Dodgers’ Loss to Pirates Leaves Extra Bad Taste : Baseball: Poor defense behind Morgan in 4-2 defeat prompts Scioscia to decry underachieving by club.

It took a last-place effort against a first-place team to inspire him. But finally, a Dodger has said it.

“This is not a rebuilding year, we should be winning, and yet we’re playing at 60% of our capability,” catcher Mike Scioscia said after the Dodgers lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-2, before 23,198 at Three Rivers Stadium Friday.

He could have been talking about four fielding plays that helped give the Pirates four runs against loser Mike Morgan in the first two innings. Or he could been talking about how the offense wilted against the Pirate bullpen.

The tying run was either at the plate or on base five times in the last three innings. But against Stan Belinda, Scott Ruskin, and Ted Power, the Dodgers acted as if their bats still were at Busch Stadium or Wrigley Field, where they happily walloped struggling St. Louis and Chicago to begin this trip with a 5-2 record.

The Dodgers, who failed for the sixth time since June 27 to reach .500, play well against teams as bad as they are, going 34-29 against sub-.500 teams. Against winning teams such as Pittsburgh, they are 10-17, and often look worse. This is how they have fallen to a season-high 13 1/2 games behind the National League West-leading Cincinnati Reds.

“Games like this are where you can see just what our ballclub is made of,” said Scioscia, an 11-year veteran who is one of the Dodgers’ few links to better years, the early 1980’s. “In all three areas--pitching, offense and defense--we are kind of groping. There is no chemistry bringing those areas together.

“We’re a championship caliber ballclub, this is a team that should win. But playing inconsistent ball, it’s just not going to happen.”

Scioscia frowned and added: “We are always around the .500 mark, and yet we are playing so poorly. What does that tell you?”

Nothing that Friday’s game didn’t say, as the Pirates scored four runs in the first two innings on the following plays:

A late throw by Murray. A bouncing throw by Hubie Brooks. A fly ball over Brooks’ head. A bouncing ball missed by Lenny Harris.

“It’s difficult to fall behind four runs to anybody, but to fall behind four runs to them? “ Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda said of a team that has lost only 12 games this season after being the first team to score.

It’s not that the Dodgers didn’t try. After getting two hits in six innings against starter Bob Walk, undefeated against the Dodgers since 1986, the Dodgers finally forced him off the mound in the seventh. The rally began with a single by Kirk Gibson and Kal Daniels’ 14th homer, giving him 10 runs batted in in the eight completed games of this trip.

Two outs later, Walk departed when Scioscia hit a double to right-center field. Belinda entered the game and, after walking Juan Samuel, battled Alfredo Griffin to a 2-and-2 count. But then Griffin, who is batting .145 in July, grounded to shortstop Jay Bell to end the threat.

In the eighth, Belinda left after giving up a one-out walk to Harris. In came Ruskin, who was greeted with a second consecutive single by Gibson.

But Daniels, after falling behind 1-and-2, was badly fooled on a flailing strikeout, and Eddie Murray grounded Ruskin’s second pitch to third base.

Power entered in the ninth, and found trouble after issuing a one-out walk to Scioscia. But he retired Samuel on a foul ball and pinch-hitter Stan Javier on a soft fly ball to shortstop to end the game. Javier was batting for Griffin, only the third time this season Griffin has left for a pinch-hitter.

But that could happen more often. Triple-A shortstop Jose Offerman might even take over at shortstop.

“If we haven’t picked it up by late July or early August, we might have to look in a different direction,” Claire said two weeks ago.

Morgan’s outing wasn’t as bad as it looked. The Pirates hit only eight balls out of the infield in his five innings, and only three of those were hits. But the Dodger defense was awful.

With a runner on first in the first inning, Bell put down a sacrifice bunt, but Murray tried to throw out R.J. Reynolds at second. His throw was late, and both runners were safe. Two outs later, Bobby Bonilla hit a two-strike pitch down the right field line for an RBI double. Barry Bonds then hit a grounder to the left of first base that rolled to right fielder Brooks.

Bonilla had rounded third and was halfway to the plate when Brooks made the throw. But the ball bounced several times before reaching Scioscia, and Bonilla scored.

It was the same sort of trouble in the second inning. With Mike LaValliere on second base after a double, Jose Lind hit a fly ball to Brooks in right. The ball sailed over his outstretched glove and went to the wall for an RBI triple. The Pirates then completed their scoring with a grounder by Walk that hopped past the glove of a charging Harris and settled behind third base.

Dodger Notes

Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda on the sentencing of Pete Rose: “Every time I talked to Pete last year, I kept saying, ‘I hope it’s not true . . . whatever they are saying about you, I hope its not true.’ I feel bad for him like I would feel bad for a friend, but he did a bad thing, and that’s what happens.” Should Rose be voted into the Hall of Fame? “Say this--a person is put into the Hall of Fame not only because of his contributions to baseball on the field, but to baseball as a person,” Lasorda said. “People in the Hall of Fame are people you look up to with respect, admiration and affection. A guy like Shoeless Joe Jackson is not in there, is he? It’s like a guy taking drug. Is he in there?”

Disabled relievers Don Aase and Pat Perry both appear ready to begin simulated games soon. Aase threw off a mound and said his tender shoulder felt good. Perry will throw off a mound today, and said his elbow felt good after throwing in St. Louis Wednesday. Both should be able to return before the rosters expand Sept. 1, but with the bullpen on a hot streak, having given up only two runs in its last 21 2/3 innings, the Dodgers might have trouble making room. The only reliever who is not getting much action is Mike Hartley, who threw in the bullpen before the game. He has not appeared in a game since July 8.

Dodger relievers Ray Searage and Jim Gott combined for three hitless innings, as the Pirates got only one hit after the third inning. Searage has given up only one run in five appearances since returning from the disabled list, while Gott has given up only one run in his last seven appearances. . . . The Pirates’ bullpen has given up only five runs in its last 58 1/3 innings.