HANSEN'S POP WASTED AGAIN DODGERS' DEFENSE COSTS TEAM ANOTHER DISCOURAGING LOSS ARIZONA 5, DODGERS 4.

Byline: Brian Dohn Staff Writer

PHOENIX - The Dodgers got a big home run to get back into a ballgame late. But, once again, defensive mistakes were their downfall.

Hardly something you'd see on ``Ripley's Believe It Or Not.''

Dave Hansen, the most dangerous pinch hitter in the game, set a major- league record with his seventh pinch-hit homer of the season, but two errors early and a fielding gaffe in the eighth inning led to Arizona's 5-4 win against the Dodgers on Tuesday at Bank One Ballpark.

The Diamondbacks scored the winning run when shortstop Alex Cora took an extra step to throw the ball on David Dellucci's slow bouncer behind pitcher Matt Herges. Cora threw an instant late and Dellucci was safe, allowing pinch runner Matt Mieske to score from third.

``When I caught it, I was trying to get it on a short hop,'' Cora said. ``When I reached for it, that's when I got ofalance. When I took a step to get back on balance, that was the difference. When you make it, 'Wow, great play.' When you don't, you feel like I feel right now.''

The left side of the infield is talented, but it's also young. And with such youth comes mistakes. Cora, whose throwing error in the fourth led to two unearned runs, has made 12 errors and third baseman Adrian Beltre has 22.

Arizona also scored an unearned run in the fifth inning when a grounder went through the legs of second baseman Jeff Branson with the infield playing in and a runner on third. That was the Dodgers' major-league-leading 128th error. Their .977 field percentage is also the worst in the National League.

That type of defense also makes it tough on pitchers, especially ones making their first major-league start like right-hander Luke Prokopec. He wasn't involved in the decision after allowing four runs (one earned) on six hits in 4 1/3 innings.

``That's part of what we're going through, some young, talented defensive players that make inexperienced mistakes,'' Dodgers manager Davey Johnson said. ``It's only going to get better, but it's tough to go through. Emotions sometimes get the best of them and they'll rush things.''

Once again, a late-inning homer by Hansen - who went deep on the first pitch he saw from Curt Schilling - was wasted. The three-run shot with two outs in the seventh was his seventh pinch-hit homer of the season. Brooklyn's Johnny Frederick hit six in 1932.

DODGERS vs. ARIZONA

Time: 6:35 p.m., at Bank One Ballpark

TV/Radio: Fox Sports Net 2; 1150-AM, KWKW-AM (1330 Spanish)

Matchup: The Dodgers conclude their six-game road trip by sending right-hander Kevin Brown (12-6, 2.72 ERA) to face Diamondbacks lefty Brian Anderson (10-5, 4.31 ERA). As the Dodgers schedule works out, Brown has four starts remaining. If Brown doesn't win his final four starts, he would finish with his lowest victory total since he won 10 games in Baltimore in 1995. He's 1-0 with a 0.53 ERA in two starts against Arizona this season. Anderson's ERA was 4.31 before the All-Star break, and it's 4.31 since. However, before the break he was 8-3; he's 2-2 since.

-Brian Dohn

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, 2 boxes

Photo: (1) SNIDER

(2) SHEFFIELD

Box: (1) CHASING DUKE (2) DODGERS vs. ARIZONA (see text)