Dodgers Falling From Grace, 7-1 : Baseball: Wallach finally returns, but Cubs hand L.A. fifth loss in a row and seventh out of eight.

Dodger third baseman Tim Wallach has been busily scanning the radio dial each night, tuning in the Dodgers’ postgame show and listening to the latest agonizing results.

Wallach wasn’t sure what was more painful, the herniated disk in his lower back or being on the disabled list and helpless to do anything about the Dodgers’ losing streak.

Wallach played his first game of the season Saturday night, and he realized the feeling hasn’t changed a bit. He still felt helpless in stopping this out-of-control streak.

The Dodgers lost their fifth consecutive game Saturday night, 7-1, to the Chicago Cubs, continuing a desperate search for consistency from their offense, pitching or defense.

The Dodgers, falling three games below .500 at 10-13 for the first time, have lost seven of their last eight games, plummeting to last place. The Dodgers haven’t had a longer losing streak since losing seven in a row in 1993.

Their only saving grace is that they belong to the National League West, emerging as the weakest division in baseball, and allowing them to remain only three games out of first place.

Yet, it doesn’t diminish the pain of knowing they’ve squandered this home stand. They’ve lost seven of nine games to three teams--St. Louis, Pittsburgh and the Cubs--that aren’t even supposed to be contenders in the NL Central.

During this eight-game rut, the Dodgers have scored in only 15 of 73 innings. Their lone victory occurred when Ramon Martinez and two relievers combined for a one-hitter against the Pirates, but otherwise, the staff has yielded seven homers and a 4.43 earned-run average. And the defense has committed seven errors, although only three in the last six games.

“We’re going through a storm right now, a bad one,” Manager Tom Lasorda said. “We’ve got to get the ship straightened out, and we will.

“But it’s hard when you get six, seven runs behind each night.”

The Dodgers were out of this game before most of the paid crowd of 34,059 at Dodger Stadium even reached the seats, trailing 5-0 after 2 1/2 innings. The rest of the game was only a formality, watching the Cubs (14-7) climb to seven games above .500 for the first time since winning their division in 1989.

Martinez, responsible for four of the Dodgers’ five victories by their starting rotation, yielded as many runs in the first inning (three) as he had in an entire game this year. In fact, Martinez, who yielded nine hits and seven earned runs, gave up as many runs Saturday as he had in his five previous starts.

The Dodgers had a feeling it might be one of those nights for Martinez at the outset when he got ahead of Brian McRae, but then hit him with a 1-and-2 pitch. Martinez struggled with his control all night, throwing only 59 strikes out of 106 pitches.

The Cubs, scoring three runs in the first on nothing more damaging than three singles, broke it open in the third on Mark Grace’s two-run homer. The Dodgers never came close to threatening Cub starter Jim Bullinger (3-0), who yielded only six hits and one run in eight innings.

“Right now,” Martinez said, “we’re struggling with the hitting. We’re just not getting much hitting.”

Said one National League scout: “I think the Dodgers will be all right once [Mike] Piazza comes back, but right now, they’re just not the same team. It’s amazing to see the difference without him in the lineup.”

The Dodgers will be without Piazza (torn thumb ligament) for at least another week, but they’re at least getting closer to having their everyday lineup with the return of Wallach.

“It’s been the most frustrating month I’ve ever had,” said Wallach, who went 0 for 4. “It’s so much tougher not playing because you can’t control what’s going on.

“The thing in my back is still there. It’s not like it’s gone. The only thing it will affect is my running, but I’ll be fine.”