BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : DODGERS : Is Club Intense as Its Manager?

The recent string of close losses appears to be taking a toll on the team, with the clearest evidence being an epithet-filled explosion from Manager Tom Lasorda on Monday night after the Dodgers dropped the series opener in 11 innings to the Colorado Rockies.

Asked if his team lacked intensity on the field of late, Lasorda, who has been fairly sedate through most of the recent struggles, had an extremely intense response that was capped with: “Do you think so? If you think so, you’re . . . wrong.

“You don’t think my guys were trying their hardest out there? . . . Think they didn’t want to win that game? It’s not lack of intensity, it’s . . . not lack of intensity.”

Later, in a slightly calmer mood, Lasorda spoke about the frustration of watching so many opportunities to win games turn into late-inning blunders and postgame soul-searching.

“Losing the game tonight was tough on us,” Lasorda said. “We lost the last two games and we should’ve won them. We had the chances to win them. We should have won a seven games in a row right now.

“Is it symptomatic of something? It’s because we don’t do the job, that’s what the reason is.”

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Fred Claire, Dodger executive vice president, confirmed that Jim Italiano, the team’s director of stadium operations, had resigned, effective Monday.

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Charlie Hayes, Colorado third baseman, dropped the appeal to his three-game suspension incurred because of a fight with the Dodgers at Denver June 17.

Hayes, who missed Monday night’s game because of a jammed wrist, began serving the suspension Tuesday.

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Cory Snyder wasn’t in the starting lineup for the second consecutive game Tuesday, suffering from a bruised left foot.