WEAVER CAN FIND NO RELIEF DODGERS SQUANDER STARTER'S EFFORT AGAIN IN LOSS ARIZONA 6, DODGERS 5.

Byline: Tony Jackson  Staff Writer

PHOENIX - As usual, Jeff Weaver pitched well enough to win Sunday. As usual, he found a way to not win.

Or rather, someone found a way for him.

Weaver, who has been victimized on several occasions by a lack of run support and on at least one occasion when one of the game's best fielding teams fell apart behind him, was victimized on this occasion by the rare failure of baseball's best bullpen.

The result for Weaver was yet another wasted effort. The result for the Dodgers was a 6-5 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks in front of 34,059 at Bank One Ballpark.

Manager Jim Tracy opted to lift Weaver after six innings, despite the fact Weaver, a Simi Valley High graduate, had thrown just 72 pitches and had a two-run lead. Tracy brought in Darren Dreifort, the veteran right-hander who after years of battling one injury or another finally has found his niche this season as a dependable middle reliever.

By the end of the seventh, Dreifort was gone, having turned a 4-2 lead into a 5-4 deficit in one of those freakish performances every relief pitcher knows he will sometimes have.

``But that doesn't make it any easier to take,'' Dreifort said. ``Weave threw a very good game, and I didn't get the job done. My command was bad. My arm was a little bit behind my body, I think, and I just couldn't catch up.''

Neither could the Dodgers, once the lead was gone.

Guillermo Mota, another rock-solid reliever who was having a bad day, gave up a devastating insurance run in the eighth, pushing the Arizona lead to 6-4. That would loom large in the ninth, when the Dodgers pulled within one on Adrian Beltre's second home run of the afternoon before Juan Encarnacion got to third on a double and a wild pitch.

Jose Hernandez struck out to end the game, stranding Encarnacion. The Dodgers (30-24) fell into a tie with San Diego atop the National League West, something that might have been avoided if Tracy had stuck with Weaver a little longer. But after shutting down the Diamondbacks on four hits through five innings, Weaver looked vulnerable in the sixth, a scene eerily similar to his seventh-inning collapse Tuesday night against Milwaukee.

Tracy wasn't interested in an encore.

``The previous inning, he had gotten hit around some,'' Tracy said. ``Also, it was a chance to have Jeff end on a very positive note, which he did. He obviously did the job for us. But when you have a bullpen that is performing the way this one has performed all year long, and when you have a two-run lead and you're looking to (eventually) get the ball to (closer) Eric Gagne, you feel confident in making that move.''

That confidence began to fizzle as soon as Dreifort walked Chad Tracy, the first batter he faced. Robby Hammock doubled into the right-field corner to score Chad Tracy, making it 4-3, and took third on Alex Cintron's sacrifice bunt. Carlos Baerga, who was 3 for 29 as a pinch hitter and hitting .088 overall, tied it with a line single to left.

One out later, Dreifort left the game. Tom Martin came on and surrendered consecutive singles to Steve Finley and Danny Bautista, scoring another run that was charged to Dreifort (1-1). The Dodgers lost for the first time in 22 games this season when leading after six innings.

Weaver later admitted he would have preferred to stay in the game, but didn't question Jim Tracy's decision not to let him.

``I felt fine,'' Weaver said. ``Just because of the way I was throwing, I figured I would go back out there and throw one more (inning) with the bottom of the order coming up. But my last few outings, it seems like I have stayed in one batter too long, and I think (Jim Tracy) was trying to prevent that from happening again. But when you turn it over to the bullpen we have, you feel pretty confident, so there is no second-guessing going on.''

The no-decision left Weaver winless in four of his past five starts. In those four starts, he has a 3.28 ERA. In those four games, the Dodgers have scored an average of 2.5 runs.

``It's frustrating, but that's part of the game,'' Weaver said. ``It's my job to be consistent, and I have been that way for a while now. I'll just continue to do what I'm doing.''

Tony Jackson,[phone]

tony.jackson(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo:

The Dodgers' Alex Cora tosses his helmet after being doubled up at first base.

Tom Hood/Associated Press

Box:

DIAMONDBACKS, 6, DODGERS 5