For the Dodgers, Can It Get Worse? : Baseball: An early 4-0 lead disappears as Phillies win third in a row, 6-5.

Amid a storm that has rocked his Dodgers to their roots, Fred Claire stood behind the batting cage at Veterans Stadium on Sunday and tightened his expression.

“I have still not given up hope on this season,” he said.

Never has he stood more alone.

Darryl Strawberry spoke for many upon the conclusion of their latest defeat when he stood at home plate and waved his hand toward right field in disgust.

With the bases loaded and the Dodgers trailing the Philadelphia Phillies by one run, he ended the game by hitting a fly ball to Wes Chamberlain on the warning track. That gave the Phillies a 6-5 victory before 33,215 at Veterans Stadium.

Strawberry was waving goodby to a four-run lead. And goodby to three out of four games to the team with the worst record in the National League.

And goodby to a season?

“I just don’t know what we need anymore,” Strawberry said, expressing the confusion that has engulfed this team.

For one, they could use something from Strawberry that resembles a line drive. Since coming off of the disabled list July 6, Strawberry is batting .229 with three runs batted in. He hasn’t hit a home run in more than three months.

But with 15 losses in their last 17 road games, these last-place Dodgers are in such bad shape that Strawberry and his still-stiff back are only a small part of the problem.

Ask Bob Ojeda, who didn’t pitch poorly Sunday but didn’t seem to stand a chance as his team fell a season-high 15 games behind the Cincinnati Reds. “You know how they say a picture is worth . . . whatever,” Ojeda said. “That was today. The way we played was the most powerful statement anybody could make about this team.”

The Phillies scored their first run on a misjudged fly ball, and the go-ahead run during the sixth inning on a wild throw.

The Dodgers could have tied the score against wild Mitch Williams, but two failed to execute bunts and a baserunner misjudged a wild pitch and was thrown out.

In between, Mike Scioscia was caught off of first base for a double play after a foul pop to the catcher . Steve Lake made a diving catch and threw to second baseman Mariano Duncan covering for the unusual out.

The winning pitcher was Wally Ritchie, who joins Kyle Abbott, Curt Schilling, Mark Clark, Rheal Cormier and Bill Risley as the winners over the Dodgers in their last nine games.

The losing pitcher was Jay Howell, who resorted to hitting Dave Hollins in the leg with a fastball during the eighth inning.

Until then, Dodger pitchers had let Hollins roam freely around home plate during this series. He had nine hits in 16 at-bats with two home runs and six RBIs.

Said Claire: “There are no changes imminent . . . I will not give up on this club yet. And whatever happens, I will not remove the strengths of this club.”

Those strengths are becoming ever more difficult to spot, particularly on days such as Sunday:

--Trailing by 4-0 behind rookie pitcher Mike Williams, the Phillies scored during the third inning on a routine fly ball that sailed over the head of left fielder Eric Davis.

--After the Phillies tied the score with a two-run double over third base by Hollins and a bloop single by Chamberlain during the fifth, they then won with only one ball leaving the infield.

It happened during the sixth, after rookie Joe Millette got his seventh hit of the series. He was bunted to second, took third on a wild pitch by Howell, and scored when Eric Karros made a wild throw home on a grounder by Len Dykstra.

--Mitch Webster, who drew a leadoff walk, could have been the tying run during a ninth inning that included a single and two walks. But Juan Samuel and Jose Offerman failed to execute bunts, and Webster was thrown out trying to take second base on a pitch that bounced off Lake.

* ANGELS LOSE: Blyleven struggles and Yankees hit four homers to end California’s winning streak at six. C2