Rest Is Best for Scioscia : Dodgers: Catcher doesn’t like it, but his performance in 4-2 victory over Reds shows value of days off.

As Mike Scioscia proved again Wednesday night, there is a reason Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda endures his starting catcher’s occasional shouting and slamming of doors.

The trouble Scioscia causes when he is benched is nothing compared to the damage he does the next time he plays.

Working on two days’ rest, an irritated but fresh Scioscia worked over the Cincinnati Reds with two doubles, two singles and two runs batted in. He combined with Fernando Valenzuela, who pitched his first complete game since his no-hitter June 29, to lead the Dodgers to a 4-2 victory before 30,700 at Riverfront Stadium.

Scioscia has been rested 21 times this season, including Tuesday night’s 1-0 loss. In his starts after those days off, he has 24 hits in 75 at-bats for a .320 average with three homers and 12 RBIs.

“Don’t print that statistic,” Scioscia said, seriously, after his fourth-inning RBI single proved to be the game-winner. “They read that, they will want to start benching me all the time.”

That is not likely. Scioscia is on a pace to reach career highs with 10 home runs and 49 RBIs with a .272 average that would rank as his best since 1985.

The Dodgers are on a pace to drive their fans crazy. The victory moves them to within eight games of first-place Cincinnati in the National League West after appearing on the verge of elimination in Tuesday’s heartbreaking loss.

“A loss like that felt like running over a cat,” said Lenny Harris, who dirtied his uniform with several fine plays at third base. “Usually a loss like that would have knocked a team out . . . and if we had lost today, I think we might have been out. But look, we’re right back in there.”

Today’s finale will match the league’s top two young pitchers, the Dodgers’ Ramon Martinez and the Reds’ Jack Armstrong.

If it doesn’t also feature Scioscia in the starting lineup, you’ll hear about it.

“Sure I’ve gotten upset by not being in the lineup--probably more than once that’s happened,” Scioscia said. “I know as a catcher you need days off, but it’s hard to sit and take them. . . . I’m never happy on the bench, I never will be.”

Scioscia admitted that an occasional rest feels good. But not that good.

“I’m still sore after two days off,” he said, shrugging. “Maybe mentally I feel better. I feel a little fresher, but my impact on this team is with defense and helping the pitchers, and I can stay fresh a long time defensively.”

By playing in 94 games, more than all but two other catchers in the National League, Scioscia has become one of the Dodger symbols of stability in a season marked by the wild fluctuations found in Wednesday night’s game.

The Dodgers fell behind, 2-0, in the first inning when Alfredo Griffin, in the worst slumps of his career, made an error and Chris Sabo then hit a two-run home run.

The Dodgers tied it in the second inning on Scioscia’s RBI single and a double-play grounder by Juan Samuel.

Griffin threw Barry Larkin’s grounder into the Reds’ dugout to begin the third inning, and only some smart pitching by Valenzuela extracted him from a jam in which Larkin was stranded on third by a foul out by Eric Davis.

After the inning Lasorda found Griffin in the clubhouse, ushered him into the manager’s office and closed the door.

“I told him to get back out there and tell every batter that you want the next ball hit to you,” Lasorda said.

Said Griffin: “Maybe next time I will try to throw it in the stands on purpose, and maybe then the ball will go to first base.”

The Dodgers took the lead in the fourth inning on Scioscia’s line drive to right field after Eddie Murray tripled off the left-field wall. It would have been a single or double, but Davis did not back up the play from center field.

In what was a terrible night for the $9.3-million player, Davis also failed to run on his bloop hit to right field in the first inning because he thought the ball would be foul. A possible double became a single, and Davis was booed the rest of the evening.

“I’m trying to get a grip on this magical thing. It’s something I have to deal with,” Davis said of season-long slump that has lowered his average to .226. “Frustration ain’t going to help me.”

In the meantime, Valenzuela was giving up five hits and no runs after that first inning in improving his record to 9-9 while lowering his earned-run average to 3.75.

Dodger Notes

Jay Howell said he will be available tonight for the first time in a week after testing his swollen left knee by throwing for 10 minutes after the game. “It felt good. The swelling is down to about the size of an egg. I’m ready to go,” said the Dodger reliever. . . . A good running session by Juan Samuel before the game persuaded the Dodgers to place him in the starting lineup for the first time in a week. He still appeared to favor his sprained left ankle in the field but ran hard down the first-base line.

Lenny Harris’ good defense at third base included a diving stop of Billy Hatcher’s line drive in the fifth inning and a sliding stop of a grounder by Joe Oliver in the seventh inning. Harris was pleased to perform well here because, when he was traded from Cincinnati last year, critics said his weakness was defense. “It meant a lot to me tonight because they were always talking about my defense here, and I showed them that their talk would not stop me,” Harris said. “Only I know what I can and can’t do.”

The Dodgers will move either Tim Crews or Mike Hartley into the rotation for next week’s series in New York, which features four games in three days. . . . Joe Amalfitano returned to the third-base coaching box after receiving 22 stitches for a cut behind his ear, which he suffered in a bathtub fall.