PROOF THAT DODGERS ARE STILL IN IT WELLS, OFFENSE HELP L.A. STAY IN PLAYOFF RACE WITH VICTORY DODGERS 6, SAN DIEGO 3.

Byline: TONY JACKSON 

Staff Writer

This was the dramatic case of role reversal the Dodgers had been seeking for most of two seasons. This was the night when the Dodgers got to dress up like the carefree, confident, almost cocky team, the one holding all the cards, while the San Diego Padres, for once, had to play the role of the frustrated club that never seemed to have an answer.

It was only one game, of course. But on the other hand, it wasn't just any game, and the Dodgers' 6-3 victory over the Padres in front of 44,496 on Thursday night at Dodger Stadium wasn't just any win.

This was the game in which the Dodgers proved to everyone, but mostly to themselves, that they really can compete with the Padres in a crucial, late-season series, evidenced by the fact the Dodgers took two of three in this final meeting of the season between the two clubs. This was the game in which the Dodgers proved to everyone, but mostly to themselves, that they really are still alive in this sublime National League wild-card race, as evidenced by the fact they now trail the Padres by a tantalizing 11/2 games.

This was the game when the Dodgers' resident old guy, left-hander David Wells, was far better than his Padres counterpart Greg Maddux. This was the game when it was the Dodgers' offense that exploded on Maddux, tagging him for six runs on 10 hits and knocking him from the game with one out in the fourth inning, and the Padres' offense that suddenly went silent against Wells, who remains one of the greatest big-game pitchers of all-time.

This was the game when it no longer seemed to matter that the Padres had won 23 of 35 from the Dodgers since the start of last season.

The Dodgers might still be on life support, and their chances of securing a playoff berth might still seem a bit farfetched. But their collective outlook is about 180 degrees removed from where it was just 48 hours ago, and any notion that they would simply chalk this up as a lost season and begin drearily playing out the string has officially been laid to rest.

James Loney continued to sizzle, going 3 for 4 with a double and four RBIs, and finished the series 9 for 12 with two doubles, two homers, eight RBIs and fiveruns scored. Jeff Kent continued to smolder, driving in a key run with a third-inning single, and he finished the series 6 for 12 with a home run and three RBIs. Juan Pierre continued his late-season resurgence, setting up a first-inning run with a perfect sacrifice bunt and keying a third-inning rally with a line single to left-center, and he finished the series 5 for 11 with two doubles, an RBI and two runs scored.

As for Wells, well, he shut out the Padres on one hit over the first five innings, retiring nine consecutive batters at one point. He tired in the sixth, giving up home runs to Morgan Ensberg and Mike Cameron to get the Padres back into the game, but the Dodgers' vaunted bullpen took care of the rest.

And so, the Dodgers (77-69) find themselves right in the thick of a wild-card race that becomes more compelling by the day. They remain tied with Philadelphia for second place, with Colorado just a game back. Moreover, it isn't entirely out of the question that the Dodgers could inch back into the NL West race. They trail division-leading Arizona by 51/2 games entering a three-game series with the Diamondbacks beginning tonight at Chavez Ravine.

Although anything less than a sweep for the Dodgers probably won't be enough, if they can somehow pull it off, they will have three more with the Diamondbacks a week later in the desert. And in between, there is a monumental four-game set with the Rockies in Denver that will have major wild-card implications if the Padres, who now have lost seven of their past 10, continue to sputter.

The contribution of Wells (8-8) didn't stop with his pitching. He also had two hits in a game for the first time in his long, decorated, big-league career. The first was aleadoff double in the third, and although the painfully slow Wells somehow got thrown out at third base on a grounder to the right side by Rafael Furcal, the hit nevertheless kicked off a decisive, three-run inning that gave the Dodgers a 4-0 lead.

Wells also singled with one out in the fourth, advancing Matt Kemp to third and setting the table for a perfectly executed squeeze play by Furcal to stretch the lead to 5-0.

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DODGERS

TODAY

Dodgers ('Penny 15-4) vs. Arizona ('Owings 6-8), '7:40 p.m., 'Dodger Stadium.

TV: 'Ch. 9.

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Dodgers starter David Wells gave up three runs and fourhits in six innings Thursday against San Diego, as well as contributing a single and double at the plate.

David Crane/Staff Photographer

(2) Dodgers center fielder Juan Pierre goes to the wall to take a home run away from San Diego's Scott Hariston in the seventh inning Thursday.

David Crane/Staff Photographer