GAGNE'S FIRST BIG-LEAGUE WIN MEANS A LOT : DODGERS 5, HOUSTON 1.

Byline: Brian Dohn Staff Writer

Oh, the tension was great. Could John Franco get out of the eighth? Could Cincinnati hold on to the three-run lead? Could Houston stage a comeback that would vault it to within a win of the playoffs?

It's not quite what the Dodgers had in mind, and in order to fully appreciate the drama, one would need a satellite dish or a good seat in the Astrodome press box with a few televisions on. But it was there.

And after 159 games, the Dodgers finally had an impact on the playoff race as rookie Eric Gagne continued his eye-opening streak in a 5-1 win against the postseason-hopeful Astros in front of 50,791 Friday.

Gagne (1-1) pitched six shutout innings for his first major-league win, and his ERA fell to 2.10 in five starts. He took pride in not allowing the Astros to inch closer to the wild card or NL Central title.

``I tried to mess it up a little bit because I know they're in it with the Mets and Cincinnati,'' said Gagne, who allowed five hits, walked five and struck out five. ``I'm sure they're not too happy about it, with the Mets winning, but I am.''

The Astros and Reds (both 95-65) remained tied atop the division because Cincinnati lost to Milwaukee in 10 innings. The Mets beat Pittsburgh in 11 innings to creep within a game of Astros and Reds in the wild card race.

``We're coming out and playing hard and not playing (poorly) and rolling over,'' Dodgers center fielder Devon White said. ``That's not what you do in this game. We don't want it to come down to (teams thinking) we did (roll over). We're going to do the best we can to win all three games here. It's what we would want if we were in that position.''

So while folks in New York rant and rave about the Dodgers not pitching Kevin Brown in Sunday's finale, Gagne went out and frustrated the Astros as he was helped by Gary Sheffield's bat.

Sheffield homered in the first off Houston's Shane Reynolds (16-14) and had a two-run single in the third to make it 3-0. The single also pushed Sheffield's RBI count to 101, the third time in his career he's reached triple digits.

Afterward, Dodgers manager Davey Johnson said he may shut the ailing Sheffield down for the final two games on the hard Astrodome carpet.

``We want to send our best team out there for the pennant race, but you have to look out for yourself, too,'' Sheffield said. ``We're not paying attention to which team is involved in the race and which is not. We're trying to evaluate ourselves.''

During the last two days, the Dodgers, if even an inkling, have to like what they've seen. Thursday, rookie Jeff Williams made his third major league start and in front of a sellout crowd, not to mention it being the last game at Candlestick Park, the lefty pitched five gritty innings and recorded the win.

Then in front of a near-capacity crowd in Houston, with millions of fans in two other cities glued to the scoreboard as well as their team's game, the 23-year-old Gagne allows one earned run or less for the fourth time in five starts.

``(Gagne) didn't have his really good control, didn't go after it the way he usually does, but he made some pitches,'' Johnson said. ``He continues to impress.''

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PHOTO The Dodgers' Mark Grudzielanek slides past the tag of Astros catcher Tony Eusebio in the fourth inning.

Smiley N. Pool/Associated Press