Phillies a Pain for Dodgers : Baseball: After Hershiser leaves before game because of a sore muscle, Philadelphia rolls to a 10-6 victory.

PHILADELPHIA — He took the mound as usual and began his warmup routine. But when Orel Hershiser walked off the mound before the game started Saturday night, it was merely a harbinger of a night that was to be anything but routine.

Hershiser, complaining of a cramp in his side, made the earliest exit possible in baseball, and replacement Ramon Martinez, who could have complained but didn’t, made one of the earliest exits of his career, lasting only 4 1/3 innings in a 10-6 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies at Veterans Stadium.

“Who knows where these things come from?” said Hershiser, who has a strained left rib cage muscle that he said might sideline him from two days to two weeks.

Victories by the Colorado Rockies and the San Francisco Giants reduced the Dodgers’ lead in the National League West to three games and 5 1/2, respectively.

“In the first half we lost a lot of games and the Giants did also, but now we have to win,” said Martinez (8-6). “Those guys look like they are back.”

The Phillies scored four unearned runs by the third inning with the help of two errors by Eric Karros, who said afterward it felt like he had made six. After the Phillies’ five-run third inning, which included two home runs and two unearned runs because of Karros’ error, the Dodgers trailed by 6-2.

“Tonight I was miserable and I probably, no, I did cost us the game tonight,” Karros said.

At one point later in the game, Karros fielded a routine grounder and made the out at first, and the crowd of 46,479 erupted in mock applause. “It was nice,” Karros deadpanned. “How many errors did I make?

Hershiser said he has never had a strain in his rib cage before, but he spent time during the game listening to his teammates talk about their experiences, which included the disabled list.

Pedro Astacio will pitch today in the final game of the series. Friday’s doubleheader complicates the rotation for the upcoming series against the New York Mets. Options include a start by Ismael Valdes, who was a starter before being promoted to the Dodgers, and/or a call-up of Chan Ho Park, who Executive Vice President Fred Claire says is doing well. Tom Candiotti can pitch on three days’ rest and could be ready to go Tuesday. But the scenarios are premature until Hershiser sees how he feels today.

“I was warming up in the bullpen and it was the last pitch before the national anthem when I felt a cramp in my side,” Hershiser said. “Every pitch from that point I felt a tightness or a twinge, so I cut my warmups short and came into the training room during the first inning and it started to feel good. I went out to the mound to throw my warmup pitches, but every time I tried to increase the velocity the pain followed. I decided it would not be a good idea not to push it. I felt it could be very severe.”

Martinez usually runs 45 minutes a day and follows that with an exercise program, except on the days he pitches. He did his normal routine Saturday, except he cut his running to 20 minutes because of the heat.

“I was just finishing my exercises when I saw Orel walking in, and I thought he was there to change his jersey,” Martinez said. “(Pitching coach Ron Perranoski) followed him in and told me Orel got hurt and be ready just in case. . . . There was no time to prepare, so I went and put on my spikes and took the ball. It was tough, but I don’t feel sorry for anything that happened. . . . I don’t think I did that bad.”

The Dodgers scored three runs in the fifth to pull to 6-5. There were a single by Martinez, who had two hits in the game, a single by Mike Piazza, who went three for five, and a two-run homer by Tim Wallach, his first since June 29. But the Phillies added three more in the bottom of the inning, knocking out Martinez, who might have wished he had never been there to start with. Karros certainly does.

“I have been playing well defensively, and tonight, for whatever reason, I did not make the plays,” Karros said.