TRIP CONCLUDES WITH WIN DODGERS WIN SERIES, LOOK TO KEEP MOMENTUM IN CRITICAL HOMESTAND DODGERS 6, ARIZONA 3.

Byline: Tony Jackson  Staff Writer

PHOENIX - The Dodgers, fresh off their first series victory in three weeks, came home Sunday evening. They will be there a full fortnight, giving them time to unpack, get comfortable and, they hope, take advantage of the situation by stocking up on wins.

Forgive them if the refrain sounds familiar.

The Dodgers got out of town with a 6-3 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks in front of 33,621 at Bank One Ballpark, taking the rubber match of the weekend series and breaking even for their six-game trip. < Now, for the third consecutive time, they come off the road to the promise of a lengthy homestand. That promise was broken on the first two occasions, when the Dodgers lost five of nine to Arizona, Colorado and Washington and six of nine to Atlanta, Florida and the Angels.

This time, they will play a baker's dozen against the Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers, Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins. None are pushovers. But with the possible exception of the three-time defending AL Central champion Twins, none are juggernauts, either.

The Dodgers, a disappointing 12-11 this year at Chavez Ravine, need to win at least eight of these 13 to send a message to the NL West.

``We're home now, and we're playing a stretch against teams that are around .500,'' said Dodgers center fielder Milton Bradley, who won't play tonight against the Cubs after bruising a joint in his right ring finger while hitting a ninth-inning popup. ``We should be able to take advantage of that.''

In the recent past, they haven't been able to. That had less to do with where they were playing than how they were playing. The Dodgers built their 12-2 start around patient at-bats and solid situational hitting. In losing 21 of their next 34, they gradually got away from that, collectively falling into the habit of swinging at too many first pitches and giving away too many at-bats.

Manager Jim Tracy called a team meeting before the finale with the Diamondbacks. Part of it was to remind players of tonight's early (5:10) start. Part of it wasn't.

``I would like to see us play well on this (homestand),'' Tracy said after the game. ``I would like to see us pick up on what happened today and play baseball like we played today. That means playing together and executing the little things, because we have a really good chance to win if we can do those things.''

Using the same, patient approach that characterized their early success, the Dodgers exploded on veteran Russ Ortiz, who in his first season with Arizona has borne little resemblance to the crafty right-hander who won at least 14 games each of the past six seasons. The Dodgers had a 1-0 lead before Ortiz could retire a batter, a 3-0 lead before he could get out of the first inning and a 4-0 lead four batters into the second. Ortiz (4-4) left with one out in the third.

Division-leading San Diego won again, leaving the third-place Dodgers (26-23) further back (3 1/2 games) in the NL West than they were when they left last Monday (three). But the Dodgers came home having won three of their past four, which is no small feat considering how mightily they have struggled throughout this disastrous month of May.

Jeff Weaver (5-4) finally appears to have righted himself after battling shoulder weakness much of the season. He definitely righted himself after the first inning, when he walked one batter, hit two others and somehow escaped without a run scoring.

Eric Gagne recorded his third save of the season - and of the past four days.

Tony Jackson,[phone]

tony.jackson(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

photo, 3 boxes

Photo:

Dodgers second baseman Antonio Perez tags out Arizona's Craig Counsell, trying to stretch a sixth-inning single into a double, during a 6-3 victory Sunday.

Tom Hood/Associated Press

Box:

(1) GAME RECAP

(2) HOW THE RUNS SCORED

(3) ALMANAC