GAGNE PREVENTS GIANTS FROM BARRY-ING DODGERS.

Byline: Tony Jackson  Staff Writer

SAN FRANCISCO - For once, the Dodgers had Barry Bonds right where they wanted him.

In the on-deck circle. At the end of the game.

With the San Francisco Giants in the midst of a furious ninth-inning rally Saturday against a strangely ineffective Eric Gagne, and with Bonds licking his chops only a few yards away from home plate, Gagne induced a slow roller up the middle from Marquis Grissom.

Cesar Izturis, playing only because Alex Cora had left with soreness in his right elbow after batting in the fifth inning, gathered it in while standing on the bag and threw to first, completing the double play, the game and the Dodgers' 5-4 victory over the Giants in front of 42,663 at SBC Park.

Bonds, who had gone deep on a triple-digit fastball from Gagne the night before and again Saturday on a slower pitch from Darren Dreifort in the eighth, simply turned and went to the clubhouse, dropping the curtain on an afternoon when he walked twice and swung at exactly two pitches, one of which became his 663rd career homer.

``You're always aware of where Barry is in the lineup,'' Gagne would later say. ``But I wasn't thinking about him.''

Sure. Whatever.

At any rate, Gagne didn't have to face Bonds, which might or might not be the reason Gagne was able to complete his fourth save of the season and extend his major-league record, three-year streak of consecutive save opportunities converted to 67. But after making 20 appearances in a row without giving up a run, he now has been scored upon in his past two games, two games that took place in a span of less than 24 hours.

Not that it really matters. The Dodgers (8-3) ran their winning streak to four games and their lead in the National League West to three.

This time, Gagne gave up an opposite-field homer to Pedro Feliz to begin the ninth, then sandwiched walks to Jeffrey Hammonds and J.T. Snow around Neifi Perez's sacrifice bunt.

Finally, with the hostile crowd on its feet and praying that Bonds would come up, Gagne got exactly what he wanted from Grissom.

``This is two days in a row that I just didn't get the ball down,'' Gagne said. ``But those situations are what it's all about. It wasn't pretty, but I got it done and we got a win.''

Dodgers manager Jim Tracy rejected the notion that Gagne was tired, even though Gagne was noticeably pumped up while facing Bonds in the ninth inning Friday night. The Dodgers had a three-run lead at the time and the Giants had one runner on, meaning Gagne could afford to challenge Bonds with his best fastball. Two of those fastballs reached 100 mph, and Bonds deposited the second one into the bleachers in center field.

``Pedro Feliz is a dead fastball hitter,'' Tracy said. ``If you throw a fastball out over the plate to (him), he's going to do damage. It was a badly located pitch. That's all it was.''

While Gagne lived on the edge, Jose Lima lived on the fringe. Given the chance to start for the first time this season, the veteran right-hander celebrated by wearing a tan, three-piece suit and tie to the ballpark even though it wasn't a travel day and prepared for his assignment by popping a Latin CD into a clubhouse stereo and turning up the volume.

His choice of music hit close to home. The CD was entitled La Fuga (the Escape). The singers were Raphy Ozuna and, yes, Jose Lima.

``This is my fourth CD,'' Lima said. ``My fifth is coming out in the fall.''

Lima (2-0) scattered six hits over five innings. He gave up consecutive two-out doubles to Snow and Grissom in the third and consecutive singles to A.J. Pierzynski and Michael Tucker to begin the fourth, after which Pierzynski scored on Cody Ransom's double-play grounder to give the Giants a 2-0 lead.

The Dodgers scored three in the sixth off Kirk Rueter (0-1), just in time to salvage a victory for Lima. Paul Lo Duca, who went 4 for 5 to raise his league-leading average to .512, led off with a single to left. Milton Bradley followed with a two-run homer. Later, with two outs in the inning, Izturis put the Dodgers ahead to stay with an RBI single off reliever Jim Brower.

Tony Jackson,[phone]

tony.jackson(at)dailynews.com

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