Rare Homer Gets Gonzalez Rare Welcome : Dodgers: His game-winner in 14th inning atones for being picked off as a pinch-runner and brings 3-2 victory over the Mets.

The way Jose Gonzalez figures it, the best part of his Saturday wasn’t the 14th-inning home run or the Dodger victory.

It was the home-plate hug from Tom Lasorda.

“I felt funny. I think that was the first time that has happened to me,” Gonzalez said of the embrace from the Dodger manager after Gonzalez ended a 4 1/2-hour marathon with a home run to beat the New York Mets, 3-2.

There is not much chance for Lasorda to hug players who don’t play. Gonzalez, who has not started since June 9, has played in only 39 of the 72 games since then.

There is also not much chance for Lasorda to hug players who get picked off first base in the ninth inning of a tie game. That embarrassing moment happened to Gonzalez after he entered the game as a pinch-runner.

“How much worse can you get than to be picked off like that?” Gonzalez asked.

But it doesn’t get much better than redeeming yourself with a game-winning hit, which Gonzalez discovered by sending a one-out, full-count pitch from Ron Darling over the left-field fence and into the Dodger bullpen, ending the season’s longest game for both teams before 38,269 at Dodger Stadium.

The outfielder, who said he has twice asked to be traded this year, would not trade the moment for anything. Minutes after the game, he already had a black-and-white snapshot of his swing hanging above his locker.

He sighed and added: “It’s been no fun sitting on the bench for three or four months. I’m just glad to get up there and do something.”

The homer ensured the Dodgers would stay tied with the San Francisco Giants in second place in the National League West, 6 1/2 games behind the Cincinnati Reds.

It also kept the players from canceling their plans for a rare free Saturday night at home, which they thought was safe because this game started at 12:22 p.m.

“Do we still have time to go to the movies?” Gonzalez asked.

The Dodgers took a 2-0 lead against Sid Fernandez in the fourth inning but were shut out on four hits in the next nine until Gonzalez’s blast. The Mets had tied the game with a run in the sixth and seventh innings and then were shut out on six hits.

“The way it was going, this was a game we desperately needed,” said Lasorda, who used all of his position players and all available pitchers except for rookie Dave Walsh.

Darling, who made his ninth relief appearance of the season in the 12th inning because the only remaining available Met pitcher was stopper John Franco, retired seven of nine Dodgers until he faced Gonzalez.

“He’ll sleep well tonight,” Darling said. “And I won’t.”

It was Gonzalez’s second homer of the year, the seventh of his three-year career. And he was not trying to hit a homer. He was merely trying to end his frustration.

“When you don’t get any action, then all of a sudden you’re in the game seeing Ron Darling . . . you look for a fastball and just let it go,” Gonzalez said. “That’s all I did, let it go.”

When he reached home plate, most of the team was already in the clubhouse.

“Everybody was quiet after I got picked off, and everybody was quiet after the home run,” Gonzalez said with a smile. “Typical day for me.”

And typical for the Dodgers, who, by playing in their eighth one-run game in nine days, could have won or lost several times before the 14th inning.

--The Mets’ Kevin McReynolds led off the 14th with a single to left against winning pitcher Don Aase. McReynolds stole second, still with none out. But he was stranded there when Tom O’Malley struck out, Todd Hundley flied out and Darling, forced to bat for himself because of a nine-man Mets pitching staff, grounded out.

--The Mets had a chance in the 11th when Howard Johnson and McReynolds singled, putting runners on first and third with one out. But O’Malley fouled to third and Hundley hit a fly ball that Gibson chased down near the warning track.

--The Mets had a chance in the top of the ninth after consecutive one-out singles by McReynolds and O’Malley, but McReynolds tried to take third on O’Malley’s shallow hit to center field and was thrown out by Gibson.

--The Dodgers had a chance in the 12th when Rick Dempsey laid down a surprise one-out bunt for a single and Juan Samuel was hit by a pitch. But Mike Scioscia and Mickey Hatcher struck out.

Dodger Notes

Kal Daniels was removed from the game in the fourth inning because of a lower back strain. Because of the difficulty in diagnosing the severity of back problems, his status is listed as day to day. Daniels is second on the team with 19 home runs and third with 63 runs batted in. Daniels missed eight games in late June because of a strained lower back. The Dodgers lost six of those games.

Even with his game-winning homer, Jose Gonzalez said he doesn’t think he will be a Dodger next season. “I’m the seventh outfielder, and I need a chance to play,” he said, “and I know I can play somewhere.”