NL West Race Hits Ground Zero : Baseball: Only three of 11 Padre batters in eighth get ball out of infield, but they score six runs. Dodgers lose, 9-4, drop into a tie for first.

The Dodgers have blinked first.

With three games remaining, the National League West race is as knotted as their stomachs because of an eighth inning Wednesday night that could keep the Dodgers awake until February.

Even though only three balls left the infield, the San Diego Padres sent 11 batters to the plate in the eighth and scored six runs, leading to a 9-4 victory before 48,358 at Dodger Stadium.

The accident report: A bunt single over the pitcher’s head, a bunt single that died on the third-base line, a single off the pitcher’s glove, a single in front of the catcher, a single to the shortstop, an error by first baseman Eddie Murray and a run-scoring ground ball.

That little bit of work ruined Darryl Strawberry’s early two-run home run and run-scoring single, and it broke a 3-3 tie. It also gave the Padres more runs in one inning than the Dodgers have allowed in their last three games.

After matching the Atlanta Braves, victory for victory, during the previous three days, the Dodgers finally faltered hours after the Braves completed a three-game sweep of Cincinnati.

For the first time since Sept. 3, the teams are even, each with a 92-67 record. After 159 games, the race will be decided in one weekend, when the Dodgers play the San Francisco Giants in Candlestick Park while the Braves are playing host to the Houston Astros.

The hardest part for the Dodgers is if they eventually fall out of first place after leading the division for 133 days, they will have to blame an inning that virtually only happens in leagues where kids hit off a tee.

With the score tied, after the Padres came back from two deficits against Dodger starter Tim Belcher, pinch-hitter Oscar Azocar led off the eighth inning with a bunt single that bounced over the head of reliever Kevin Gross.

Bip Roberts then beat out a grounder to shortstop Lenny Harris. Jack Howell laid down a bunt that rolled inches foul, then curved and stopped on the third base line, loading the bases.

Darrin Jackson singled to left to score the first run of the inning. John Candelaria relieved Gross and watched another run score when Murray threw Fred McGriff’s grounder high to catcher Mike Scioscia.

Roger McDowell relieved Candelaria, but for the Dodgers, it only got worse. Benito Santiago singled to left to score the third run. After a foul-out by Tim Teufel, Thomas Howard’s grounder scored the fourth run.

Craig Shipley’s grounder off McDowell’s glove scored the fifth run. Azocar’s high bouncer in front of Scioscia scored the sixth run.

The Dodgers’ frustration was evident even earlier, during the late afternoon when they watched the Reds play poorly in losing for the third consecutive time to the Braves.

“There ought to be a law against that . . . they aren’t even trying,” one Dodger veteran said. “It is ridiculous how they are laying down for the Braves.”

Later there was frustration for Belcher, who spiked his batting helmet into the dugout after being removed for pinch-hitter Dave Hansen in the seventh.

Belcher continued his recent streak of good pitching by giving up only three runs and six hits in seven innings, with five strikeouts and no walks. In his last 79 innings, he has allowed 17 runs for a 1.94 earned-run average during that time.

Belcher wasn’t pitching poorly, but his bat was needed because the lead had changed hands three times in the first six innings, which ended in a 3-3 tie.

The Dodgers scored first in the first inning on three consecutive singles, capped by Strawberry’s run-scoring line drive to right field. But that uprising was tainted when Harris tried to go from first to third on Strawberry’s no-out single.

Harris was thrown out at third by the strong arm of right fielder Howard.

The Padres tied the score on two singles and a stolen base in the third, with winning pitcher Greg Harris, batting .059, collecting the run batted in on a one-out line drive to right field.

Howard started the inning with a single to right, then stole second and moved to third on a fly ball by Shipley. It was Harris’ second RBI and third hit of the season.

The Padres took a 2-1 lead in the fifth inning on Santiago’s 17th home run, a leadoff shot. Santiago was hitless in his previous eight at-bats during this series, with a couple of ground balls that he had barely run out.

But the Dodgers rebounded with two runs in their half of the fifth on one quick swing by Strawberry.

With one out in the fifth, Harris singled to left. On the next pitch, Greg Harris tried to throw a slow curve past Strawberry. It would have worked, if the ball had curved.

Strawberry hit the ball so hard, it left Dodger Stadium in about two seconds, sailing 400 feet over the center-field fence.

But the Padres rebounded against Belcher, beginning with Roberts’ headfirst slide into first base after a grounder to shortstop Harris with one one out in the sixth.

Roberts was safe, and one out later he moved to second on a grounder to left field by Jackson. Two pitches later McGriff, batting .328 against the Dodgers this season, singled to right to score Roberts and move Jackson to third.

But Belcher escaped further trouble and left the inning with the score tied when Santiago ended the inning with a line drive to third.

NL Batting Race

Name Team Avg. Wed. Terry Pendleton Braves .3189 2-4 Hal Morris Reds .3182 * Tony Gwynn Padres .3169 * Willie McGee Giants .3128 1-1

* Did not play