Reds Chill Dodgers’ Hopes : Baseball: L.A. loses, 9-5, and falls 5 1/2 games behind after freezing up--first at the plate, then in the outfield.

It happened to the Dodger hitters when they left the bases loaded three times in the first four innings. So it was only appropriate that it happened to Stan Javier in the fifth, when the Cincinnati Reds made them pay.

“I froze,” Javier said Sunday after misjudging a fly ball by Bill Doran in center field, turning the hit into a two-run double that broke open an eventual 9-5 Reds victory before 35,546 at Riverfront Stadium.

The Dodgers fell 5 1/2 games behind the Reds with 16 to play.

“This one hurts a little bit,” pitcher Tim Crews acknowledged in a somber clubhouse.

In a game during which Cincinnati hit five pitchers for seven doubles and a home run, the Dodgers could have won quickly. Yet, in a season during which big losses far outnumbered big victories, the big play eluded them again.

“And we’ve got nobody but ourselves to blame,” Kal Daniels said.

--Against wild Reds starter Norm Charlton, the Dodgers scored two runs when their first six batters of the game reached base, and loaded the bases with one out in the first inning. But Juan Samuel struck out on three pitches and Alfredo Griffin grounded back to Charlton.

--On a single and two walks by Charlton, the Dodgers loaded the bases with none out in the third. But Scott Scudder, with an earned-run average of 4.97, relieved Charlton and got a grounder by Samuel, a popout by Griffin and a grounder by pitcher Mike Morgan.

--On a double, a walk and a pitch that hit Hubie Brooks, the Dodgers loaded the bases with two out in the fourth inning. But Rick Dempsey popped out.

By the fifth inning, with the score 2-2 on a two-run double by Hal Morris, the Dodgers were frustrated and Morgan must have been wondering if he could ever get a break.

“By then, we already had the opportunity to bury them, and we had let them get away,” Dempsey said.

Morgan preceded to bury himself by walking Barry Larkin and Morris to start the fifth. Doran hit a fly ball to center fielder Javier, making his third consecutive start in place of slumping Kirk Gibson.

“I saw the ball go over my head, so I knew it was hit right at him, and I thought it was an out,” said Morgan, who fell to 10-14 and has won once since July 30. “A key out.”

Except Javier stopped and stared at it before realizing it was hit harder than he thought. The ball soared over his head, bounced to the wall and gave the Reds a 4-2 lead.

“The ball just took off, the wind got to it or something, and that was it,” Javier said.

“It was a tough play to begin with, one that you have to time perfectly to get. But those are the kinds of plays you have to make to win. And I didn’t make it.”

Even though Javier would hit a home run, a double and a single with two runs scored, his day was ruined.

“Great offense,” he said. “Terrible defense.”

Eric Davis then singled, moving Doran to third, and Morgan was replaced by new Dodger pitcher Dennis Cook. Cook gave up a sacrifice fly to Paul O’Neill and, three pitches later, a two-run homer to Chris Sabo.

Three batters and another pitcher later, the Dodgers had yielded six runs in the inning to trail, 8-2, in what eventually became the Reds’ only victory in this three-game series.

But by avoiding the sweep, the Reds might have swept the Dodgers into next season.

If the Reds go 9-8 in their final 17 games, the Dodgers must go 14-2 to tie them. And while the Reds have 11 home games remaining, the Dodgers have eight.

“All year, any time we have been able to get our act together and win, we have won,” said Lou Piniella, Reds manager.

“Everybody has always been going after us, and we have always come through . . . so why shouldn’t I be confident?”

Having lost direct control over their fate after splitting the 18-game season series with the Reds, the Dodgers can now only hope for outside help.

Said Tom Lasorda, Dodger manager: “We are in our ‘hope and pray’ syndrome. We hope we win, and we pray that the other team is losing.”

The Dodgers’ best immediate chance is that the San Francisco Giants, who have beaten the Reds 10 times in 16 games this year, can sweep them in a two-game set beginning here tonight. If the Dodgers could sweep the last-place Atlanta Braves at the same time, they could gain the ground lost Sunday.

“The Giants have done it before, they can do it again,” said Daniels, his voice suddenly more hopeful than confident.

Dodger Notes

Tim Crews will start today against the Atlanta Braves, replacing Mike Hartley, who has a strained muscle in his left side. Crews, making only his second major league start, said he was perplexed when he was informed of the change. “I was surprised--I’ve been doing the job that I do best for the last couple of months, setting up Jay Howell, and I didn’t think they would want to move me,” Crews said. “I haven’t been going a lot of innings, so I don’t know what my endurance would be. I don’t know what to expect of myself. How long I last remains to be seen.” When Crews was reminded that he has pitched as many as four innings twice this year, he said, “Yeah, but I was exhausted both times.”

Former Red Kal Daniels hit his 26th homer of the season in the eighth inning, a two-run shot that quieted fans who had been booing him throughout the game. He reacted with a swirling hand motion while rounding first base, then performed an elaborate handshake with another former Red, teammate Lenny Harris, at home plate.

Kirk Gibson, who did not start any of the games in this biggest series of the season, screamed at himself in the dugout after striking out while pinch-hitting in the eighth inning. He has one hit in his last 29 at-bats and might not start again tonight in Atlanta against left-hander Charlie Leibrandt of the Braves.

In a move that eventually could mean the end of Rick Dempsey’s Dodger career, former New York Met catcher Barry Lyons will report to the Dodgers’ instructional league camp today in preparation for joining the Dodgers this weekend. Lyons, 30, is a right-handed hitter with a four-year career as a major league backup. In 24 games with the Mets this season, he hit .238 with two homers and seven runs batted in. He was released Sept. 4 after being sent to triple-A Tidewater and batting .171 with no homers and 17 RBIs in 164 at-bats. “We saw where he was available, and we only have two catchers with major league experience, so we thought it was too good of a thing to pass up,” said Fred Claire, Dodger vice president. “We have no obligation for next year, although certainly this will give us a chance to see him and evaluate him for then.”