Last Shot for L.A.

The Dodgers have faded in the stretch of the National League playoff races, and even a successful sprint to the finish might not help.

Kevin Brown had season-ending elbow surgery Thursday, the club is 3-7 since play resumed after the terrorist attacks and it begins a closing nine-game, 10-day trip tonight against the NL West-leading Arizona Diamondbacks at Bank One Ballpark.

The third-place Dodgers (81-72) are five games behind the Diamondbacks in the division, and six behind the St. Louis Cardinals in the wild-card standings.

Players acknowledge they have a difficult road ahead and they’re working against the clock, but what’s new?

“Let’s face it, with all of our injuries and the other [off-field] stuff that’s happened, we’ve had our backs against the wall all year,” catcher Paul Lo Duca said. “Yeah, it’s going to be tough to try to win this thing with nine games on the road, it’s not something you’d want to do if you had a choice, but we don’t.

“This is the way the schedule is, we accept that, and we’re not going to use this as an excuse. We’ve handled everything that’s been thrown at us this year, and we’re not going to change now.”

The Dodgers had been scheduled to play 10 of their final 13 games at Dodger Stadium, finishing with this series against Arizona, but the terrorist attacks changed that.

After a day off Monday, the Dodgers will play three-game series against the San Diego Padres at Qualcomm Stadium and second-place San Francisco Giants at Pacific Bell Park.

The Dodgers and Diamondbacks split their first 16 meetings, with the Dodgers going 4-3 at Bank One Ballpark.

The Giants, who trail the Diamondbacks by two games, are 10-6 against the Dodgers and won two of three in a series that ended Wednesday.

The fourth-place Padres have given the Dodgers fits, winning nine of 16 and sweeping the teams’ previous series at Dodger Stadium.

“No question, it’s now or never,” second baseman Mark Grudzielanek said. “Every game is always important, but we’re down to the last ones and we can’t afford to make any mistakes.

“We’ve wasted so many chances, there were so many games we should have won earlier in the year, and it’s going to be tough now. We haven’t been eliminated [mathematically], that’s what we have to focus on, but we really need to get it going.”

The Dodgers are batting .254 overall, but only .227 in an 8-10 September.

Shawn Green has continued to deliver this month, leading Dodger regulars with a .323 batting average, six home runs, 14 runs and 14 walks. The right fielder has established a club record with 48 homers, becoming the seventh left-handed batter in the NL to hit that many.

Adrian Beltre is batting .309 with a homer and nine runs batted in, and Lo Duca has a team-high 15 RBIs despite a .220 average.

But Gary Sheffield, second to Green with 34 homers and 88 RBIs, is batting only .210 with a homer and four RBIs--none in his last 12 games.

Eric Karros is batting .250 with a homer and eight RBIs. Grudzielanek is batting .234, Marquis Grissom .175, Tom Goodwin .125 and Alex Cora .118.

The bullpen, which has the league’s second-highest earned-run average this season at 4.69, has been even less effective than usual in September.

Closer Jeff Shaw has two blown saves in three opportunities. Mike Trombley has an 8.44 ERA in five appearances and Luke Prokopec has given up 10 hits and eight runs in 52/3 innings.

Matt Herges has a 1.74 ERA in 10 appearances, but he can only do so much.

“You can’t think about that [their problems] when you’re still in a race,” Grissom said. “All you can do is keep playing and keep battling.”

The Dodgers are 37-35 away from Chavez Ravine, including 10-9 in their previous three trips, and players acknowledge the wild-card berth is no longer within reach.

However, the Dodgers are somewhat optimistic about the division title, saying they have what it takes to finish on a nine-game road streak.

And they might have to sweep each series to have a shot at overtaking two teams with so few games to play.

“We can do this, but we can’t play like we’ve been playing [on the home stand],” Sheffield said. “A lot of times, we don’t do the things you have to do to win. We have the talent, that’s not the problem, but you can’t waste your chances with only a couple of weeks to go in a pennant race.

“Just going on the road isn’t the problem. We’ve been at home, and how have we played? We haven’t played the way we needed to, but we can still win [the division]. The thing we have to understand is that it doesn’t matter whether you’re at home or not, because the crowd doesn’t make you win games. We make that happen with what we do on the field.”

Their on-field situation worsened when Brown further damaged the torn muscle in his right elbow in last Saturday’s 6-5 victory against the Diamondbacks.

Brown had provided a major boost while pitching in pain, and now the Dodgers must move on without him.

“We were fortunate to get Brownie back as long as we had him,” Shaw said. “To come back and pitch with a torn muscle in his elbow ... that guy is just a warrior.

“Brownie gave us everything he had, and we could definitely use him these last nine games. But he can’t go out there right now, so it’s up to us.”

Manager Jim Tracy is hopeful that the Dodgers can overcome losing their ace for the fourth time this season.

“I don’t have words to describe that guy,” Tracy said. ‘I also don’t have words to tell you how much respect I have for him.

“He’s a very special individual, but so are a lot of the men in that room [the clubhouse]. They’ve developed a bond through some of the situations we’ve had to deal with, and they’re not going to give up. Not that group. It won’t happen.”

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Chasing History

Barry Bonds is in pursuit of Mark McGwire’s major league record 70 home runs, set in 1998:

HOME RUNS AFTER 153 GAMES

BARRY BONDS 2001: 67

MARK McGWIRE 1998: 63

Bonds update: Bonds and the Giants did not play Thursday.

Factoid: In 1998, McGwire hit homers 67 and 68 in Cardinals’ 162nd game.