RESERVES GET THEIR SHOT GIANTS 10, DODGERS 0.

Byline: Tony Jackson  Staff Writer

Most of the Dodgers' thoughts were a million miles away on Sunday. Or at least 1,500 miles away, in St. Louis, where the team will begin its National League Division Series with the Cardinals on Tuesday afternoon.

But for a handful of them - guys like Jose Flores, Chin-Feng Chen and Joe Thurston - the regular-season finale was the most critical game of the year.

In a 10-0 loss to the San Francisco Giants before a sellout crowd of 54,968 at Dodger Stadium, those little-used reserves all saw significant playing time on a day when the playoff-bound Dodgers had nothing of consequence to play for. Flores even hit safely, beating out an infield single with one out in the sixth for his first major-league hit.

``I handed him the ball, and I told him to always hold onto it, because there aren't too many people in the world who have one of those,'' Dodgers manager Jim Tracy said.

Tracy also told Flores something else after the game, that being that he won't be traveling for the playoffs. Tracy then delivered the same message to Chen, Thurston and reliever Scott Stewart, all decisions that were made before Chen went 0 for 1 with two walks, before Thurston went 0 for 2 and before Stewart retired six of the eight batters he faced over the final two innings but also gave up a double to Brian Dallimore and a two-run homer to Jason Ellison.

The oft-used Stewart was the biggest surprise, although the left-hander said he half expected to be left behind. He made 11 appearances for the Dodgers after they purchased his contract from Triple-A Las Vegas on Aug. 28 and posted a 5.84 ERA, and he also was 0-2 with a 7.24 in 23 appearances with Cleveland before he was traded to the Dodgers in a minor-league deal.

``All year, I haven't been throwing the ball like I should be,'' Stewart said. ``I knew that. But I'm going to be watching every inning on television. Just because I'm not with them doesn't mean I'm not with them.''

Stewart is eligible for arbitration for the second time, which means he probably isn't in the Dodgers' future plans even though he says he would like to be. His closed-door meeting with Tracy and general manager Paul DePodesta smacked of an unspoken farewell.

``I went in there and thanked them, just for bringing me up here and letting me pitch and be a part of all this,'' Stewart said. ``I have never been a part of something like this. Now, hopefully, if it happens somewhere down the road, I'll know how to act.''

--On the bubble: One player who probably will be on the postseason roster but will be waiting nervously for the next few hours until he gets the official word is rookie right-hander Edwin Jackson, the organization's top pitching prospect.

Jackson pitched two innings in relief of Kazuhisa Ishii on Sunday and continued to struggle, but he did manage to avoid walking anybody. He was alternately brilliant and shaky. He gave up a two-run homer to Deivi Cruz in the sixth despite striking out three batters, and he gave up only one run in the seventh despite four hits, minimizing the damage by starting a nifty double play.

``Even in a game like this, you still had to go out there with some intensity, regardless of the situation,'' Jackson said. ``It went well as far as I was concerned. I only made one bad pitch, and it was hit. That pitch was up. Other than that, I thought I threw fairly decent pitches and they hit them.''

At the end of a season when he was named the fifth starter before spring training, was nevertheless sent to Las Vegas to open the season, struggled at times with his command and his control and even spent a month on the disabled list with a strained right forearm, Jackson finished with a 2-1 record and 7.30 ERA.

If Jackson is on the postseason roster, it probably will be as a reliever.

--Final numbers: The Dodgers finished the regular season with a record of 93-69, their best mark since they finished second in the National League West with an identical mark in 1991. They finished two games ahead of the Giants and six ahead of third-place San Diego.

The Dodgers drew a total of 3,488,283 paying customers, their highest total since 1983 (3,510,313), the third-highest total in franchise history and the ninth-highest total in National League history. They hosted 28 sellouts, the most since 1982 when they had 42, and they played in front of 32 home crowds of 50,000 or more.

The division title was the Dodgers' ninth since the inception of divisional play in 1969.

Tony Jackson,[phone]

tony.jackson(at)dailynews.com

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GIANTS 10, DODGERS 0