Downer for Dodgers

And down the stretch they ... crawl? The Dodgers have 13 games left in the regular season, including a critical four-game series against the San Francisco Giants beginning tonight in Dodger Stadium, but they are staggering--not steaming--toward the finish line.

The Dodgers lost to Colorado, 5-4, before 26,011 in Coors Field Sunday, their seventh loss in nine games and third in four games this weekend against the Rockies, a 69-81 team that the Dodgers had handled rather easily this season, going 10-3 against them in 13 games before this series.

They caught a huge break when the Giants lost to the San Diego Padres, 4-1, later Sunday, leaving the Dodgers only one game behind San Francisco in the National League wild-card race, but they won’t carry any momentum into tonight’s showdown series against their rivals.

“Absolutely, no question,” second baseman Mark Grudzielanek said, when asked if the Dodgers wasted a great opportunity in Denver. “We probably expected to come here and win ... and it was a pathetic performance. We went through the motions a bit and didn’t take advantage of the opportunities we had.”

Right-hander Andy Ashby gave up a two-run home run to Brent Butler in the second inning and a three-run homer to Todd Zeile in the fifth, a 4 1/3-inning, seven-hit performance Ashby described as “embarrassing, an absolute joke,” and the Dodgers failed to capitalize on a forearm injury that sidelined Colorado starter Denny Neagle in the third.

Eric Karros grounded out with the bases loaded to end the third, pinch-hitters Dave Hansen and Tyler Houston failed to deliver with two on in the sixth despite working 3-and-1 counts against reliever Todd Jones--Hansen struck out and Houston tapped weakly to second--and Adrian Beltre flied to the wall in center with runners on first and second to end the seventh.

The Dodgers had one last shot, with leading hitter Shawn Green at the plate, the bases empty and two outs in the ninth, but Green flied to the wall in center against Rockies closer Jose Jimenez, who recorded his 40th save.

Manager Jim Tracy chose to accentuate the positive, saying the Dodgers “didn’t do anything to beat themselves,” but the feeling among some players was that they didn’t do enough to beat the Rockies. They made several critical pitching, fielding and baserunning mistakes in Friday night’s 5-4 loss, and they didn’t come up with enough clutch hits Sunday.

“You can’t keep losing games like this to a team that’s playing for practically nothing; we’ve got to rise above that,” Grudzielanek said. “We have to take advantage of every inning, every pitch, every opportunity, because this is it. This is our season. We’ve got to do everything possible to win games.”

If the Dodgers lacked a sense of urgency in Denver, they know they’ll have to find it in Los Angeles tonight.

“These are the teams you worry about, the guys who play the spoiler role, and they set us back,” left fielder Brian Jordan said. “Now the pressure is on. We’ve got to play each game against San Francisco as if it’s our last game of the season.”

The Dodgers got off to a good start Sunday when Paul Lo Duca hit a solo homer in the first, but after center fielder Marquis Grissom lost Zeile’s second-inning fly in the sun and the ball dropped for a double, Butler homered off Ashby.

Ashby walked Todd Helton in the fifth, gave up a single to Larry Walker and grooved a 3-and-1 pitch to Zeile, who hit a line drive over the wall in right for a 5-1 lead. The Dodgers crept back with two in the sixth, as Green singled, Karros doubled and Beltre and Grudzielanek hit RBI singles, and Grissom homered in the seventh.

But by then, too much damage had been done. Ashby, who missed his last start because of a blister on the middle finger of his pitching hand, has been rocked for 17 runs, 26 hits and 14 walks in 18 1/3 innings of his last four starts, three losses and a no-decision.

“I felt fine; I was just inconsistent and couldn’t throw strikes,” Ashby (9-12) said. “That’s pretty much the way it’s been all year. You can’t pitch like that. It’s only a matter of time until it catches up to you.”

Could it be a matter of time before Tracy replaces Ashby with Kevin Beirne in the rotation? Ashby is scheduled to start Friday night against the Padres, and the Dodgers can’t afford any more shaky starts.

“The question is well-taken,” Tracy said, when asked if he’s considering a switch. “But what are the choices?”