Dodgers’ Troubles Come in Bunches : Baseball: Hershiser racked, Strawberry has bad back and Offerman misses sack, 9-1.

Whatever he threw, the Philadelphia Phillies hit. They knocked Orel Hershiser’s pitches inside the line, down the line, in the corner and up the middle. The balls bounced under gloves, dropped out of gloves and eventually, into reliever Steve Wilson’s glove.

And that was only the third inning.

By then the score was 7-0, the Dodgers were on their way to losing, 9-1, and the Sunday crowd of 41,102 at Dodger Stadium was left with a dilemma. What to do?

Bring on the beach balls.

“We are just playing . . . “ Eric Karros said after the loss dropped the Dodgers’ record to 9-16.

“We have got to do something, I’m not sure what. If we work at it, good things will happen. But you can’t just lay down and quit.”

After the game, Darryl Strawberry dropped another bomb. He said if his back doesn’t get better, he could be out of the lineup for months.

And then there was Jose Offerman, who, along with the crowd, also seemed to lose interest in Sunday’s game. In the fourth inning, with two out and runners on first and second, Karros stopped a hard-hit grounder by Milt Thompson and threw to second base. But Offerman wasn’t there.

Karros stared at Offerman with a look of disbelief. “I was just mad that we didn’t get the out,” Karros said. “I have to worry about making the plays myself instead of other guys making them.”

Offerman’s lapse wasn’t costly, but when he returned to the dugout after the inning, Mitch Webster tried to wake him up with some advice of his own. Webster’s words got both Offerman’s and Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda’s attention, who intervened between the two, gently nudging them apart.

“I wanted him to be aware that we needed to kick ourselves in the butt, we had a lot of game ahead,” Webster said. “We had a discussion about the play and at a point in time it may have gotten heated. But I was trying to tell him that I had messed up on a play, too, and I don’t think he realized at first what I was trying to say.

“But by the end, before we left the dugout the next inning, everything was OK. I told him it was hard to play every day, but don’t give up. I think he is starting to play well and I would like to see that continue.”

Webster, who misplayed a line drive in the third inning to set up the first run of a six-run inning for the Phillies, played left field for the second consecutive game in place of Eric Davis, who is out with a sprained muscle in his rib cage.

Starting to sound like last season, isn’t it?

Phillie starter Terry Mulholland (3-3) held the Dodgers to six hits over nine innings as his team won two of the three-game series.

“I’m just glad they left town and took their hot streak with them,” Hershiser (3-3) said.

The Dodgers left the bases loaded in the first inning and scored their only run in the sixth, when Mulholland hit Mike Piazza with a pitch and Offerman singled him in. The crowd cheered in mockery.

There may be no correlation, but Offerman’s fielding lapses have begun since he has improved at the plate. After batting .059 on the recent trip East, Offerman is nine for 16 with three RBIs in the five games this home stand. But he has also made three errors in five games to give him six this season. And in the wings is Kevin Elster.

“When you do what Mitch did it isn’t to show somebody up but to make you a better ballplayer,” Piazza said of the exchange between Webster and Offerman.

“That shows how much you care. If I didn’t hustle or whatever I expect someone to say something to me. We are concerned about (Jose). He’s our shortstop and we want him to play as well or better than he thinks he can play.”

In another scene reminiscent of last season, Offerman dressed at his locker after the game and ignored reporters.

“No comment,” he said. “I have nothing to say.”