Things Get a Little Rocky for Lasorda, but Dodgers Survive : Baseball: No lead, even one of 10 runs, is safe in Denver, where L.A. finally wins, 17-11.

Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda, perspiration dripping from his forehead, was pacing back and forth Saturday in the clubhouse. He walked from one side, then to the other, not knowing what to do next.

“Look at me,” Lasorda said. “I still can’t breathe or relax.”

The Dodgers’ game--a 17-11 victory over the Colorado Rockies in front of a sellout crowd of 48,394 at Coors Field--had been over for an hour, but for Lasorda, the imagery remained.

“I feel like (the Rockies) are still up there hitting,” he said, groaning. “I’m going to be seeing those guys in my sleep.”

It was a game for the ages--or at least, one that may become commonplace at Coors Field.

Holding a 14-4 lead in the sixth inning and still being fearful about pulling your starting position players tells you something about the ballpark, the Rockies’ hitters and the Dodger bullpen.

“Every time we came to the bench,” said right fielder Henry Rodriguez, who had a career-high four hits, “we kept saying, ‘Come on, more runs, more runs. We’re going to need them.’

“Even when we had a 10-run lead, you had the feeling we were going to need more.”

Said Dodger starter Tom Candiotti, who was pulled after two innings: “I knew something was different about this place when they were discussing whether or not to go for the two-point conversion--and went for it.

“It wasn’t a fun feeling.”

It was an offensive explosion that sent pitchers screaming into the night. The teams combined for 37 hits (a season-high 21 by the Dodgers), six home runs, three pinch-homers, one pinch-triple, six wild pitches or passed balls and 12 pitchers.

“Three pinch-hit homers and a pinch-hit triple,” said Dodger outfielder Mitch Webster, who hit a two-run pinch-homer in the fourth inning. “I don’t think you’ll ever see that again.”

Said Lasorda: “I’ve been to playoffs, World Series, All-Star games and been through the wars in my 19 years (as manager). But I’ve never seen anything quite like this.”

It has left indelible impressions on the Dodger hitters, and to be honest, they don’t want to leave the place. The Dodgers, who amassed 13 runs and 14 hits in the first four innings Saturday, are batting .375 in their two games at Coors Field.

“Anyone who doesn’t like to hit here is an idiot,” said Dodger first baseman Eric Karros. “This place is like a hitting factory. It’s unbelievable.

“Larry Walker is the luckiest guy in baseball. He signs a contract like he did (four years, $22 million), plays in front of 50,000 fans a game and gets to hit in this stadium.

“If somebody’s going to hit .400, they’re going to do it here.”

The heart of the Dodger lineup--Raul Mondesi, Mike Piazza and Karros--looked like murderers’ row Saturday. Karros went three for five with three runs batted in, raising his batting average to .477. Piazza went three for six with a 430-foot homer and is batting .481. And Mondesi, who had one hit, still is batting .395.

“I never thought I’d see the day where a guy (Mondesi) would be intentionally walked ahead of Piazza,” Karros said. “And now you’ve seen it twice in two days. It’s not a case of who’s hot, but who’s hottest.”

Considering the ballpark, the mile-high air, the two teams’ potent offenses and suspect pitching, you tend to get some, well, rather weird games.

It started in the first inning when the Dodgers scored four runs, all with two out. The Rockies countered with four runs, also all with two out.

Candiotti opened the second inning by hitting a sharp liner into right field and being thrown out at first base by Walker.

“If I ever got thrown out at first base,” Lasorda said, “I would have hung myself.”

Said Candiotti, who didn’t consider such drastic measures: “That wasn’t a fun feeling. I saw him playing shallow and charging the ball, and then I just said, ‘Oh my God.’ ”

No matter, it still triggered a big inning. The Dodgers scored three runs in the second, all with two out.

The Rockies were shut out the next four innings, but Candiotti wasn’t around to see it. Lasorda said that he sensed Candiotti’s knuckleball wasn’t knuckling. Candiotti disagreed, but after two innings, reliever Todd Williams was pitching.

“Personally, I pretty much thought it (stank),” Candiotti said, “but from the team standpoint, it worked quite well.”

It gave the Dodgers the opportunity to open up a 14-4 lead by the sixth inning. But after Colorado hit three homers in the seventh inning--by Dante Bichette, Roberto Mejia and pinch-hitter Mike Kingery in the seventh--and four in a span of nine at-bats, including John Vander Wal’s three-run shot in the sixth, the lead was cut to 14-11.

“I knew something was wrong because even when we had that lead, they weren’t panicking at all,” Webster said. “I don’t know if they accepted they were going to get beat or knew they were going to come back.”

The Dodgers (6-4), though, finally were able to shut down the Rockies and iced the game with three runs in the ninth inning. Rudy Seanez and Todd Worrell pitched the final 2 1/3 scoreless innings, preserving Williams’ first victory.

“When you score 14 runs and still aren’t comfortable, it tells you about this place,” Karros said.