VACATION OVER FOR DODGERS.

Byline: STEVE DILBECK

Can't a guy take a couple weeks off, sit under a palm tree and suck down a few banana daiquiris without our local teams stumbling all over themselves?

The Clippers lose Elton Brand to a ruptured Achilles, the Lakers lose Kevin Garnett to the Celtics, the Angels can't swing a deadline deal and the Dodgers ... just exactly what has happened to the Dodgers?

When my Boeing 767 lifted over the Pacific, the Dodgers were a couple of games up in the National League West. They had won seven of their first 10games out of the All-Star break. Looked like a team ready to hit its stride.

Not the team that manager Grady Little said Sunday had hit "rock bottom."

Not the team that is now in third place in the NL West, four games out.

A team that has lost four consecutive games and 12 of its past 16.

That trails a young Arizona team that should be at least a year away from title contention and a Padres team that is the worst-hitting club in baseball.

The Dodgers are a team in very real trouble that needs to turn things around now before they're left dizzy as a moviegoer taking in all the quivering handheld camera action of the latest Jason Bourne flick.

Certainly there remains plenty of time to get things turned around -- almost a full third of the season -- but they'd best get after it. See, the hard truth is things are more dire than they appear.

The Dodgers' next three series are against losing teams, and they need to fatten up right now. Beat up on the little guys, find their legs against the downtrodden.

Because if they don't get things turned around during the next three series, they'll be in enough trouble to keep Mayor Villaraigosa company.

Fresh off being swept at home by the Diamondbacks, the Dodgers open a three-game series tonight in Cincinnati against the Reds, followed by three at St. Louis and four at home against the Astros.

After that, the heat is on. Supernova heat.

Ten of their final 13 series are against teams with winning records. Two of those three series against teams with losing records are against the rival, anything-goes Giants.

This for a Dodgers team that has suddenly lost its way. A team with several of its kids taking predictable downturns. A team with several veterans battling predictable injuries.

Right now the boys are blue. They're not hitting very well, and the next pitcher able to successfully raise his arm gets the night's start.

Still, this is the time to regroup. The time to take advantage of what the schedule serves up.

Almost two weeks of sub-.500 teams await, and they need to be beaten. Need to be pounded upon until the Dodgers have regained their confidence for the road further ahead, their shaky sense of self.

Not that the next three teams are going to kowtow in fear at the sight of Los Angeles script. The Dodgers swept the Reds in a three-game series in May, but they traditionally have trouble at St. Louis and dropped two of three to the Astros just last month.

On the positive side, at least they'll be spared the Barry "Puffy" Bonds circus.

Last week's three-game series against the Giants and the threat of being the team to give up the record-setting home run against the most despised man in baseball history seemed to knock them off track. They dropped two of three to the Giants and then were swept by the Diamondbacks. Anymore out of whack and they'd be Lindsay Lohan.

Cincinnati is a great place to gather yourself and find your bearings. What else is there to do there? I mean, after you've tried the chili. Relive that exciting year Jerry Springer served as mayor?

Then the Dodgers have to knock around the Cardinals while they're down and take it to Houston back home.

This will require better hitting than 1 for 25 with runners in scoring position, like they've had in the four-game skid. A team that showed promising signs of working the count after Bill Mueller was hired has suddenly and inexplicably regressed.

Arizona's Brandon Webb threw a 103-pitch complete game against them Sunday? Hey, don't be afraid to take a pitch. It's allowed.

The rotation, once a team strength, is now plain scary. For the Dodgers that is, not opponents.

General manager Ned Colletti knew he needed to bolster the rotation when Jason Schmidt was lost for the season and then Randy Wolf went on the disabled list. Now, even Wolf could be lost for the year.

Yet the trade deadline came and went, and no new starting pitcher was brought into the fold. Not that anyone else out there did anything. There's more action at a rest home bingo game than there was this year at baseball's trading deadline.

But inconsistent Chad Billingsley and Mark Hendrickson, injured Derek Lowe and beleaguered Brett Tomko are not going to frighten anyone. Even Brad Penny has become less than a certainty.

That makes for a difficult way to right the ship, to garner a pennant. The Dodgers are in real trouble and need to do something about it now.

One saving grace is that the Padres, and even the D'backs, essentially have the same schedule as the Dodgers. That, and the fact that once again, there is no dominant team in the NL.

It seemed so much simpler a couple weeks ago. One more reason to long for the tropics.

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Dodgers

MONDAY

Off day.

TODAY

Dodgers (Hendrickson, 4-5) at Cincinnati (Arroyo 4-12), 4:10 p.m., Great American Ballpark.

TV: Ch 9.