Dodgers Hand It to Padres : Baseball: Despite injury, Samuel gets tying hit but then can’t handle hot leadoff grounder in the ninth inning.

SAN DIEGO — In explaining how the Dodgers spent their first week of the 1992 season, one need only know how Juan Samuel spent his Sunday afternoon.

During the fifth inning against the San Diego Padres, Samuel rushed to the ballpark after undergoing X-rays on his sore left hand at a local hospital.

During the top of the ninth inning, he taped up his two sore fingers, stepped to home plate, and hit Randy Myers’ first pitch for a two-run pinch single to cap a four-run, tying rally.

During the bottom of the ninth, he unwrapped his fingers, ran to second base . . . and moments later a difficult leadoff grounder by Kurt Stillwell glanced off his glove.

Four batters later Stillwell scored on Gary Sheffield’s single against Roger McDowell to give the Padres a 5-4 victory before 27,623 at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

The Dodgers fell to 2-4, with three consecutive defeats and two consecutive defeats in their opponents’ final at-bat.

They have more errors (seven) than doubles and triples combined (five). They have more wild pitches (three) than victories.

And darned if they aren’t as confused as anybody.

“It’s like, nothing is working out right for us,” Mitch Webster said.

For every bright spot--Ramon Martinez gave up only one unearned run in six innings Sunday--there is a black hole into which victories keep slipping.

Such as Jose Offerman committing his second error in two games, a botched grounder that led to an unearned run during the third inning.

Or Tim Crews wilting for a third consecutive appearance, giving up a three-run homer to Sheffield during the seventh inning on his second pitch of the game.

Sheffield, acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers during spring training, became a local sensation against Dodger pitching during the weekend, with a personal-best five RBIs Sunday and five hits in his last 10 at-bats.

“I was always considered the franchise player, now I’m just one of the guys,” Sheffield said. “I feel good about that. I always wanted to be one of the guys.”

Even when the Dodgers rally, as in the ninth inning against Myers, they don’t rally enough .

“(Last year) we would have gone ahead and gotten that fifth run,” said Webster, whose two-run pinch single provided the Dodgers with the other runs in that inning.

Darryl Strawberry had started the uprising with a single, then Eric Davis reached on a fielding error by third baseman Sheffield, bringing in Myers to relieve Greg Harris.

After pinch-hitter Mike Sharperson walked, Webster hit the first pitch to center field for two runs. Then Offerman singled, loading the bases again.

After strikeouts by Eric Karros and Butler, Samuel tied the score even though he had two hits in his previous 17 at-bats and his hand was still sore even though X-rays showed no damage.

He had been quietly bothered by the hand since he was hit by a pitch from the New York Mets’ Anthony Young during the last week of spring training.

“They ask me if I could hit and, shoot yeah, I wanted to hit,” Samuel said. “But the hand, it hurts. We still don’t know what is wrong.”

After Todd Benzinger stranded two runners with a grounder, there was the small matter of asking Samuel to field, even though he had been in the dugout all day.

He dutifully ran to his position, and was immediately faced with a grounder to his left. His glove touched the ball, but he could not control it.

“It was not a routine play,” McDowell said. “If Sammy comes up with that and throws him out, it would have been a great play.”

Said Samuel: “My hand has been particularly bothering me on grounders . . . but that play would have been tough no matter what.”

Stillwell was bunted to second by pinch-hitter Thomas Howard, then one out later scored on Sheffield’s drive.

McDowell knew he would get more work since Jay Howell is on the disabled list and the Dodgers are carrying just five relievers, and he has appeared in four games in six days.

Already he has two losses, one fewer than he had for the Dodgers in two months last season. “Our middle relief has been struggling, absolutely,” Manager Tom Lasorda said. “Just like our end relief.”

Another problem area is the continued fundamental lapses by Offerman. Besides his third-inning error, he was picked off second base during the third inning and nearly ended the ninth-inning rally by failing to slide into third base after Samuel’s single.

Joe Amalfitano, the Dodgers’ third base coach, ended that play face down, head buried in his arms, as if overwhelmed by frustration. He was not alone.