Dodgers Keep Bobbling Away : Baseball: Cubs win, 2-0, after breaking up a no-hitter by Candiotti in the seventh inning. Karros’ error is costly.

The Dodgers are playing games that would make Bill Buckner blush.

The blooper that cost the Boston Red Sox the 1986 World Series championship was replayed Monday, with Tom Candiotti as the victim.

He pitched a two-hitter against the Chicago Cubs and lost, 2-0.

“This,” Candiotti said, “is as bad as we can get.”

The special moment occurred in the seventh inning of a scoreless game, moments after Steve Buechele had broken up Candiotti’s no-hit bid with a single.

Derrick May hit a grounder to Eric Karros at first base. The ball bounced off Karros’ glove and into right field.

Karros bent in anguish. Buechele, who had stolen second base, scored. The players on the Cubs bench jumped wildly.

For a moment, it was difficult not to be reminded of Buckner’s error in the Red Sox’ sixth-game loss in 1986 to the eventual champion New York Mets.

After collecting only five hits and hitting only three fly balls to the outfield against Greg Maddux on Monday, they were shut out for the fourth time in their last five games.

They have not scored in 21 innings and have only two runs in 49 innings. In their last five games on a six-game losing streak they are batting .183.

It was so pathetic Monday, Candiotti was even receiving sympathy from the other clubhouse.

“That is one of the toughest losses I’ve ever seen in my life,” said Maddux, an expert on such things after allowing seven runs in his 10 losses.

It was one of Maddux’s easiest victories.

Two nights after finishing their quickest game of the season, 2 hours 9 minutes, they played even faster Monday--1:55.

“It went too fast,” said Candiotti, 9-12 despite a 2.95 earned-run average. “(But) as a starter around here, you know you’re not going to have a lot to work with. That’s a given.”

Candiotti learned he was pitching only 90 minutes before the game when Ramon Martinez was diagnosed with tennis elbow.

Martinez, who might have better luck playing tennis, says there is a chance he could return to the rotation next week.

“I’ve been on teams that are rebuilding, and you reach a point where you hit rock bottom--where it can’t get any worse,” Candiotti said. “We’ve hit that point.”

Help could be on the way today when Darryl Strawberry could return to the lineup one week ahead of schedule.

“Darryl swung good (Monday in batting practice) so I told him we would talk about it,” said Tom Lasorda, Dodger manager.

Lasorda also might start catcher Mike Piazza, who will join the team from triple-A Albuquerque today.

“I don’t know what we’re going to do. We’ve tried everything,” Lasorda said.

They tried excitement Monday for six innings when Candiotti, who has pitched two one-hitters, allowed only four balls out of the infield in his first appearance against the Cubs.

His knuckleball was working so well that in the last four innings he threw only one pitch that wasn’t a knuckleball.

Buechele punched a knuckleball to right field for the first Chicago hit, setting up a play that Karros was still contemplating while sitting alone on the bench 10 minutes after the game.

“I just messed it up. I just missed it,” Karros said. “It was not a strange hop. I did not slip. I just missed it.”

Said Candiotti: “Nobody feels worse than Eric.”

For once, the object of such a statement disagreed.

“No,” Karros said. “Candiotti probably feels worse than I do.”