NO COORS-LIGHT THIS TIME DODGERS PITCHERS ARE ROCKED FOR 12 RUNS ON 12 HITS COLORADO 12, DODGERS 9.

Byline: TONY JACKSON  Staff Writer

DENVER -- It is supposed to be a kinder, gentler Coors Field, tamed by an infamous, walk-in humidor and tempered by the time-tested technique of keeping the ball low in the strike zone.

All that allegedly has lent the place a sense of normalcy, a feeling that baseball when it is played at altitude doesn't have to be all that different from when it is played at sea level.

After his latest in what is becoming a long line of personal pitching debacles, Brett Tomko would beg to differ.

The Dodgers right-hander failed to hold a three-run lead, failed again to hold a two-run lead and failed one more time to find an answer to this maddening malaise that has dogged him for threeweeks. As a result, the Dodgers failed to continue their dominance over the Colorado Rockies, losing 12-9 Saturday in front of 35,557 fans in the type of shootout that for so many years took place in Denver on a nightly basis.

Tomko was gone by the fourthinning, having been torched for seven earned runs on six hits. Rockies starter Jason Jennings was gone by the sixth, despite having fairly minimized the damage after giving up 10 hits.

Coors Light? That's just a popular concoction they brew up in Golden, about 15 miles away. Because for one evening, this brick-and-steel monstrosity in Lower Downtown was once again Coors full-flavored.

``I feel like I'm making good pitches,'' a shellshocked Tomko said. ``But I feel like when I make a mistake, I'm not getting away with anything. I have gone through the gamut. Am I tipping (pitches)? Am I showing something? But I haven' t seen anything looking at video.

``It just seems like whenever I get guys in critical situations, if I make a mistake, they're getting me every time.''

Meanwhile, Dodgers right fielder J.D. Drew suffered a bruised right quadriceps when Rockies second baseman Jamey Carroll accidentally kneed him as Drew slid in with a double in the fourth inning. Drew stayed in the game through the sixth, at which time he had singled, doubled, tripled and hit a sacrifice fly. He is questionable for today's series finale.

``It's pretty sore and pretty tight,'' Drew said. ``It's just one of those unfortunate things. I'll try to get back as quickly as I can, but I don't want to chance anything. It won't be pretty if I go out there and limp around.''

Tomko lost his fourth consecutive start, a stretch during which he has posted an 11.88 ERA. He worked out some mechanical issues in the bullpen two outings ago but he still can't seem to get anything close to a positive result. Last season, while with San Francisco, he was demoted to the bullpen for a brief time midway through the season.

Dodgers manager Grady Little seemed to rule out the possibility of doing that now.

``The adjustments we have made to our rotation so far are about as much as we can stand at this point,'' Little said. ``He just has to get better.''

Although the Dodgers (34-28) still have won 16 of their past 25games -- including seven of nine during that stretch against the Rockies -- and remain tied for the National League West lead with Arizona, their starting staff as a whole is becoming an Achilles' heel.

Tomko (5-5), Aaron Sele, Odalis Perez and Jae Seo have combined over their past nine starts to go 0-6 with a 9.92 ERA. The last time the Dodgers got a win from a starting pitcher not named Brad Penny or Derek Lowe was May 24, when Sele blanked the Rockies for seven innings.

The Dodgers scored three in the top of the first off Jennings (4-6), but the rally ended on a baserunning gaffe that resulted in Willy Aybar being thrown out at the plate. Tomko gave all three runs back in the bottom of the inning on a three-run homer by Garrett Atkins.

Drew's triple kicked off a two-run third that put the Dodgers in front 5-3, the second run scoring on an RBI single by rookie catcher Russell Martin.

The Rockies got to Tomko for four in the fourth, three of them scoring on triples by Omar Quintanilla and Carroll, and Tomko didn't survive the inning.

Martin went 3 for 5 with a three-run homer and a career-high four RBIs but the game ended when plate umpire C.B. Bucknor rang him up on a low, outside pitch from Brian Fuentes, who recorded his 13th save.

tony.jackson(at)dailynews.com

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CAPTION(S):

3 photos, box

Photo:

(1) Colorado's Garrett Atkins, left, a UCLA product, is congratulated by teammate Cory Sullivan as he crosses home plate after hitting a three-run home run off Dodgers starting pitcher Brett Tomko.

(2) Willy Aybar is pulled off second by an errant throw, allowing Matt Holliday to slide in safely.

David Zalubowski/Associated Press

(3) LOWE

Box:

DODGERS at COLORADO

- Tony Jackson