Timing Is Right for Samuel : Baseball: Before Strawberry’s strikeout, he singles in winning runs in 3-1 victory over former Met teammates.

He was cast out of New York, denigrated as overrated and a failure in the field.

He came back to haunt the Mets Wednesday, driving in the game-winning runs in a 3-1 Dodger victory.

No, it wasn’t Darryl Strawberry. It was former Met Juan Samuel who continued to knock in the big runs for the Dodgers, helping make Ramon Martinez the National League’s first five-game winner. The Dodgers ended their seven-game trip on an successful note.

Strawberry was again the center of attention for the 40,924 at Shea Stadium. He ended Tuesday’s 6-5 loss by grounding out with the tying run on base, and the game again appeared to be coming his way in the eighth inning Wednesday, when the Dodgers put runners on first and third in a 1-1 tie. The crowd began buzzing when Strawberry came on deck.

But Samuel, batting just ahead of Strawberry, slapped a single through a drawn-in infield to drive in two runners.

Strawberry then struck out for the third time in his four at-bats.

Samuel’s hit made a loser of Doug Simons (1-2), who had relieved starter David Cone that inning. Cone had given up only a fourth-inning run when Samuel walked, stole second and scored on Eddie Murray’s single.

Martinez (5-1), who was pinch-hit for in the eighth inning, was showering when the winning runs scored. Jay Howell pitched the last two innings for his third save.

“A clubhouse guy tells me we got two guys on, I think ‘I got a chance to win,’ ” Martinez said.

It was his first victory over the Mets, the only National League team he hadn’t beaten, and it continued his string of impressive starts. He won two of the three Dodger victories on this trip and has claimed three of their last four.

Martinez, who allowed only an unearned run in the first inning and four hits, lowered his earned-run average to 1.60. In his last four games--all victories--he has given up one earned run (an 0.26 ERA) and 18 hits in 34 innings.

Last year he was 0-1 in two starts against the Mets and was knocked out in the second inning at Shea. He remembered.

“This was a great game, very exciting,” he said with a grin. “The other time I didn’t have a very good game. Today I didn’t have a very good fastball, but my curveball and changeup kept me in the game.”

Samuel, who suffered through a strikeout-plagued season after being traded from the Mets last year, increased his team lead in runs batted in to 22 and also stole a base.

“Samuel’s been playing great,” Martinez said. “He’s hitting the ball very well. He doesn’t strike out a lot like he did last year. (With him hitting) we have a very good team. Maybe we can go to the World Series.”

The other catalyst Wednesday was Alfredo Griffin, who started the eighth-inning rally by hustling a bloop to center into a leadoff double. With Stan Javier sacrificing, Griffin beat the throw to third. Javier stole second and both scored on Samuel’s single.

Griffin also had several key hits in the Dodgers’ last victory, Sunday at Philadelphia. The veteran shortstop, who is thought to be buying time while Jose Offerman ripens in the minors, said his clutch hitting this week “makes me feel part of the team.”

He added, “You know, we got good team speed. We’re not hitting the ball the way we’re supposed to, but if we start then everything will fall into place.”

The Dodgers improved to 9-7 on the road and return home having survived their tumultuous trip here.

“This should be a good home stand for us,” Griffin said. “We should get rolling.”