GET BEAT, THEN MEET LATEST DODGERS' LOSS PROMPTS LITTLE'S TALK SAN DIEGO 11, DDOGERS 5.

Byline: VINCENT BONSIGNORE Staff Writer

The calendar inside the Dodgers clubhouse indicated the third day of May on Wednesday, and for a team teetering four games below .500 after an 11-5 loss to San Diego it served as a reminder.

It's too soon to gnash teeth over an uneven start that has sent them reeling into last place, and too early to surrender to any frustration building in the clubhouse.

But apparently it's plenty late enough for manager Grady Little to call a team meeting to address those very issues.

Little, wary that his players might start pressing after another trying loss, pulled them together immediately after the game for a closed-door meeting.

``It's just a time to re-instill the confidence that we have in them,'' Little said. ``Everything went well.''

Although Dodgers players weren't specific about the exact contents of the meeting, the gist was clear.

``This isn't a time to hang our heads and be frustrated,'' catcher Dioner Navarro said. ``We need to work ourselves out of this, and we need to stay positive.''

Olmedo Saenz, whose seventh-inning, pinch-hit, three-run homer tied the score at 4-4 and for a moment breathed life into the Dodgers, agreed.

``We've been through a couple of tough losses but we're just looking at putting it together as a team,'' Saenz said. ``That means pitching at the right time, hitting at the right time. Picking each other up, making plays. Put everything on the same table.''

Too often this year, that hasn't been the case. On nights the Dodgers get good pitching, the hitting sometimes disappears. When the bats are rolling, it's the pitching that fades.

Wednesday was a little of both. Jae Seo shook off a broken fingernail on his right index finger to give the Dodgers his second straight strong outing.

Seo gave up one run on five hits and four strikeouts over six innings, his only blemish a run-scoring single from Padres' pitcher Chris Young in the fifth to score Vinny Castilla.

Seo left after the sixth with the score tied 1-1, but the Dodgers' relief corps faltered soon after.

Tim Hamulack gave up a three-run home run in the top of the seventh to Mark Bellhorn to make it 4-1, and Franquelis Osoria gave up a two-run homer to Josh Barfield and a solo shot to Geoff Blum to give San Diego a commanding 8-4 lead.

Osoria didn't last an inning, giving up five earned runs on the two home runs.

In between those two big innings, Saenz tied it up with his three-run blast to deep left field.

``Thought we had new life,'' Little said. ``But it lasted only three minutes or so, then it dies away again.''

Hence the team meeting.

``It's just a case of not hitting on all cylinders right now,'' Little said. ``We've got to be better.''

For a group of battered Dodgers, the meeting was well timed. They insist they aren't angry or ready to point fingers. But they also realize it's time to start playing better.

``I'm more frustrated than anything because we're in a slump as a group,'' said Navarro, who hit a home run in the third to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead. ``It's hard. But we just have to come back tomorrow and keep our head up and do what we can to get a win.''

Saenz had the perfect solution.

``We just have to flush this one,'' he said.

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CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1) The Padres' Mark Bellhorn, right, is congratulated by teammates after hitting a home run in the seventh.

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

(2) The Dodgers' Olmedo Saenz hits a three-run homer in the seventh.

Keith Birmingham/Associated Press

Box:

DODGERS vs. SAN DIEGO

- Vincent Bonsignore