MAYBE THIS IS TRUE BLUE.

Byline: MICHAEL VENTRE

These can't be the Dodgers. They aren't underachieving. They aren't squabbling. There aren't major disappointments in key positions. The manager isn't grumbling in his pasta e fagioli.

Then again, maybe these are the Dodgers we've been waiting for. Maybe these are the ones we've been promised. And heaven knows, we've heard promises.

The Dodgers who slapped the Colorado Rockies 3-2 in a Saturday matinee at Chavez Ravine weren't smooth or powerful, just effective. When Tom Candiotti went out with a bruised elbow, his teammates didn't wither. No samba line formed from the mound to the bullpen. A big hitter got a big hit.

Dodgers traditions are coming back. Men in blue with attitude and tradition can now back it up with guts and clout.

What's wrong with this picture?

Or better yet, what's right with this picture?

``We just made a little statement about the way we feel about our ballclub,'' Mike Piazza said.

He added the exclamation point with a two-run homer in the eighth to beat the villainous Rockies for the third straight time. A win today in the last game of the set would send the Dodgers into the All-Star break on an ascent, which would spare them the usual introspection and incessant head-scratching during the hiatus.

``Just because we're playing well now . . . well, it's a long summer,'' Piazza cautioned.

It's a fascinating one as well. As the Tom Lasorda recuperation continues, Bill Russell is keeping the team focused and motivated. In style, he is as close to Lasorda as the left-field foul pole is to the right-field foul pole. He has managed a smooth transition, and is earning valuable bonus points toward becoming the eventual successor.

``It's a real confidence-builder to beat a team like this three times in a row,'' Russell said, sitting on a table in the locker room in lieu of a padded seat behind Lasorda's desk, where he would have to deal with looking at zillions of framed photos of Frank Sinatra and assorted celebrities and nuns. This seems to suit Russell better.

``Anytime you beat a team in your division,'' he continued, ``it's even more satisfying. They haven't scored a lot of runs on us (in this series), which says something about our pitching.''

Indeed, the bruised arm of Candiotti brought on Antonio Osuna, a native of Sinaloa, Mexico, who does not have his likeness on a T-shirt but who does leave his name on the lips of muttering victims. Osuna is quiet and unassuming, but he turned what could have been a disaster when Candiotti left in the bottom of the fifth into a successfully averted dip in the road.

Osuna had the added concern Saturday of knowing his mother is home in Mexico suffering from high-blood pressure. No matter. He dispensed with the Rockies as if they were figures in an arcade game, retiring eight straight batters before walking Ellis Burks with two out in the eighth. He then struck out Dante Bichette and handed the ball to Todd Worrell.

Teamwork. Osuna earned the victory (4-3) while Worrell garnered his 200th career save.

``He's done it for us all year,'' Worrell said of Osuna. ``You can count his rough outings on one hand.''

You would need several more sets of fingers and toes to count the times Piazza has come through for the Dodgers. As he prepares for his third straight All-Star start, he wasn't exactly throwing down challenges or issuing bulletin-board material.

``(Sweeping the Rockies) would be a big momentum-booster for us,'' he said. ``Whether it's good or bad, everyone is looking forward to the break. Of course, we're winning right now, so it might be somewhat detrimental.''

The Rockies have developed into an intriguing, if somewhat freakish, group of villains. While traditional rivals like the Reds and Giants are characterized by bad blood, the Rockies are known more for the overly friendly confines of their bandbox in the boondocks.

Games in Denver have degenerated into Bunyanesque displays of might, where the operator of the electric scoreboard is always a candidate to develop carpal-tunnel syndrome. When the Dodgers last visited, the final game was a 16-15 joust that set a longevity record.

Saturday's 3-2 win was a little more like baseball and a little less like an ESPN X-game. Perhaps this return to normalcy is aiding the hometown nine in its quest for the division crown and a few dates in October.

``I prefer the shorter games myself,'' Piazza said. ``I'm not into the four-hour ballgame. Maybe if I was getting paid by the hour . . .''

Whatever the case, the Dodgers are earning their keep, which for this half-season isn't half-bad.

MEMO: Michael Ventre's column appears in the Daily News four days a week.