SAN DIEGO AT DODGERS LIGHTNING STRIKE 4 TIMES HOME RUNS HELP L.A. TIE GAME IN 9TH.

Byline: TONY JACKSON  Staff Writer

Looking down and out, the Dodgers got back into Monday night's game against San Diego by going out - out of the park.

Behind 9-5 in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Dodgers hit four consecutive home runs - only the fourth time in major-league history that feat has been accomplished - and sent the game into extra innings tied 9-9 in front of a delirious crowd of 55,831 at Dodger Stadium.

Facing the prospect of the Padres taking three of the four games of the series, Jeff Kent, J.D. Drew, Russell Martin and Marlon Anderson all hit home runs to tie the score. The home runs by Martin and Anderson were hit off Padres closer Trevor Hoffman.

The Padres had taken a 9-5 lead with two runs in the eighth and three more in the top of the ninth. Josh Barfield's RBI double off Jonathan Broxton broke a 4-4 tie in the eighth inning, and Todd Walker's RBI single brought home Barfield.

The Padres then added three more runs in the ninth inning, which looked to be more than enough of a cushion for San Diego. But it all disappeared in the bottom of the ninth.

The Dodgers were facing the prospect of falling 1 1/2 games back in the standings with just under two weeks left in the regular season.

In the first inning, the Padres jumped to a quick four-run lead off an ineffective Brad Penny, and just like that, the first shovels of dirt were being thrown on what appeared to be a lost season for the Dodgers.And then, something strange happened.

The Dodgers, listless in losses on Saturday and Sunday, picked themselves up off the floor. They chipped away at the deficit, gradually but steadily, against Padres ace and notorious Dodgers nemesis Jake Peavy. Penny settled in and found a groove. And by the bottom of the third inning, the Dodgers had clawed their way all the way back to a 4-4 tie, thanks to RBI doubles by Jeff Kent and J.D. Drew and solo home runs by Marlon Anderson and Rafael Furcal.

By the sixth inning, both Penny and Peavy were gone, each having done an adequate job but neither in line for a decision. That is when the game evolved into a duel of bullpens and devolved into a bevy of missed opportunities by both offenses.

With two outs in the fifth, the Padres loaded the bases on an infield single by Adrian Gonzalez and back-to-back walks by Penny to Mike Piazza and Russell Branyan. But on his final pitch of the evening to end a prolonged at-bat by Mike Cameron, Penny induced a high-arcing fly ball to right field that J.D. Drew hauled in to end the threat.

Anderson, who was in the starting lineup in left field in place of rookie Andre Ethier because of his career success against Peavy, went 2 for 2 against the right-hander and now is hitting .455 (5 for 12) off him.Anderson got his third hit to begin the sixth inning against reliever Alan Embree, who had just entered the game, and Embree then walked Wilson Betemit.

Little-used utility infielder Oscar Robles, a September callup from Triple-A Las Vegas, was sent to pinch-hit for reliever Brett Tomko in an obvious bunting situation. Robles bunted too hard back to the pitcher, but Embree couldn't get the throw to third in time for force Anderson, and the bases were loaded with two outs.

What happened next is something the Dodgers might remember for a long time.

With the Padres' infield playing in and Cla Meredith having relieved Embree, Furcal hit a one-hopper to second baseman Josh Barfield, who threw home to force Anderson. Kenny Lofton, a 16-year veteran with considerable postseason and pennant race experience, then took one of the worst at-bats by a Dodgers player this season, grounding into a pitcher-to-home-to-first double play on the first pitch from Meredith.

The game wasn't without its positive moments for the Dodgers.

Tomko had blown a three-run lead in his most recent appearance on Thursday at Chicago and had allowed six earned runs in 1 2/3 innings over his previous three appearances. It looked like more of the same when he came on to relieve Penny to start the sixth, as he gave up a double to Geoff Blum to lead off the inning. But Tomko then struck out Barfield, got pinch- hitter Terrmel Sledge to ground out, and then struck out Dave Roberts.

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CAPTION(S):

3 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) Dodgers starter Brad Penny allowed four runs on seven hits in five innings Monday against the Padres at Dodger Stadium.

(2) The Dodgers' Marlon Anderson hits a second-inning home run off San Diego pitcher Jake Peavy.

Keith Birmingham/Staff photographer

(3) KUO 

Box:

DODGERS VS. PITTSBURGH

- Tony Jackson