UNOFFICIALLY, IT'S OVER; APPARENTLY BOTTOMING OUT, DODGERS GET SWEPT : MONTREAL 9 DODGERS 0.

Byline: Matt McHale Daily News Staff Writer

The Dodgers' season did not end Thursday afternoon with a 9-0 loss to the Montreal Expos.

It might have ended two days earlier when they blew a four-run lead in the eighth inning and lost in 10.

There are games every year that players remember as the turning point, a yardstick that can be used to measure greatness or to wrap a team across the knuckles.

Eric Karros wasn't about to say getting swept in three games by the lowly Expos was the Dodgers' last stand. He knows the wild-card race means never having to say you're lousy.

But he remembered a bad game last season that seemed to have a haunting ring.

``It was in Texas, where we had a 12-7 lead in the ninth and lost,'' said Karros, remembering when the Dodgers were beaten 13-12 by the Rangers. ``The routs aren't as bad as the ones you let get away. People point to the Giants series (a sweep Sept. 17-18), but we just never were the same after that loss in Texas.''

Karros said the 1997 Dodgers, who finished two games behind San Francisco in the West, didn't know they were doomed at the time, just as it might be a week or two before they can assess the damage of this series with the Expos.

Despite their disappointing performance, the Dodgers' 4-6 trip cost them only one game to the wild-card leading Chicago Cubs in the 10 days. Getting whacked by nine runs to a team 30 games out of first place puts them six games behind the idle Cubs with 47 to play.

And though they face the mighty Braves next weekend, the Dodgers' next six games are against two of the league's worst teams, Pittsburgh and Florida.

``It's like when you're a kid and you get your butt whipped,'' second baseman Eric Young said. ``You're supposed to learn something from it. We'll see what we've learned.''

Gary Sheffield returns from his three-game suspension tonight against the Pirates. Sheffield and Pittsburgh catcher Jason Kendall were involved in a June 28 brawl that led to the suspensions.

Raul Mondesi, sidelined Thursday with more lower back pain, will be examined today and is not expected to play.

``I still think once we get Mondesi and Sheffield back, we'll be OK,'' said Karros, who made outs to end three innings after doing it four times Wednesday night. ``And if you look at the wild card, I still think we are in good shape.''

But the last three games also looked very similar to 1991, when the Dodgers were swept in four games at Olympic Stadium to begin the second half. The Braves were in third place at the time, but they picked up four games in the standings and wound up winning the National League West on the next-to-last day of the season.

In front of 11,791 on Thursday, the Dodgers were shut down by right-hander Jeremy Powell (1-1), who was making only his third major-league start.

Aside from a first-inning single by Trenidad Hubbard and a sixth-inning base hit by Young, the Dodgers hopped on the team plane a couple hours early.

The Expos, on the other hand, have gone 7-4 in their past 11 games - against San Diego, San Francisco and the Dodgers, the three top teams in the West.

And they have done it without center fielder Rondell White, who went on the disabled list July 21 with a fractured right ring finger. White's replacement, Terry Jones, went 2 for 4 Thursday with a three-run double off Darren Hall that broke the game open in the sixth.

``I know the expectations are different here than they are with the Dodgers,'' said Expos first baseman Ryan McGuire, a product of El Camino Real High and UCLA. ``But this is a place for opportunity. Rondell went down and Vladimir Guerrero (NL Player of the Month) had an incredible July. Then we had the big trade. But we don't get down, we just keep moving.''

McGuire was referring to last Friday's seven-player swap that sent left-hander Carlos Perez and shortstop Mark Grudzielanek to the Dodgers for Wilton Guerrero and three prospects.

Perez (7-11) started Thursday against his former team and said he was very nervous after pitching seven scoreless innings against the Mets last Saturday.

With two outs in the fourth, Perez allowed a two-run double to catcher Bob Henley, who played at Double-A in 1997 before a concussion ended his season. Mike Mordecai, once a promising infielder with the Braves, followed with a two-run homer.

``That's how it is done here,'' said Grudzielanek, who went 2 for 13 in the series. ``They play well against the good teams up here. You always wanted to prove yourself against the Dodgers and the Braves.''

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2 Photos

Photo: (1--Color) In five innings, starter Carlos Perez allowed seven runs and eight hits against his former team, the Expos, who completed a three-game sweep.

(2) Dodgers shortstop Mark Grudzielanek, fielding Orlando Cabrera's grounder, had two hits in the series.

Paul Chiasson/Associated Press