Dodgers Finally Find Good Side : Baseball: Hershiser’s double is barely fair, providing the go-ahead runs during a 5-2 victory over the Cubs.

For the first time this season, a Dodger line drive has bounced on the other side of a base line.

That might not sound like much to anybody else, but to Orel Hershiser on Tuesday night, it meant standing on second base and clapping wildly. For Dave Hansen and Jose Offerman, it meant actually crossing home plate with two out.

For the Dodgers, it meant finally winning a game by inches instead of losing one.

On a night when standing ovations returned to Dodger Stadium, so did some Dodger pride as they defeated the Chicago Cubs, 5-2, before 34,471.

Hershiser, who led his team on a battle back from a 2-0 deficit in the fourth inning, provided the go-ahead runs with a two-run double down the third base line during the sixth inning.

Hershiser, who gave up two runs in seven innings, said his hitting was more fun. “It’s always more fun to hit because you aren’t expected to do anything,” Hershiser said. “You can be a little kid again.”

The two RBIs, his most in a game since 1988, were as important as his 98 pitches, because they came with the score 2-2.

With two out, Hansen and Offerman had drawn walks against Cub starter Shawn Boskie, who has never beaten the Dodgers in five tries.

Hershiser, batting .250 with one RBI at the time, stepped in and bounced Boskie’s first pitch down the third base line, and it ended up in the left-field corner.

It happened so fast, even Hershiser appeared stunned, but he easily ran to second base while the two go-ahead runs scored.

“For that ball to fall in for us like that, it was a big play,” Hershiser said. “This is a time for everybody to pitch in.”

The Dodgers added another run in the seventh inning against reliever Ken Patterson on Todd Benzinger’s double-play grounder after singles by Mike Sharperson and Kal Daniels and a walk to Eric Davis.

It was only the fifth comeback victory for the Dodgers this season, and the first time they have won a game after trailing as late as the fifth inning.

Despite the victory, they set a Los Angeles Dodger record by spending their 22nd consecutive day alone in last place, six games behind first-place San Francisco.

“All we need is a base hit here and a base hit there, and we can be right back in the thick of things,” Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda said. “We’ve been in every game. All we need to do is get the one big hit.”

Even the Dodger bullpen had a role in the winning act, saving the game for Hershiser after the first two batters reached base during the eighth.

Steve Wilson, facing his former teammates for the first time, got Jose Vizcaino on a pop-out, then Roger McDowell retired pinch-hitter Hector Villanueva and Sammy Sosa to end the inning.

After walking pinch-hitter Jerome Walton to start the ninth inning, McDowell retired Mark Grace on a fly ball and Ryne Sandberg on an inning-ending double play.

This left Andre Dawson standing on deck, and gave McDowell his fifth save and second in three days.

Other rejuvenated Dodgers included Brett Butler, who was in a one-for-29 slump two days ago. After drawing walks in his first two plate appearances and then bunting safely in the fifth, he had reached base in five consecutive plate appearances.

That bunt led to the tying run, then Butler added a running catch in left-center field in the sixth.

“I told Kal that if he gets anything in front of him, I can take care of what comes behind (Daniels in the outfield),” Butler said. “Tonight was a good win because everybody contributed. It was real nice.”

Benzinger, making his fifth consecutive start, doubled and singled in his first two at-bats, scoring the Dodgers’ first run after his single. He has five hits in his last 11 at-bats.

Daniels got his first run-batted in of the season, and his first hit since April 18 after spending 22 days on the disabled list because of a twisted right knee.

After stranding five runners in the first two innings, the Cubs finally reached Hershiser in the third. Grace got his fourth hit in six at-bats in this series, a leadoff single.

Two batters later, Dawson hit only the second homer of his career against Hershiser in 36 at-bats, a line drive over the left-field fence.

The Dodgers made the score 2-1 during the fourth inning after Benzinger hit a one-out single. One out later Hansen doubled to left, moving Benzinger to third. It was Hansen’s third extra-base hit of the season, and his first in 38 at-bats.

Offerman then singled to left, scoring Benzinger and moving Hansen to third. It was Offerman’s third RBI in his last four games after collecting four RBIs in his first 31 games.

Hershiser came to the plate with a decent chance to add to the scoring, but he popped to first base to end the inning.

The Dodgers tied the score in the next inning after Butler got his second bunt single in two days and later scored on Daniels’ first RBI, on a sacrifice fly.