Brooks Gives Dodgers That Something Extra : Baseball: His two-run home run in the 10th leads to a 3-1 victory over the Astros and cuts the Reds’ lead to 3 1/2 games.

It was nearly 11 p.m. here when Hubie Brooks hit a line drive over the left-field fence, but the Dodgers believe Tuesday’s game was won eight hours earlier.

That was when Brooks, despite the aches in his knees and wrist, took early batting practice in an empty Astrodome.

“It’s more important for me to win (a division title) than anything I’ve ever done, because it’s the only thing I’ve never done,” said Brooks, whose 10th-inning, two-run homer gave the Dodgers a 3-1 victory over the Houston Astros before 7,093.

With one long swing at a 1-and-0 sinker from Juan Agosto, Brooks helped move the Dodgers to within 3 1/2 games of the National League West-leading Cincinnati Reds, who lost to Atlanta, 10-0. The Dodgers have seven games remaining, and the Reds have eight left, all at home.

It was the Dodgers’ second consecutive extra-inning victory at the home of a team that is tied for second in the league in home victories with 45.

“Don’t forget the ’64 Phillies, don’t forget the ’64 Phillies,” shouted catcher Mike Scioscia in the clubhouse, referring baseball’s fabled losers who blew a 6 1/2-game lead to the St. Louis Cardinals with 12 games remaining.

“The Reds are limping home,” Scioscia said. “Right now, we are the best team in our division.”

They are among the most motivated, beginning with Brooks, who had not hit a home run since Sept. 9, and entered the day with only four hits in his last 16 at-bats.

This is why he showed up early to get in a few extra swings even though his knees are so sore he wrapped them in ice after Tuesday’s game.

“It all goes back to the philosophy of Tommy (Lasorda),” said coach Mark Cresse, who pitched to Brooks. “We aren’t smarter than anybody else, we just work harder.”

Said Brooks: “I’ve been struggling lately, I just wanted to come out and get myself together. If I think I need the extra hitting, I’ll be there for it.”

The Dodgers got the extra hitting they needed from Brooks in the 10th inning, after they had come back from a 1-0 deficit in the eighth with a sacrifice fly by Eddie Murray that scored Kirk Gibson.

They had already blown a chance to win it in the ninth when Gibson was picked off first base. They had already used four pitchers, including starter Ramon Martinez and top setup reliever Tim Crews and Jim Gott.

When Murray drew a one-out walk in the 10th, “I didn’t need to hit into any double-play grounder,” Brooks said.

He didn’t, knocking a pitch from Agosto so hard that just beyond home plate, Brooks turned toward the left-field fence to watch it while sidestepping toward first base.

It was his 20th homer, tying a career high and giving the Dodgers three players with 20 homers for the first time in five years, since Greg Brock Pedro Guerrero, Mike Marshall and Greg Brock did it in 1985. Kal Daniels leads the Dodgers with 26 homers and Murray has 25.

It also gave Brooks 89 runs batted in. His next RBI will give the Dodgers three 90-plus RBI men for the first time in 16 years, since Steve Garvey, Jim Wynn and Ron Cey in 1974. Murray has 91 RBIs and Daniels has 90.

But Brooks said those milestones mean nothing compared to a more personal one. In his previous nine major league seasons, with the New York Mets and Montreal Expos, he has never made the playoffs.

“I think about that every year,” Brooks said. “I want to experience that. I want to have a chance at it. It really would be something.

“Anymore, that is the only thing that matters to me.”

Jay Howell threw two scoreless innings, retiring the side in the 10th, to even his record at 5-5. By that time, Martinez, attempting to become the youngest Dodger to win 20 games since Ralph Branca won 21 games at age 21 in 1947, was in street clothes.

Martinez allowed one run and two hits in six innings, with both hits coming in the same inning. He allowed only five other baserunners, on an error, a hit batter and three walks.

But after getting 5.1 runs per game in his first 30 starts, this time the Dodgers did not score for him. And he had the misfortune of making a bad first pitch to former teammate Franklin Stubbs to start the second. Stubbs hit it over the left-field fence for his 21st homer.

Dodger Notes

Alfredo Griffin was a late scratch from the Dodgers’ lineup. He was replaced by Mike Sharperson, making his third start at shortstop this season.

Arthroscopic surgery on Jay Howell’s knee will probably be Oct. 4, the day after the end of the season. Although Howell would not admit it, his injury appeared to affect him Monday when he pitched in the seventh and eighth innings. Of six batters he faced, he gave up two singles with a walk and a hit batter. The Astrodome mound is sloped more than most, and Howell was forced to land harder on his injured knee, causing him to lose his rhythm. “What does it matter? I just stunk,” Howell said.

It appears Mickey Hatcher could return to the Dodgers if he accepts a lesser contract. The Dodgers realize there are few veterans who can fill Hatcher’s role on the field and in the clubhouse. “I have no indication of what is happening,” said Hatcher, whose one-year contract expires this winter. He will be 36 by opening day next season. “The Dodgers have always been great to me, so in that sense I feel good about things, but I wonder if they will offer me a contract even with my lack of playing time, or go with younger guys,” said Hatcher, who leads Dodger pinch-hitters with .302 average in 43 at-bats.