Dodgers Not About to Gloat : Baseball: Team in subdued mood after escaping with a 6-5 victory over Astros.

The Dodgers had every reason to act silly Monday night, blasting the clubhouse stereo, bragging about their talent, and telling everyone who would listen they’re the team to beat.

Instead, a peculiar calmness prevailed in the Dodger clubhouse. The stereo stayed silent. No one shouted aloud nor barely raised their voice. And no one talked about their playoff chances, much less boast about running away with the National League West.

The Dodgers, who defeated the Houston Astros, 6-5, in front of a paid crowd of 15,631 at the Astrodome, were as subdued as a kid taking his first algebra test.

“What’s there to be excited about?” said Dodger first baseman Eric Karros, who produced a career-high four hits. “We got a win. That’s OK for tonight, but we still have got a long ways to go, and I think we’re aware of it.”

Despite winning five of their last six games, pushing them above .500 (41-40) for the first time in three weeks, the Dodgers no longer are intoxicated by the euphoria of a winning streak.

They remember making fools of themselves the last time they won six games in a row, telling the world that not only would they win the National League West, but they might be the best team in baseball.

The Dodgers promptly fell flat on their you-know-what, and by the time they staggered to their feet and came to their senses, the Colorado Rockies had a five-game lead.

“Everybody got real excited when we took four [in a row] from San Francisco,” Karros said. “Big deal. We just beat a team at the end of a 14-game road trip and that didn’t have Matt Williams.

“We won a few games right now, but we’re still five games out. There are certain things we have to do to win the division, whether it’s with the guys we have on our team or not. We still have problems.”

Certainly, Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda exemplified one of the primary concerns. He’s so terrified by his bullpen that he permitted starter Ramon Martinez (10-6) to throw a 137-pitch complete-game victory, despite nearly giving it away in the ninth.

Martinez, supported by a 14-hit attack that included rookie second baseman Chad Fonville’s career-high three runs batted in, cruised into the ninth with a 6-2 lead. Martinez had thrown 110 pitches and yielded only four hits--including a mere infield hit since the fourth inning--when he stepped to the mound in the ninth.

But suddenly, he appeared quite tired. He gave up a one-out single to Dave Magadan, another single to Tony Eusebio and a three-run homer to Derrick May.

And still Lasorda refused to call his bullpen.

Orlando Miller made the second out of the inning, but then John Cangelosi singled to center, bringing up pinch-hitter Craig Shipley. Again, Lasorda refused to call upon his bullpen.

Can this be construed as a blatant example of Lasorda’s lack of confidence in his bullpen, particularly since he had already made up his mind to rest closer Todd Worrell for the evening.

“It’s a pretty good indicator, I’d say,” Lasorda said.

Lasorda, who couldn’t bear to watch the final few batters while he hid in the dugout stairwell, finally emerged when Martinez struck out Shipley to end the game. It was Martinez’s first career victory at the Astrodome, and moved him into a tie for the league lead with 10 victories.

“It was going to be my decision, win or lose,” Martinez said. “I wanted to stay in. Even when I gave up that homer, I said, ‘You don’t have to take me out.’

“Now, if I had given up a hit to Shipley, well, it might have been a different story.”

Would it have been Martinez’s last batter?

“I’m not telling,” Lasorda said.

Meanwhile, Lasorda refuted any ideas that Fonville will remain the starting second baseman when Delino DeShields says he’s healthy. Fonville, remember, never has played higher than Class-A ball until this season. DeShields, who’s earning $3 million, is hitting just .235 in his sixth major league season.

“DeShields is hurt right now,” said Lasorda, who kept DeShields on the bench for the fourth consecutive game. “We’re not going to play him when he’s hurt.

“I’ll tell you one thing, we need him. If he says he can play, and he’s not hurt, he’s our second baseman.”

Fonville, hitting .286 when in the starting lineup, says he’ll do everything to persuade Lasorda he’s capable of becoming an everyday second baseman.

“I’m going to bust my butt to show what I can do,” said Fonville, who went back to his high-school batting stance and went two for four. “I have confidence in myself.

“Now that I’m in the major leagues, I can say now that the [San Francisco] Giants made a mistake when they let me go [in the Rule 5 Draft].”

Who knows, maybe in a few weeks the Dodgers again will be able to say they’re legitimate contenders.

“We learned we’re not good enough just to talk a good game,” Karros said. “We’ve got to prove it on the field.

“This team hasn’t accomplished anything yet.”