It’s Not the Way to First : Baseball: Sharperson is called out for running outside the basepath and it costs a run in Dodgers’ 2-1 loss to the Giants.

Once again for the Dodgers on Saturday, the fine line between success and failure was a blur.

On this night it was drawn in chalk. Mike Sharperson inadvertently veered to the left side of the first base line when he should have stayed right.

He was cited for interference, costing the Dodgers three bases and a run in a 2-1 loss to the San Francisco Giants.

“As good as the Atlanta Braves are going, that’s how bad we’re going,” Brett Butler said.

Before 35,507 at Dodger Stadium, the Dodgers fell 2 1/2 games into last place and six games behind the fourth-place Giants.

The Giants had four hits and won with only one. A two-out, two-strike single by Willie McGee in the fifth inning scored both runs against losing pitcher Ramon Martinez (8-9).

The Dodgers, with seven hits, lost for the 22nd time in 58 games in which they have outhit their opponents. But it is neither McGee nor the hits that the Dodgers will remember.

They know they will never leave the cellar if they can’t find their way to first base.

With one out in the fourth inning and the Dodgers leading, 1-0, Sharperson bounced a ball to pitcher Trevor Wilson, who spun and made a quick throw to first baseman Will Clark.

The ball sailed toward the inside of the base as Sharperson approached from the inside of the baseline. At one point, he even stepped on the infield grass.

Clark had to move in front of Sharperson to try to catch the ball, which he failed to do. It rolled into the right-field corner and Sharperson hustled to third base, from which he would have scored on Carlos Hernandez’s single.

But the only place Sharperson traveled was to the dugout after plate umpire Joe West ruled he ran inside first base foul line and interfered with Clark. Based on Rule 7.09(K), Sharperson was out.

No sooner had Manager Tom Lasorda returned to the dugout then Hernandez had singled to center. Henry Rodriguez made the play even bigger when he singled to right.

“I understand Tommy had to come out and argue the call, but I think he knew it was the right call,” West said.

Said Lasorda: “To me, it is interference if the (runner) is away from the base. But Sharperson was right on the base. How was he supposed to touch it? Even if the throw is good, I think he beats the it.”

After viewing the replays while eating his postgame meal, Sharperson shrugged.

“I just ran to the base, I didn’t know what happened,” he said. “It was (West’s) call, he made it and we have to live with it.”

Wilson easily lived with it. He, Mike Jackson and Rod Beck combined to hold the Dodgers to two hits after the fifth inning, including retiring the final seven Dodgers hitters.

“That was a life saver,” Wilson (8-11) said.

Two weeks ago, the Dodgers were cost a run and a victory over the San Diego Padres when catcher Mike Scioscia inadvertently used his mask to stop a slow-rolling ball.

“Stuff like tonight has been happening to us all year,” Butler said.

Martinez certainly didn’t enjoy it.

He allowed a one-out walk to Ted Wood in the top of the fifth inning, then allowed his first hit of the game, a single to left field by Kirt Manwaring.

Jose Uribe singled to right, loading the bases. After Wilson struck out, McGee worked Martinez to a full count. McGee then lined an inside pitch to right field, scoring Wood and Manwaring.

It spoiled one of Martinez’s best nights of the season. He gave up only three hits in seven innings and left the game only because he was tired. He struck out six of the last seven batters he faced and finished with nine strikeouts, equaling his season-high.

In Martinez’ last five starts, he has a 2.86 earned-run average with 27 strikeouts and eight walks in 34 2/3 innings. Yet, he is only 3-2 during that time.

The Dodgers took a 1-0 lead in the first inning thanks to good hustle by Jose Offerman, who had only one hit in 34 at-bats against the Giants this season. He started the game with a single to center. One out later, he raced to third on a bloop single that fell between McGee and Cory Snyder in left-center field, and scored on Mitch Webster’s fly ball.