DREIFORT DEFANGS DIAMONDBACKS : DODGERS 8 ARIZONA 1.

Byline: Brian Dohn Daily News Staff Writer

Three hours before Arizona left-hander Randy Johnson was supposed to dominate, Dodgers manager Davey Johnson mused about how such a match-up could be good for Darren Dreifort. It's one of the reasons Johnson had no qualms in pushing Kevin Brown back a day, ruining one marquee matchup for what turned out to be a pitching exhibition.

Dreifort allowed two hits in seven innings as the Dodgers avoided a four-game sweep with an 8-1 shelling of Johnson and the Diamondbacks on Thursday at Bank One Ballpark.

``Randy is one heck of a pitcher, but Darren Dreifort is one heck of a pitcher, too,'' Johnson said. ``He just needs experience on the hill. It was a very dominating performance right when we needed it.''

The Dodgers ended a losing streak at three games and won for the first time on the road.

Second baseman Eric Young left the game after the fifth inning with tightness in his right calf. He said it's been bothering him lately, but the move was more precautionary than anything else. It came on what was turning into a brilliant night for Young. Not only did he triple in the fifth inning, but he made a pair of spectacular plays in the first two innings behind Dreifort.

In the first he snared Jay Bell's line drive while diving to his right. An inning later he took a hit away from Matt Williams by ranging behind the second-base bag to field a grounder and throw to first.

But that was a sidelight to Dreifort, who without question enjoys success in the desert. In his two outings at the BOB, he's allowed one run on eight hits in 16 innings. Against the Diamondbacks, he was nearly unhittable.

``It's all defense,'' Dreifort said. ``Our guys played outstanding defense all night long. Defense, unbelievable, and then we score eight runs on top of that. Makes pitching easy.''

Luis Gonzalez's fourth-inning triple accounted for the only run he allowed, and catcher Damian Miller singled in the fifth. But Dreifort (2-0) retired the last eight batters he faced. he walked four and struck out five.

Dreifort's only flirtation with catastrophe came after he walked to two batters following Gonzalez's triple, but Steve Finley grounded into an inning-ending double play.

``He was awesome,'' Dodgers catcher Paul LoDuca said. ``I was talking in the pen and I said, `I'll sit right down the middle and let you hit it.' When he's throwing like that, it's awesome.''

LoDuca and Dreifort were working so well in tandem that not one sign was shaken off.

``You don't have to think, just grab the ball and throw it,'' Dreifort said. ``He knew what was working for me and what wasn't.''

By contrast, Johnson struck out 10 but was hit hard.

After Johnson (1-1) breezed through the order the first time, Dodgers left fielder Gary Sheffield hit a two-run homer off him in the fourth. Sheffield's third homer of the season gave the Dodgers a 2-0 lead.

An inning later the Dodgers broke the game open with three runs, all of which scored after two outs. Young kick-started the rally with a run-scoring triple to the right-center-field wall. Two pitches later, shortstop Mark Grudzielanek hit his first homer of the season as the Dodgers went ahead 5-1.

Johnson, who was coming off a 15-strikeout complete game win against the Atlanta Braves, was touched for two more runs in the sixth as the Dodgers continued to build their lead. It began with the third of four walks Johnson issued, this one to leadoff batter Raul Mondesi.

Eric Karros singled to extend his hitting streak to 10 games and Devon White doubled to left to score Mondesi. Adrian Beltre tacked on the seventh Dodgers run with a sacrifice fly.

``I don't think we saw Randy with his best stuff,'' said Young, who shifted his attention to his pitcher. ``Dreifort was on top of his game. He got key ground balls. When you have a ground-ball pitcher like Dreifort, you have to make the plays for him. The odds were against, losing the first three games and going against their ace.''

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Photo: Randy Johnson of Arizona was solidly outpitched by the Dodgers' Darren Dreifort. But the Diamondbacks ace did strike out 10.

Ben Margot/Associated Press