PATTERSON STRIKES DODGERS DOWN NATIONALS' STARTER FANS 13 IN ROUT WASHINGTON 7, DODGERS 0.

Byline: Tony Jackson  Staff Writer

WASHINGTON - Wilson Alvarez said before Thursday night's game that the reason he was delaying his impending retirement until after the season was because he believed the Dodgers had a chance to win the National League West.

A few hours later, after the club celebrated the official two-thirds mark of the season by getting humiliated by Washington's John Patterson, Alvarez's words seemed more dubious than the division itself.

Mathematically speaking, the Dodgers, who fell 7-0 to the Nationals in front of 35,484 at RFK Stadium, are within striking distance of first place. Realistically speaking, they don't seem that interested in actually striking.

Patterson, who entered the day fifth in the league in ERA, threw a complete-game, four-hit shutout at the awestruck Dodgers. He struck out a career-high 13, including everyone in the Dodgers starting lineup by the second time through.

He never allowed a runner past second base, and the only two who even got that far - Antonio Perez and Cesar Izturis, respectively - did it by stealing and legging out a double on a ball that arguably should have been caught. Both got to second with two outs, and each was left standing there when the batter behind him struck out.

Patterson's big break came in the first inning, when Milton Bradley hit a comebacker with Izturis on first and one out. Patterson turned and fired to second too late to get Izturis. But as shortstop Cristian Guzman relayed to first to get Bradley, veteran umpire Jerry Crawford amazingly called Izturis out.

In a surreal scene, Crawford, who suffered some kind of ankle injury when he kneeled to make the call, then limped around the grass for a while as Dodgers manager Jim Tracy and third-base coach Glenn Hoffman tried to argue.

As usual, though, the call stood. And from there, Patterson stood tall.

``He was sneaky fast,'' said the Dodgers' Jeff Kent, who struck out twice. ``He spotted his fastball. None of us had any rhythm going against him. He was throwing strikes. But I think we were forcing the issue and at times got ourselves out.''

And therein lies the unspoken but discernible fear about these Dodgers, even if their divisional foes can't seem to put them away. Even with all the injured players starting to trickle back in, this team still isn't very good offensively.

It still hasn't won a series in two weeks and has won only one since the beginning of July. And it still isn't gaining significant ground on division-leading San Diego, which won at Pittsburgh to push the third-place Dodgers five games back in the standings.

So for now, after falling a season-worst 12 games below .500, the Dodgers (48-60) can only cross their fingers and hope something changes in the 54 games - exactly one-third of a season - left to play.

Not surprisingly, those 54 games provided valuable ammunition for the usual postgame spin.

``Maybe if there were only a couple of weeks left in September, there would be some urgency,'' center fielder Milton Bradley said. ``But not at the beginning of August. We play San Diego how many more times, eight or nine? (Six, actually). And we play Arizona the same amount of times (also six)? All it takes is a winning streak, and we're right there.''

Well, he has a point. But Bradley said it in a way that suggested such a streak was right around the corner for the Dodgers. The fact is, they haven't won more than three in a row since their eight-game winning streak in April, which put them at 12-2 for the season. And in watching them drop two of three to a Nationals club that before this series was drowning in its own offensive ineptitude, there was little to suggest the Dodgers can string wins together.

Brad Penny (5-7) delivered one of his finest efforts of the season, allowing nine hits with eight strikeouts over seven-plus innings. But he was lifted after Preston Wilson's leadoff single in the eighth, a point at which Penny had thrown 117 pitches on a sweltering, 96-degree night and the Dodgers trailed 2-0. Duaner Sanchez then walked the first two batters he faced, allowed a one-out single to Guzman that made it 3-0, then gave up a grand slam to Brad Wilkerson.

For his stellar performance, Penny, who has a 3.63 ERA, was rewarded with another loss.

``Some years are just like that,'' Penny said.

And some teams are just like that, too.

Tony Jackson,[phone]

tony.jackson(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

3 photos, 4 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Milton Bradley shows the frustration of facing Washington's John Patterson, who struck out 13 Dodgers.

Haraz N. Ghanbari/Associated Press

(2) Washington's John Patterson delivers a pitch in Thursday's game against the Dodgers. Patterson pitched a four-hit shutout and struck out 13.

(3) Dodgers pitcher Duaner Sanchez, left, is pulled from the game after giving up a grand slam in the eight.

Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Box:

(1) DODGERS at PITTSBURGH

- Tony Jackson

(2) ALMANAC 

(3) GAME RECAP

(4) HOW THE RUNS SCORED