry is back, and that it's the greatest rivalry in all of sports,'' Dodgers owner Frank McCourt said amid the postgame pandemonium. ``I don't know who makes the schedule, but they did a heck of a job this year.''

And finally, after the Dodgers erased what had been a 3-0 deficit to start the inning, it involved center fielder Steve Finley, standing in the left-handed batter's box with one out in the ninth and the division-winning run 90 feet in front of him. Facing reliever Wayne Franklin, Finley was looking to lift a flyball just far enough into the outfield to bring fleet-footed rookie Antonio Perez home, setting off the kind of celebration that used to be an annual ritual at Chavez Ravine.

Instead, Finley lifted one a bit farther, just beyond the wall in right-center.

In a nod to the game's traditions, Finley completed the obligatory circuit around the bases. By the time he made it to home plate, the party had started without him.

``I wanted this situation,'' Finley said, Moet and Chandon dripping from his cap and drenching his T-shirt. ``I wanted to be the guy to get the hit. I dreamed about it, and it happened. As I went up to the plate, I just enjoyed the atmosphere because I knew I was going to get it done. I just knew it.''

There is another game to go, of course, that being at 1:10 this afternoon. But for the Dodgers, there was a sense that Saturday was do-or-die time, a disturbing thought when they came to bat in the bottom of the ninth having amassed all of four hits. By winning, they saved themselves from having to bring left-hander Odalis Perez back for today's finale and saved him for the opener of whatever division series the Dodgers wind up in.

Right-hander Jeff Weaver will pitch Game 2. Manager Jim Tracy was non-committal beyond that, but Games 3 and 4 probably will mean Jose Lima and Kazuhisa Ishii.

Today's game isn't meaningless for the Giants, still clinging to life in the wild-card race, which means it isn't meaningless for the Dodgers, either.

``I will protect the integrity of the game,'' said Tracy, meaning he will pull out every stop imaginable to try to squeeze one more win out of this magical season against the Giants and Tracy's managerial mentor, Felipe Alou.

If Houston beats Colorado today, the Astros get the wild card. If the Astros lose and the Giants lose, the Astros get the wild card. If the Astros lose and the Giants win, the teams will meet on Monday at SBC Park in a one-game playoff for the wild card.

If the Astros get the wild card, the Dodgers will play St. Louis in a division series, with the first two games at Busch Stadium and the series either Tuesday or Wednesday. If the Giants get the wild card, the Dodgers will play Atlanta, with the first two games at Turner Field.

But in Saturday's postgame madness, no one was much in the mood for looking ahead.

``We're on a high right now,'' said suspended outfielder Milton Bradley, who watched the game from McCourt's private suite on the press level while McCourt and his wife, vice chairman Jamie McCourt, watched from their customary spot in the front row of the Dugout Club.

A win today would give the Dodgers (93-68) their most victories since their last World Series championship season of 1988, when they also won 94. It also would put them a season-high 26 games above .500 and a satisfying three games ahead of the Giants. Fittingly, the division clincher also secured a season series victory for the Dodgers over their storied rivals.

The Dodgers fell behind 2-0 in the fourth on a two-out, two-run single by Marquis Grissom off Dessens, who was making his first start since the Dodgers acquired him from Arizona on Aug. 19. Dessens was on a 90-pitch limit, but Tracy lifted him an inning later after only 75.

Grissom dropped Brent Mayne's routine flyball with one out in the fifth, putting runners on second and third. But with the left-handed-hitting Bonds due to lead off the next inning, Tracy left himself open to a media crucifixion by allowing left-handed reliever Wilson Alvarez to hit for himself. Alvarez grounded weakly to third, and Cesar Izturis fouled out, stranding the runners.

``I just had a feeling that if I took (Alvarez) out right there, it would come back to haunt us,'' Tracy said.

It almost did anyway. Alvarez walked Bonds to start the sixth but retired the next three batters. Duaner Sanchez gave up a solo homer to Grissom leading off the seventh, putting the Dodgers in a 3-0 hole, but the bullpen stiffened from there. Giovanni Carrara pitched into, then out of, trouble in the eighth, pumping his fist wildly and spiking the ball into the infield grass after taking the relay throw to complete an inning-ending double play.

Yhency Brazoban (6-2), credited with three of the Dodgers' four wins on this homestand, pitched around a leadoff walk to Grissom in the ninth, setting the stage for what became a dramatic, historic rally against Hermanson (6-9), Jason Christiansen, Matt Herges and Franklin.

Tony Jackson,[phone]

tony.jackson(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

3 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) Steve Finley doesn't have to look to know his ninth-inning drive was hit far enough to give the Dodgers the victory.

John McCoy/Staff Photographer

(2) Steve Finley's teammates already are celebrating by the time he reaches home plate after belting a grand slam.

(3) Steve Finley celebrates as he circles the bases after his grand slam lifted the Dodgers to their first NL West title since 1995.

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer

Box:

DODGERS 7, GIANTS 3