TURBULENT START COSTLY FOR DODGERS SAN FRAN. 5, DODGERS 3.

Byline: Rich Hammond  Staff Writer

Within the first 30 minutes of Saturday night's game against San Francisco, the Dodgers watched starting pitcher Jeff Weaver give up three runs and No. 3 hitter Milton Bradley get ejected.

The Dodgers' bad luck didn't continue at such a rapid pace, but things also didn't get any better.

In a bizarre first inning, Bradley was ejected for arguing a called third strike and the Dodgers couldn't overcome Weaver's poor start as they lost to the Giants 5-3 in front of 54,820 at Dodger Stadium.

The Giants added two runs in the eighth and ended their losing streak against the Dodgers at four games, as starting pitcher Jerome Williams pitched into the ninth inning for the victory.

Williams (3-1), a 22-year-old right-hander, retired 13 of 14 batters in one stretch but left after Juan Encarnacion's two-run home run with two outs in the ninth. Matt Herges got the final out for the save.

A major part of the Dodgers' offense left the game early. Bradley took a called third strike to end the first inning and lingered around home plate to argue with umpire Sam Holbrook. Dodgers first-base coach John Shelby tried to intervene, but Bradley got tossed anyway.

It was Bradley's first ejection since last July 29, when he was with Cleveland and tossed his bat and helmet toward home-plate umpire Bruce Froemming after what Bradley deemed a poorly called third strike.

Bradley, whose attitude had bothered Cleveland manager Eric Wedge, had put together an outburst-free first month with the Dodgers, but his ejection Saturday ended up being a major factor.

Jason Grabowski, 1 for 11 as a pinch hitter, replaced Bradley. Grabowski lined out to first base with runners on first and second in the third and popped up to right with a runner on second in the sixth.

It was another bizarre outing for Simi Valley High's Weaver who, in his young Dodgers career, has sometimes looked like two different pitchers within the same game.

In his previous outing, Weaver pitched five strong innings, then got bombed in the sixth. On Saturday, Weaver (1-2) didn't look like he would escape the first, but then rebounded strong until the eighth. Weaver allowed the five runs on seven hits, walked five and struck out six.

Weaver might not be easy to figure out, but despite his terrible start he gave the Dodgers a chance to win. The bigger problem was the offense, which couldn't break through against Williams, who went 8 2/3 innings and allowed the three runs on five hits with two walks and four strikeouts.

The Giants gave Williams a three-run lead in the first. Ray Durham led off and crushed Weaver's fourth pitch into the right-field pavilion. Edgardo Alfonzo doubled, Bonds was intentionally walked and A.J. Pierzynski was hit by a pitch before, with two outs, Michael Tucker doubled into the right-field corner.

Alfonzo and Bonds scored easily, but Weaver escaped the jam by striking out Neifi Perez.

The Dodgers went down in order in the first but got going in the second. Green led off and was hit by a pitch, and Paul Lo Duca followed with a single up the middle.

A fielder's-choice grounder moved Green to third, and he scored on Adrian Beltre's sacrifice fly.

But thanks to the strength of the two starters, that would be all the offense for a while. Amazingly, Weaver put the first inning aside and controlled the Giants for a while. He scattered only two hits and two walks over the next six innings but ran into trouble in the eighth.

Weaver even got Bonds to ground out to shortstop in the fifth inning. Because of the Dodgers' infield shift, the ball actually went to the right side of the infield.

Alfonzo led off the eighth with a single and Weaver walked Bonds and Jeffrey Hammonds before giving way to reliever Tom Martin. Pierzynski then blooped a single into left to score two runs. With two outs, Perez came within a couple of feet of a home run, but Grabowski made the catch at the left-field wall.

The crowd was the ninth-largest to ever watch a regular-season game at Dodger Stadium.

Rich Hammond, [phone]

rich.hammond(at)dailynews.com