In case you didn't notice, Thursday's sedative factored in the strong possibility of San Francisco winning and even the Dodgers losing. It was designed to work on a 2 1/2-game lead as well as the more mild strain of a 3 1/2-game lead.

As I've written several times in the past, the point of a cushy lead is not to scare you once it shrinks - it's to allow for shrinkage. You don't buy pants with an extra inch in the waist because you want them to flop down your hips. (Okay, some people do that these days, but it's all relative.)

This week isn't the first time the Giants or Padres have cut into a Dodger National League West lead. The fact that the Dodgers still have the lead - and a healthy percentage of it at that - should say something.

Of course, Thursday was a difficult day for Dodger fans, perhaps the most difficult since the losing streak that dropped Los Angeles temporarily out of first place in June. To lose two in a row and four out of five heading into a Hideo Nomo start, knowing that Jeff Weaver's Thursday performance would have easily been good enough for a victory Wednesday, is disheartening.

All I can say is, take Thursday's sedative again. Take two if you must. It doesn't require that the Dodgers be perfect - in Colorado or anywhere else. It doesn't require that the Giants lose all their games - although it expects that now, against the very team that hobbled the Dodgers this week, it will lose some. (Jake Peavy and his 2.26 ERA take on San Francisco tonight.)

You'd like the stress test to end. But just remember that it only needs to end with you alive. Hang in there.