Caught on the Run

The Dodger postseason hopes, it would seem, are fading as fast as an old team photo of the 1988 World Series champions, the last Dodger team to win a playoff game.

You need look no further than the Dodger offense.

For the second game in a row, the Dodger bats wasted a strong pitching performance while making the San Diego Padre pitchers look like the second coming of Cy Young.

The Dodgers (78-67), who have lost four in a row, did not lose any ground in the National League West race, but they lost another day and the opportunity to make up ground with a 3-2 loss to the Padres in front of 28,473 Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium.

“I think the bottom line tonight was simply a lack of offense,” Dodger Manager Jim Tracy said. “Three of our five hits came from the six and seven slots [in the lineup] and only one hit came out of the three, four and five slots.

“When we do something like that, it’s tough to win a ball game. And it’s a shame, too, for the job that Terry Adams did.”

The talk all summer has been of Chan Ho Park being the most pursued free-agent pitcher in the off-season. He could get a contract worth $20 million a season.

But Adams, who also will be a free agent, has quietly made a name for himself since being converted from a reliever to a starter in June.

Against the Padres, Adams (12-7) gave up only two hits in a career high-tying eight innings. The reliever turned starter struck out five and walked two while throwing 99 pitches, 62 for strikes.

After giving up a fourth-inning home run, Adams retired 10 consecutive batters and 13 of the last 14 batters he faced.

The Dodgers grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second inning.

Gary Sheffield led off by drawing a walk before Paul Lo Duca flew out to center.

With two strikes on Eric Karros, the Dodgers played hit-and-run and Karros, not known for going the other way, grounded a ball into the hole left by San Diego second baseman Damian Jackson, who was covering second.

With runners at first and third, Adrian Beltre followed with a hard single to left field, scoring Sheffield.

It was the 50th run batted in for Beltre, who missed all of spring training and the first month-and-a-half of the season after undergoing two abdominal surgeries.

The base hit also extended Beltre’s streak to 17 games, the longest Dodger hitting streak since Mike Piazza and Mike Blowers had 19-game streaks in 1996.

The Padres grabbed the lead in the fourth.

With two out, Adams walked Phil Nevin. Then Adams left a 2-and-1 pitch in Bubba Trammell’s wheelhouse.

Trammell sent it into the left-field pavilion for a two-run home run, his 22nd homer.

The Dodgers threatened in the seventh.

With one out, Karros doubled off the top of the left-center wall. But after Beltre struck out swinging, left-handed batting Alex Cora was summoned back to the dugout and replaced by left-handed pinch hitter Dave Hansen.

Hansen, though, bounced back to the pitcher and the threat and inning were over.

The Padres padded their lead in the ninth off reliever Matt Herges, who had been unavailable the previous game because of a sore chest.

After getting D’Angelo Jimenez to ground out to start the inning, Herges gave up a single to Ray Lankford.

Herges then struck out Nevin before walking Trammell. Left-handed batter Kevin Witt then blooped a single into left field that scored Lankford.

Shawn Green led off the ninth inning with a single and, with Gary Sheffield at the plate, stole second two pitches later.

Sheffield then hit a towering shot to deep center, but a leaping Lankford made the catch against the wall and Green tagged and went to third.

Lo Duca grounded to shortstop to score Green before Karros struck out to end the game.

The Padres (72-73) have won six of eight against the Dodgers at Chavez Ravine this year.