Morgan and Dodgers Grind It Out, 5-2 : Baseball: He limits Padres to six singles. L.A. extends lead to two games over rained-out Braves.

Long before they took the field against the San Diego Padres Tuesday, the Dodgers received a sign that this would be their lucky night.

It was emblazoned in yellow lights on the right-field scoreboard, in a space reserved for the score of the game between the Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds.

PPD RAIN

“And now they have to play a doubleheader?” Darryl Strawberry said with a smile upon seeing the message. “A doubleheader this time of year, when everybody’s tired? We just got a big advantage.”

And their good fortune only got better with a variety of good and unusual plays during a 5-2 victory over the Padres that increased their lead over the Braves to two games with 10 games remaining.

Before 19,169 at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, the Dodgers won for only the 13th time in their past 35 games here. So as they watched the following things happen, they probably figured they were due:

--They scored three runs on groundouts. Strawberry even scored from second base on a grounder to the pitcher, one of three hit-and-run groundouts that led to runs.

“I came into the dugout and said ‘Tommy, man, you are hot tonight!’ ” said third base coach Joe Amalfitano, talking about Manager Tom Lasorda, who calls the plays.

Said Lasorda: “During a pennant stretch, you cannot be conservative. Some people become conservative because they are afraid of doing something wrong. That is the wrong attitude to take.”

--Mike Morgan, in his fourth consecutive victory, drew a walk, scored a run and drove in a run despite an .087 batting average. It was his first walk since last season.

“I must not have seen the ball; that’s the only thing I can think of,” Morgan said.

--Lenny Harris, making his sixth start at shortstop in place of injured Alfredo Griffin, helped turn two double plays while taking part in seven of the first 11 Padre outs.

--A potential Padre rally was averted when catcher Benito Santiago, who hit Manager Greg Riddoch with his batting helmet the last time the Dodgers were in town, did not run out a grounder deep behind third base.

Santiago thought the ball was foul and didn’t run. After he was thrown out, he actually yelled at third base umpire Joe West about the call.

Santiago ended the game by jogging to first base on a double-play grounder against reliever Roger McDowell, who recorded his third save in six games.

After Morgan walked Tony Fernandez to start the ninth, the Dodgers’ bullpen was summoned for the 24th time in the past 24 games. A Dodger starting pitcher has not completed a game since Aug. 30.

John Candelaria, in his first appearance in eight days, struck out Fred McGriff on three pitches before McDowell retired Santiago.

Morgan made it easier for the Dodgers, scattering six singles while improving his career-best record to 14-9 with a 2.79 earned-run average.

In his last four starts, he is 4-0 with a 2.54 ERA. It is a rather fortuitous streak considering the Dodgers are in a championship race and Morgan is in the final year of his contract.

“I talked to Charlie Finley earlier this year, and he said he was proud if me,” said Morgan, referring to the former Oakland Athletic owner who pitched him in a major league game immediately after his high school graduation.

“Charlie admitted that he had probably rushed me, but he said, ‘Hey man, you’ve made it,’ ” Morgan said.

Given two runs in the second inning, and another in the fourth, Morgan allowed only two fifth-inning runs on two Padre singles and a grounder.

By then, the Dodgers had already benefited from Lasorda’s boldness, beginning with the second inning.

Eddie Murray began the inning with a single to right field. Murray then ended up on second base after a potential double-play grounder by Kal Daniels only went for one out because Murray was running on the play.

With Murray on second, Mike Scioscia singled to right, moving Murray to third. Rookie pitcher Ricky Bones then bounced a pitch underneath the glove of catcher Santiago, scoring Murray.

Scioscia moved to second on the play, then took third when Juan Samuel hit a grounder that skipped underneath shortstop Fernandez’s glove and into left field. Mike Sharperson, a hit-and-run specialist, then hit a grounder that scored Scioscia because Fernandez, running to cover second base, stopped and reversed field to grab the ball.

“This time of year it is so important to manufacture runs,” Scioscia said. “When you get down to the end of a pennant race, everybody has good pitching, so it’s the offenses that make the difference. And because offenses can go into slumps, the offenses that manufacture the runs are the ones who win.”

Strawberry capped the night for the Dodgers when, after a leadoff double in the seventh inning, he raced home on what appeared to be an inning-ending double play grounder by Scioscia to pitcher Mike Maddux. But Fernandez’s throw to first base pulled McGriff off the base.

Yes, another hit-and-run.

“But it would not have worked if Darryl had not been running hard from the first step,” Amalfitano said. “Those are the little things that matter.”