ONE GIANT STEP BEHIND LO DUCA GOES HITLESS; SCHMIDT DOMINANT GIANTS 2, DODGERS 0.

Byline: Rich Hammond  Staff Writer

The last step, the one to the top of the hill, will have to be taken another day.

With a chance to move into sole possession of first place in the National League West for the first time this season, the Dodgers were beaten Thursday night in the type of game in which they usually excel, as the San Francisco Giants used great pitching and timely hitting to carve out a 2-0 victory in front of 51,047 at Dodger Stadium.

An eight-game winning streak came to an end, and more notably, so did the 25-game hitting streak of Paul Lo Duca, who walked, flied out to right, grounded to third and flied out to left in the eighth. Lo Duca goes into the record books tied for the seventh-longest streak in franchise history and tied for second-longest in Los Angeles history.

Benito Santiago hit a home run in the fourth inning and Andres Galarraga homered to lead off the seventh for the game's only runs. The Dodgers had three hits, were shut out for the fifth time this season and fell one game behind the Giants.

The Dodgers' spoil sport was San Francisco right-hander Jason Schmidt (6-3), who has quietly become one of the National League's most effective starters. Schmidt gave the Dodgers two strong scoring chances in the first three innings, then settled down and dominated.

Schmidt walked two and struck out 11 and lowered his ERA to 2.43, second in the National League to Kevin Brown's 1.97.

Even with Thursday's loss, this series has the potential to be a momentum builder for the Dodgers. They took two of three from the Giants and have cut a five-game deficit to one in the last 10 days. The Dodgers also earned some revenge against the Giants after losing five of the first six meetings this season.

``We were two very good teams back in April, that's the way I look at it,'' Tracy said. ``We went to Pac Bell the first time and got beat 2-1, 3-2 and 5-4 in 12 innings. I never felt, at any time, that the Giants had overwhelmed us.''

The Dodgers can take solace at being defeated by a strong pitcher in Schmidt, who featured typically commanding control, and in the strong effort from their own starting pitcher, enigmatic left-hander Odalis Perez (4-5).

Perez had not allowed fewer than three runs in a start since June 3, but aside from a mistake 2-2 fastball to Santiago in the fourth, Perez showed good command of all his pitches and allowed the two runs on five hits in seven innings, walked two and struck out four.

But the Dodgers couldn't reward Perez and were shut down by Schmidt, even though Schmidt entered the game with a career 4.79 ERA against the Dodgers.

Not that the Dodgers were without chances. Dave Roberts led off the first with a bloop single to left-center and Lo Duca walked, but Shawn Green grounded to second to start a double play that moved Roberts to third. Brian Jordan grounded out to second to end the threat.

Cesar Izturis singled to right to lead off the third and moved to second on a one-out fielding error by Galarraga at first base that allowed Roberts to reach. But the Dodgers couldn't capitalize, as Lo Duca flied out to right and Green struck out.

Rich Hammond, [phone]

rich.hammond(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) Dodgers pitcher Odalis Perez can't bear to watch as the Giants' Benito Santiago rounds third base after his fourth-inning home run. The Giants beat the Dodgers 2-0 to take over first place in the NL West.

(2) The Dodgers' Paul Lo Duca pops up for an out in the eighth inning of L.A.'s 2-0 loss Thursday to the Giants. La Duca went hitless in four at-bats to end his hitting streak at 25 games.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer

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