Baseball: After another embarrassing loss to Rockies, L.A. is tied with Padres.

The Dodgers moved into first place two weeks ago, convinced they would pull away and spend the rest of the season looking in their rear-view mirror at the rest of the National League West.

They pulled off the side of the road Friday night, opened their hood, and realized they’ve got problems, wondering how everything could go so wrong so fast.

The Dodgers lost their fourth consecutive game, 13-4, to the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field, and just like that, their lead has vanished.

The Dodgers, losers of seven of their last 10 games, find themselves tied with the San Diego Padres for the division lead and only half a game ahead of the Rockies.

“Of course, it’s embarrassing a little bit,” catcher Mike Piazza said, “but you’ve got to keep things in perspective. These guys are tough at home.

“This team is going to be tested. We’ll see how we respond. We can fold our tents and go quietly, or map some sort of combat.

“Let’s see how we react. I’m curious.”

The Dodgers called a players-only meeting for about 15 minutes before batting practice. They talked about being embarrassed with their play of late. They talked about being too passive. They talked about regaining their confidence.

The next thing they knew, they were trailing, 8-1, by the fourth inning. They managed to cut the lead to 8-4 by scoring three runs in the sixth, aided by three infield singles, but watched the Rockies blow the game open in the eighth on third baseman Vinny Castilla’s three-run homer.

“I don’t know if meetings make a difference,” Dodger reliever Scott Radinsky said, smiling. “A team brawl might be nice.

“We’ve got to put it together some time. There’s not a bunch of quitters on this team.”

Certainly the Dodgers’ confidence has been shaken the last few nights while enduring this Rocky Horror Pitching Show.

In two games at Coors Field, the Dodgers have been outscored, 26-5, outhit, 33-15, and outhomered, 5-1. And this is with the Rockies not batting in the ninth inning. The pitching staff came into town with a major league-leading 3.09 earned-run average, and has watched it rise to 3.33.

This night, Ramon Martinez was the battering ram, yielding a season-high 11 hits, four walks and eight runs in only four innings. He gave up two more runs Friday than he had in his previous five starts combined.

“It’s been tough, we’ve been through a lot of things,” said Martinez (6-2). “But this doesn’t mean the end of the season. There’s a long ways to go. Nobody can say they’ve won this thing all ready.

“Let’s see at the end where everybody will be.”

Once again, the Dodgers were rattled, and this time, interim Manager Bill Russell was ejected in the eighth inning by home-plate umpire Joe West. Russell yelled after Radinsky walked Walt Weiss on four pitches.

“I just wanted to help my pitchers out,” said Russell, who was last ejected during his playing career that ended in 1986. “We thought some of those pitches they called balls were strikes.

“I just went out there and started arguing. Sometimes, you go out there and don’t know what you’re doing. You just get carried away.

“My daughter was there, and she wasn’t sitting that far away. Hopefully, she couldn’t hear what I was saying.”

The Dodgers have played only .500 ball since May 18.

“They came in here last year like it was their ballpark,” said Colorado starter Marvin Freeman (6-4). “They believe they own us. They believe they’re better than us. The only way you can prove them wrong is by proving it on the field.”