TOMKO UP, L.A. DOWN DODGERS STARTER STRUGGLES AGAIN IN LOSS TO METS NEW YORK 4, DODGERS 1.

Byline: VINCENT BONSIGNORE Staff Writer

Brett Tomko takes comfort in the fact he felt better on the pitcher's mound Monday than he has in nearly two weeks.

He also finds consolation in the certainty that from the second through the fifth innings against the Mets he was as sharp as he's been since the middle of May.

Now if he could just get back those three pitches he threw in the first inning, two of which resulted in long home runs to set the stage for a 4-1 Mets' victory in front of 34,495 at Dodger Stadium.

It was the second straight loss for the Dodgers, who now face the ominous task of trying to beat New York aces Pedro Martinez tonight and Tom Glavine on Wednesday to finish the three-game series.

No small mission, especially after the sizzling Dodgers (32-26) offense fell cold against Mets' rookie pitcher Alay Soler and two relievers Monday.

The Dodgers, helpless against Soler's constant change of speeds, managed just a solo home run by Willy Aybar and a double from Ramon Martinez. Otherwise, it was five singles and nine strikeouts.

``You give him credit because he pitched a good game,'' Rafael Furcal said. ``And now you've got two of the best in the business coming up in Martinez and Glavine, so it's a tough job ahead.''

Tomko was looking to get untracked after back-to-back shaky outings against Washington and Atlanta when he gave up a combined 11 runs in just 72/3 innings. He looked destined for the same fate after serving up a home run to leadoff hitter Jose Reyes, then a single to Carlos Beltran and a long two-run home run to Carlos Delgado.

By the time he recorded the second out, he was trailing 3-0.

''But the only real bad pitch I threw was the fastball to Delgado,'' Tomko said. ``The Reyes home run was a pretty good pitch, Beltran's base hit was a pretty good pitch. It was just one of those things where it just wasn't going my way.''

Tomko settled down after the first, tossing scoreless innings from the second and fifth, then ran into trouble again in the sixth when Cliff Floyd and Jose Valentin opened the inning with back-to-back singles, followed by an RBI single from rookie Lastings Milledge to make it 4-0.

He was lifted at that point for Hong-Chih-Kuo, who combined with relievers Danys Baez and Takashi Saito to hold the Mets scoreless over the final three innings.

``I felt really good today, it was night-and-day compared to (his last game) so I'll try to build on it and go from here.'' Tomko said. ``I'm not happy (with the three-game stretch). It's no fun. But there isn't much you can do with what's ha ppened in the past. I felt good tonight, and I'll try to build on that.''

Tomko's struggles were more glaring on a night the Dodgers' offense couldn't get going against Soler, a relative unknown after joining the Mets from Triple-A less than two weeks ago, Soler defected from Cuba two years ago but his arrival in New York was delayed by visa problems.

He finally joined the Mets in spring training this year, then started the season in Double-A Binghamton. He was promoted to New York after Jose Lima and Jeremi Gonzalez failed in bids to claim the fifth starter's role.

Soler cruised through his seven innings, mixing his fastball with an effective change up to continually keep the Dodgers off-balance.

``Just a steady mix of off-speed pitches and curve balls,'' Dodgers left fielder Andre Ethier said. ``He did a good job of just keeping us off balance.''

Soler's only mistake was the long home run he gave up to Willy Aybar in the sixth inning to make it 4-1.

The Dodgers threatened in the eighth with back-to-back singles by Kenny Lofton and J.D. Drew off Mets' reliever Pedro Feliciano, but Feliciano got Aybar to ground into a fielder's choice out at second base, then Chad Bradford came in to get pinch-hitter Olmedo Saenz to ground out to end the inning.

Now comes Martinez, followed by Glavine.

``It doesn't get any easier, but this is major league baseball,'' Ethier said. ``I'm not sure when it does get easy.''

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CAPTION(S):

3 photos, box

Photo:

(1) J.D. Drew of the Dodgers watches as he fouls out in the first against New York Mets starter Alay Soler.

Harry How/Getty Images

(2 -- color) Dodgers pitcher Brett Tomko, right, hands the ball to manager Grady Little after being taken out Monday.

Francis Specker/Associated Press

(3) LOWE 

Box:

DODGERS VS. NEW YORK

- Vincent Bonsignore