Wetteland, Dodgers Keep Giants’ Party on Ice, 5-2

For more than two hours they were stifled by John Wetteland, beaten around by Mike Scioscia, and upset by the sight of Will Clark and Don Robinson’s wounded knees. But in the top of the ninth inning Monday, the San Francisco Giants pulled off their most unusual emotional comeback all season.

They looked at the scoreboard.

In big, bright letters above the Dodger Stadium left-field stands, this final score appeared: Cincinnati 5, San Diego 3.

So, despite losing to the Dodgers, 5-2, the National League West-leading Giants clinched at least a tie for the division title.

With five games remaining, the Giants will be division champions with one more win or one more Padres loss . . . and most of them don’t care which one comes first.

“We’ve won with so many comebacks, so many amazing things . . . if we happen to cinch this thing back-door style, so what?” third baseman Matt Williams asked. “The important thing is, it’s going to get done.

“There’s no way a team with this intensity is going to lose five straight.”

And on the other side . . .

“The Padres have already won so much lately,” reliever Ernie Camacho said. “They’ve got to lose another one sometime.”

Not that the Giants wouldn’t love to finish it by winning tonight.

“It’s a lot more fun drinking champagne after a win than a loss,” outfielder Pat Sheridan said.

Added infielder Ken Oberkfell: “There’s nothing like celebrating on the field. None of us want to miss that.”

The Dodgers and rookie Wetteland temporarily halted those hopes Monday by taking a 4-1 lead thanks to Scioscia’s homer and two-run single, and then by doing something very unique. When the Giants attempted to come back in the eighth, they stopped them.

For the first time in the last four games between these teams, the Giants found no late-inning miracle.

Pat Sheridan, batting .201, led off the eighth with a homer to right, his third. That sent Wetteland, who had not allowed a hit since Williams’ third-inning homer, to the clubhouse.

In came Alejandro Pena. Pinch-hitter Ken Oberkfell singled to left, and with the top of the Giant order due up, it was happening again.

But Pena got Brett Butler to foul out. Then he struck out pinch-hitter Mike Laga and Will Clark to end the threat.

It was Clark’s third strikeout in four at-bats Monday night, not a good sign considering he was playing his first game since badly bruising his knee in a home-plate collision with Scioscia in San Francisco Thursday.

Clark said the knee “is still swollen,” but that he should be back in the lineup today. The return of Robinson is not so certain.

Starting his first game in 12 days, Robinson lasted just 5 2/3 innings, allowing four runs on eight hits. He was finally removed because of his sore right knee, and may not start again during the regular season.

“Let’s just say he’ll pitch again,” Giant Manager Roger Craig said.

Robinson appeared strong until the fourth innning, allowing just a first-inning single to Mike Davis and Scioscia’s 10th homer with one out in the second.

“None of us want them doing this on our field,” Scioscia said of the potential celebration. “Considering this rivalry, that’s the last thing we want to see is the Giants celebrate on our field.”

Robinson found more trouble with one out in the fourth. Eddie Murray led off with a single. Jeff Hamilton singled up the middle and the runners advanced on Robinson’s wild pitch. Scioscia lined a single up the middle through a drawn-in infield to score two runs. He added a surprise suicide squeeze bunt in the eighth, giving him 44 runs batted in, the most since 1985, when he had a career-best 53.

Robinson retired six of his next seven batters before the Dodgers began their third rally in the sixth. With one out, Hamilton doubled to left. After Scioscia was intentionally walked, Shelby flied to right to move Hamilton to third. He then scored on Lenny Harris’ single, which started the most interesting play of the evening--the Giants’ attempt to change pitchers.

As Wetteland came to the plate after Harris’ single, Craig ran to the mound to speak withRobinson. Three pitches later, with the count 1-and-2, Craig ran to the mound again, calling for a right-hander out of the bullpen.

While an obviously frustrated Robinson stalked around the back of the mound, an obviously confused Bob Knepper ran in from the bullpen. Knepper is a left-hander.

He made it as far as medium right field before Craig, now screaming instead of simply gesturing, made it clear that he wanted a right-hander . Knepper sheepishly returned to the bullpen while right-hander Camacho raced past him to the mound.

There was a conference with Craig. Then several warmup pitches. Then, just as Wetteland stepped back in the batters box, catcher Terry Kennedy ran out for another conference.

With the crowd booing, Camacho ended the festivities by finally throwing one pitch. Wetteland stared at it. Strike three. End of inning.

It was one of Wetteland’s only bad moves of the night. In seven innings, he allowed two runs on seven hits. In his last two outings, he has held the Giants to five runs on 10 hits in 12 2/3 innings. He said he has done it by taking the simple approach.

“I don’t even think about their pennant cinching or any of that,” he said. “That just clutters up my mind, and keeps me from doing what I’ve got to do.”

Before the game, Wetteland was seen sitting alone in front of his locker, strumming his guitar and singing “Stairway to Heaven.” At least now, in winning his first start since Aug. 4, his game appears headed in an upward direction.

Dodger Notes

The man who has managed the Dodger Stadium visiting clubhouse since the stadium opened in 1962 said preparations for the Giants’ division title-cinching party are no big deal. “It’s like driving to the Rose Bowl--you know there’s going to be bad traffic, so you prepare for it,” said Jim Muhe, 63. He said the Dodgers supply the plastic that covers every locker, keeping clothes safe from champagne. Other precautions include moving the postgame buffet into the trainer’s room to ensure that food doesn’t wind up on the ceiling, and increasing security so the postgame visitors won’t walk off with the equipment. Muhe’s last championship party was in 1985, when the visiting St. Louis Cardinals beat the Dodgers to win the National League championship series. . . . The Dodgers held their annual end-of-season meeting before Monday’s game. “We just reminded the guys to take care of the clubhouse guys (with tips), things like that,” said player representative Dave Anderson. The players will have a more important meeting in Atlanta this weekend, where their union leader Donald Fehr will meet with the Dodgers and Braves to discuss preparations for next spring’s possible owner’s lockout or players’ strike.

Tony DeMarco, representative for potential free agent Dodger Fernando Valenzuela, said Monday that while he will not begin negotiations with the Dodgers until after the season, they would still have the first shot at wooing his client. “There are other important teams out there who will be interested in Fernando, but the Dodgers are still first with us,” DeMarco said. “The loyalty they showed Fernando when he was hurt, the way they have treated him professionally, that is very important to us.” DeMarco said he was surprised by the rumors that the New York Yankees are prepared to offer Valenzuela a three-year, $6-million contract. “I’ve heard nothing from them, I don’t think they are supposed to contact us until after he is a free agent,” DeMarco said. “But I am sure there are teams like them who will be interested.”