Dodgers Drained After Beating Mets : Baseball: Worrell blows three-run lead, but they win in 10th, 7-6, on Karros’ single. Wallach has six RBIs.

Their closer gave up a three-run lead in the ninth inning, their second baseman spent the day at the doctor’s office and their starting pitchers haven’t lasted past the third inning in the last three games. Other than that, the Dodgers at least had a 7-6 10th-inning victory over the New York Mets to celebrate Monday night, but the underlying feeling couldn’t have possibly been joy.

“I’m zapped,” said Manager Tom Lasorda.

As the Dodger bus left Shea Stadium in the early hours this morning, it carried a team that appears to be going nowhere. Like a used car, just when one thing gets fixed, something else goes out.

The one area the Dodgers haven’t had to worry about since early May is their starting pitching, but guess what?

Meanwhile, their offense has regrouped, with Tim Wallach knocking in six runs Monday night. But by the ninth inning, Wallach’s three-run homer and three-run double merely became a sidenote. Todd Worrell, who relieved Tom Candiotti to pitch the ninth inning, gave up a three-run lead to tie the score at 6-6 and increase the number of blown saves for the bullpen to 16.

Was Lasorda thinking about taking Worrell out?

“No, I was going to let him go all the way,” Lasorda said.

Worrell had some help from Jeff Treadway, who started at second in place of Delino DeShields. Treadway bobbled a double-play grounder that would have ended the game. But the Dodgers came back to win in the 10th inning, when Mike Piazza beat out a two-out chopper to third base against Mauro Gozzo (2-4), the Mets’ fourth pitcher. DeShields, who hasn’t started the past two games because of a weak thigh muscle, pinch-ran for Piazza. He stole second and eventually scored on a line-drive single to left by Eric Karros.

Jim Gott pitched the 10th inning and, with a big help from Carlos Hernandez, who threw out the tying run trying to steal second with no outs, closed the game to get his second save. And somehow in all that mess, Worrell (5-4) earned the victory.

But when Lasorda, who has had philosophical differences with Worrell this season, was asked after the game if Gott or anybody else had a chance to take over the closer’s role, he said no. “You know how much we are paying that guy, he’s the man,” Lasorda said.

Worrell earns $3.5 million.

The Dodgers, though, have a problem with their starting pitching, one they haven’t had in two seasons. They needed a solid outing from their starting pitcher, Ismael Valdes, which might have been asking a lot since it was his first major league start. But Valdes developed two blisters and didn’t make it past the second inning.

Candiotti, who was scheduled to pitch tonight, was getting into the shower and about to leave the park when he saw Valdes come out. He sent the clubhouse attendant down to tell Lasorda he could pitch, and Chris Gwynn came running back with the news. Candiotti, pitching on two days’ rest, was in.

Candiotti gave up two runs--one earned--and three hits the next seven innings.

“I tried to stay in (to pitch the ninth), but they reminded that I had thrown 128 pitches on two days’ rest,” Candiotti said.

Since Thursday, when the Dodgers’ first game of the trip was rained out against Philadelphia, everything has gone wrong. Friday, Kevin Gross and Candiotti each started a game of the makeup doubleheader. Saturday, before the game started, Orel Hershiser walked off the mound during warmup pitches, and is sidelined for an undetermined amount of time--could be two days or two weeks--because of a muscle strain in his left side. Ramon Martinez, who was in the clubhouse exercising, put on his cleats and rushed to the mound. But he didn’t last long, giving up nine runs, five earned, over 4 1/3 innings. Pedro Astacio crumbled Sunday, giving up six runs in 2 1/3 innings. The Dodgers lost three of four games.

The Dodgers were hoping that by starting Valdes they could get through this three-game series with the Mets and to the off-day, at which point maybe Hershiser would be better. Gross will pitch tonight and Martinez on Wednesday.

“I don’t care how you win them, as long as you win,” Wallach said.