PROBLEM PUT ASIDE GARCIAPARRA DRIVES IN GAME-WINNER DODGERS 4, MILWAUKEE 3.

Byline: Vincent Bonsignore Staff Writer

Ned Colletti didn't even take two steps onto the field at Dodger Stadium when a swam of reporters began circling him Friday.

It was an hour or so before the Dodgers opened a three-game series against Milwaukee, but if Colletti was hoping to just nonchalantly make his way to the batting cage he was mistaken.

The Dodgers won 4-3 after holding a 3-1 lead after seven innings and then seeing San Diego came up with two in the top of the the eighth to tie it 3-3, the tying run a result of a wild pitch by reliever Danys Baez.

``I guess the general manager can't just come down to the field to talk to the manager and watch a little batting practice, huh?'' Colletti said, smiling.

Let's see, the Dodgers came into the game on a five-game losing streak and starting catcher Dioner Navarro just got D.L'd with a badly bruised bone in his right arm. Meanwhile, struggling starting pitcher Odalis Perez has been out of the country the last three days tending to his ailing mom, yet never bothered to pick up the phone when team officials tried reaching him.

Not to mention third baseman Bill Mueller is sidelined with an injured right knee, the bullpen has been a wreck the last week and the team still hasn't decided who'll take the mound in place of Perez Sunday against the Brewers.

``I guess not,'' Colletti said, rhetorically.

Clearly these are trying times for Colletti and manager Grady Little, the two men entrusted by Dodgers owner Frank McCourt to return the team to respectability.

Almost from the second the Dodgers' plane touched down on the West Coast from Vero Beach bad luck just seemed to attach itself on the team.

Kenny Lofton went down with a calf injury running wind sprints before an exhibition game against the Mariners in Las Vegas. Nomar Garciaparra strained a rib cage muscle taking a swing during the Freeway Series. Eric Gagne learned he had to have further surgery and his right elbow, then Yhency Brazoban was lost for the year with an injury similar to the one Gagne suffered last year.

Rarely a day's gone by when Colletti and Little haven't had to deal with some sort of injury problem.

``Almost from the very start when we got to Las Vegas,'' Little said. ``I don't think I've ever seen anything like it. And I sure hope I never have to again.''

Colletti's plan to rebuild the Dodgers was to sign veteran players to one or two-year contracts, the hope being they'd serve as a bridge for a group of highly regarded prospects in the farm system.

But injuries have sabotaged those plans somewhat, which is prospects like James Loney, Andre Ethier and now Russ martin have already spent time in the Big Leagues.

Martin, a highly regarded catcher, joined the team Friday in place of Navarro. Known for his strong throwing arm and live bat, Martin made an immediate impact with a two-run double in the fourth inning to give the Dodgers a 3-0 lead.

Asked before the game if he thought he was ready, Martin just smiled.

``I guess we'll find out in a couple of hours,'' he said. ``To be honest, I feel I'm ready, I've worked extremely hard for this chance. But there's only one way to find out and that's to play.''

Losing Gagne and Brazoban has put a serious strain on the bullpen, and that's shown over the last week. On Thursday Takashi Saito gave up a three-run home run in the eighth against the Padres to ruin an outstanding pitching performance byBret Tomko, and on Wednesday Tim Hamulack and Franquelis Osoria gave up three home runs behind a strong six innings from Jae Seo.

``You couldn't ask (Tomko) to do more than he did,'' Little said. ``He put zeros up there for seven innings.''

But it wasn't enough. Little said he might ask his starters to stretch out a little bit more, and on Friday Derek Lowe worked through the seventh inning with a 3-1 lead.

CAPTION(S):

3 photos, box

Photo:

(1) Dodgers starter Derek Lowe gave up two runs in seven-plus innings Friday, striking out six before leaving.

(2) The Dodgers' Ramon Martinez and Jason Repko cross the plate on Russell Martin's fifth-inning double Friday against San Diego.

John McCoy John McCoy/Staff Photographer

(3) Jose Cruz Jr. gets one of his two hits in the first eight inning, this one coming in the third.

Box:

DODGERS VS. MILWAUKEE

- Vincent Bonsignore