Dodgers Seek Answers, but Get Nothing : Baseball: Astacio, hitting, fielding, baserunning--it all goes wrong against the Cardinals, 7-0.

Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda instructed the security guard Tuesday night to keep reporters out of the clubhouse.

He was going to have a team meeting.

Oh, and by the way, he told the guard, don’t permit reporters within 30 feet of the clubhouse doors.

There was going to be some yelling, and not even double-steel doors could silence what he was about to say.

The Dodgers, playing one of their worst games of the season, were shut out again Tuesday, 7-0, by the St. Louis Cardinals in front of a paid crowd of 22,876 at Busch Stadium.

The Dodgers have been shut out a major league-leading seven times, including four times in the last 11 games. No other team in baseball has been shut out five times.

Most painful was that they were shut out by Mark Petkovsek, 29. This is a guy who has bounced around the last nine years in the minor leagues, and until a month ago was pitching for triple-A Louisville. He somehow still managed to shut out the Dodgers, allowing only one baserunner to reach third.

“I don’t want to take anything away from him,” Dodger second baseman Delino DeShields said, “but he’s not good enough to shut us out. I don’t think any pitcher in the league is good enough to shut us out.

“But it keeps happening.”

What made Lasorda lose his appetite wasn’t so much that they were shut out by Petkovsek, or even starter Pedro Astacio’s latest dismal performance that could cost him his starting job, but their inept play.

“When we lose, we really lose,” center fielder Roberto Kelly said. “And when we don’t hit, we really don’t hit.

“We did everything possible to lose the game.”

Shortstop Jose Offerman played the leading role in the Dodgers’ night of horrors. He dropped a ball from DeShields for one error, had a mix-up with DeShields that resulted in two runs, got thrown out trying to advance to second on a fly ball, and didn’t run out a popup in his final at-bat.

Offerman and first baseman Eric Karros nearly got into a fight during the game and had to be separated. Karros refused comment when asked about the argument and Offerman was unavailable.

Left fielder Billy Ashley misplayed a fly ball for a double and struck out twice. Raul Mondesi got doubled up running from first to third on a bouncer to the mound. DeShields was late covering second base on the mix-up with Offerman, allowing an infield single to Petkovsek. And third baseman Tim Wallach failed to hit the ball out of the infield for the second consecutive game, and the third time in his last four games.

“I was not happy with the performance,” Lasorda said, before focusing much of his frustration on Astacio’s woes.

Astacio (1-6, 4.82 earned-run average) has now lost five consecutive starts, yielding a 7.11 ERA and 43 baserunners in only 25 1/3 innings. He lasted only 4 1/3 innings Tuesday, yielding seven hits and four earned runs. He’s the only pitcher in the starting rotation who has failed to pitch into the seventh inning in the Dodgers’ last 19 games.

“I think he’s a little confused,” said Ramon Martinez, Astacio’s closest friend. “There’s too much pressure on him. All of the talk of putting him in the bullpen is really starting to bother him.”

Astacio, who has won only once in his last 20 starts, now must wait Lasorda’s decision whether he will start Sunday against the San Francisco Giants. Lasorda said he’s inclined to stick with Astacio at least one more start, but he also now has an option with Willie Banks.

Banks, acquired Monday from the Chicago Cubs, has not pitched in a game in two weeks. Yet, he concedes that he’s much more comfortable in the rotation than the bullpen.

“I could start tomorrow if they wanted,” Banks said. “I don’t want to rush anything, but I’d love to start.”