Ojeda Thrives on Blue-Collar Chores, 7-0 : Dodgers: He stops the Expos on five hits as L.A.’s winning streak reaches five games. Its pitchers have 32-inning scoreless string.

Bob Ojeda, the Dodgers’ working-class pitcher who is not afraid to smoke in front of cameras, run bases without a jacket or accuse his former wife of placing a curse on him, did his favorite thing Saturday night.

He sweated.

Throughout the Dodgers’ game with the Montreal Expos, he was forced to sweat. When on the mound, he was surrounded by baserunners. When at the plate, he was surrounded by baserunners.

For nine innings he grunted, grimaced and got dirty. The result was one of the best Dodgers pitching performances of the season, a 7-0 victory before 45,658 at Dodger Stadium.

“What the heck, nothing has ever come easy for me,” Ojeda said with a shrug. “To keep your head above water, that’s the trick.”

Ojeda, who threw his first shutout since Aug. 9, 1989, helped the Dodgers extend their winning streak to a season-high five games while the pitching staff extended its scoreless streak to 32 innings. It was the first time the Dodgers have had three consecutive shutouts since Sept. 18-20, 1988.

Less than a week after their worst trip in eight years, the first-place Dodgers are six games in front of the Atlanta Braves, equaling their biggest margin of the season.

“If we stay consistent, nobody is going to beat us,” outfielder Kal Daniels said. “Well, somebody might beat us, but nobody is going to catch us.”

Daniels punctuated the Dodgers’ 14-hit attack by combining with Darryl Strawberry on consecutive home runs in the seventh inning. Alfredo Griffin added a personal-best four hits, four more than the Dodgers had in nine innings against the Expos’ Mark Gardner Friday.

But Ojeda, who gave up five hits and struck out four, was the hero on a night when he showed why he was acquired in a trade with the New York Mets for the popular Hubie Brooks last winter.

He loves trouble. His best times are hard times.

“Bobby loves that double play grounder,” said Strawberry, who extended his hitting streak to 13 games. “You just get him a little support, and he is tough to beat, because he doesn’t make mistakes.”

Ojeda (8-8) faced baserunners with fewer than two out in five of the nine innings, but worked out of each jam by fooling the Expos into either strikeouts or grounders, including three double plays.

Then there was his plate appearances, which featured equal pressure.

When he came to the plate in the third inning with no score and runners on first and second, he faked a bunt and chopped a bouncer to shortstop for an infield single. Brett Butler then doubled to right field, driving in the only runs the Dodgers would need.

“I was going to bunt, then I didn’t see anybody running, so I didn’t know what was going on,” Ojeda said. “So I said, ‘OK, I’ll swing. No, bunt. No, swing.’ Then I just swung.”

In the sixth, with the Dodgers leading, 3-0, Ojeda came to the plate with Griffin on second base and one out. He hit a grounder to the left of first baseman Andres Galarraga, then hustled to first base while Galarraga threw wildly to pitcher Mel Rojas.

Griffin scored and Ojeda wound up on second base, shrugging and refusing the Dodgers’ traditional offer of a jacket.

“What do I need a jacket for, it was 80 degrees out there!” Ojeda said. “Hey, man, I eat red meat and I don’t wear jackets on the bases. Even though, I guess, it may be half-stupid.”

All off this came after Ojeda’s worst start of the season, when he gave up six earned runs in 2 2/3 innings to the Mets last Sunday in New York.

He had also been the Dodgers’ most-neglected pitcher this season, supported with 2.2 runs per game in his 18 starts, including one run or less in half of those starts. Two weeks ago, he accused his former wife of possessing a voodoo doll and acknowledged that his problems had driven him to smoke in the clubhouse.

“I’m not commenting on that voodoo doll,” Ojeda said. “That little thing may still be out there, and I don’t want to say anything to make it mad.”

Given the good fortune of three runs in four innings against rookie pitcher Chris Haney Saturday, Ojeda pitched like he was celebrating.

In the first inning, after Marquis Grissom hit a one-out single, Ojeda struck out Ivan Calderon and Tim Wallach on called third strikes. Wallach argued so loudly he was ejected for only the fifth time in his 11-year career.

Ojeda gave up a one-out single to Calderon in the fourth, but then got two grounders. Dave Martinez led off the fifth with a single to left, but Gilberto Reyes hit into a double play.

Delino DeShields and Grissom gave Ojeda another scare in the sixth when they reached base on a walk and a single, respectively, to start the inning. But Calderon grounded into a double play, as Reyes would do in the seventh.

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