Dodgers Left Twisting in the Wind, 12-5 : Baseball: The bullpen gives up seven runs to the Giants in the seventh inning after Hershiser returns from injury.

The Dodgers, suffering from wind-burn, are still in first place, but the sting felt after Tuesday’s 12-5 loss to the San Francisco Giants is obviously not soothing.

The Dodger bullpen, called in to relieve Orel Hershiser after five innings, gave up seven runs in the seventh inning, turning a two-run deficit into an insurmountable one. The strong wind at Candlestick Park didn’t help, but both teams played on the same field, as Raul Mondesi can attest.

“It’s hard because you don’t know where the ball is going--sometimes it goes in, sometimes it goes out,” Mondesi said. “Their guy, (center fielder Darren Lewis), he’s good.”

The loss, which came before 55,771, was the Dodgers’ ninth in 12 games and cut their lead in the National League West to one game over Colorado and 1 1/2 games over the Giants with one game remaining in the series. The Dodgers won the first game Monday night, 10-5.

“I think you (the media) make more of (today’s game) than we do, “ said Brett Butler, who played for the Giants for three seasons.

“We will go home in first place, we got them (Monday) night, they got us (Tuesday), we have to go out and get them (tonight). Did anybody expect anything different than this?”

Only two balls went out of the park Tuesday, Matt Williams’ major league-leading 38th, a two-run shot in the fifth inning that put the Giants ahead, 5-0, and a three-run homer by Mike Piazza in the seventh that made the score 5-3. But in the bottom of the seventh, after Rudy Seanez had pitched a perfect sixth inning, Jim Gott and Roger McDowell combined to give up seven runs on five hits, including a popup behind first base that fell between three fielders, loading the bases.

“Nobody called for it, because we didn’t know where it was going,” Mondesi said.

If the ball had been caught for the second out it would have changed the inning for Gott, whose earned-run average soared to 6.09. But entering the game with two out, McDowell couldn’t stop the Giants either, giving up six runs. He gave up four hits, including a two-run single to pinch-hitter Dave Martinez and a two-run single to center by Jeff Reed. Pinch-hitter Mark Leonard hit a run-scoring triple to right field that went over Mondesi’s head to the wall as he skidded on the warning track.

“It hurt,” Mondesi said, looking at his hands.

What has hurt the Dodgers more is their pitching, with the bullpen soaring to a 6.46 ERA over the last 12 games, and the starters’ ERA at 6.52 during that stretch.

“We have to do better there--there is no question about it,” Fred Claire, Dodger executive vice president, said when asked about the bullpen.

Hershiser (5-5) hadn’t started a game since July 8. Before his last scheduled start, July 16, he suffered a strained muscle in his left side and had been sidelined since. He said he felt fine Tuesday, but gave up five runs, three earned, and six hits before departing after five innings.

Todd Benzinger, who had a .444 career average against Hershiser before the game, drove in the Giants’ first run in the second inning, when he tripled to right field and drove in Darryl Strawberry, who had singled.

But why Manager Tom Lasorda didn’t order Benzinger walked intentionally during the next inning was puzzling. The next batter, Royce Clayton, has a career batting average of .080 against Hershiser. With two out and runners on second and third--with the help of an error by Tim Wallach, a wild pitch by Hershiser and Williams’ first stolen base of the season--first base was open.

Benzinger said Hershiser threw him five consecutive curveballs, but he took advantage of the fifth one, getting a two-run single into center field to put the Giants ahead, 3-0. Manager Dusty Baker called Lasorda’s decision a turning point.

“Did it work for (Baker) last night when he walked Mondesi?” Lasorda snapped in response. “We just tried to pitch around him, but he (Hershiser) made a bad pitch and didn’t get the ball where he wanted.”

Against Giant starter William VanLandingham (6-1) and three relievers, the Dodgers stranded 10 runners, seven in scoring position. They scored twice in the ninth inning, and Piazza had four RBIs, giving him 85, but the deficit was too large.

“You can’t say, ‘What if?’ ” Eric Karros said. “It’s the way that things end up.”