BASEBALL: DAILY REPORT : DODGERS : Karros Revives Himself, His Team

The Dodgers’ most inspirational victory of the season--a 6-5, three-run comeback over the Padres in 11 innings Monday--was also the most inspirational for Eric Karros.

“I was sitting there on the bench, praying to God that we would win this game . . . anything to take me off the hook,” said Karros, who stranded the winning run on third base in the ninth inning then missed a grounder in the 10th inning to give the Padres a go-ahead run.

A smart play by Karros helped give the Dodgers three runs in the 11th inning for the victory. After Eric Davis led off with a walk, Karros singled to right, moving Davis to third. Karros then sneaked to second base while shortstop Tony Fernandez was throwing the ball back to pitcher Rick Rodriguez.

“I always think about doing that, but only once in a million times do I ever have the chance,” he said.

Both runners scored on pinch-hitter Todd Benzinger’s single, and then Jose Offerman hit a single and eventually scored the winning run on Mike Sharperson’s single. The game lasted 3 hours 58 minutes, and the teams combined to use 35 players.

“This was the longest time I can ever remember sitting on the bench with nobody around me,” Benzinger said. “By the time I finally got a chance, there were pitchers coming out of the clubhouse with bats in their hands. When you wait that long, you want to make it worth it.”

Lost in the fireworks of Monday’s comeback victory was a seventh-inning incident involving what is normally a deadly combination--pitcher Tom Candiotti and an intentional walk.

But this time, it worked out all right.

With a runner on second base and two out in the seventh inning of a tie game, the Dodgers were considering walking Tony Gwynn to pitch to Darrin Jackson. But Candiotti talked the coaching staff into allowing him to pitch to Gwynn, who retired on a grounder to third base to end the inning.

Earlier this season Candiotti complained after being forced to intentionally walk Mike LaValliere in Pittsburgh, leading to the Pirates only run in a 1-0 Dodger loss.

Judging from the setup of the triple-A Albuquerque rotation, Pedro Astacio will probably be the first minor leaguer recalled for the Dodgers’ doubleheaders and could start in the second game against the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday. Astacio, 22, will be making his major league debut with a 5.27 earned-run average in 15 games, eight starts. But he throws hard and has struck out 44 in 56 1/3 innings. Kip Gross and Pedro Martinez, as expected, will each start in the doubleheaders next week against the Montreal Expos, with a member of the bullpen starting in the third doubleheader. . . . Candiotti is disappointed that the Dodgers did not take him up on his offer to start an entire doubleheader. “I really wanted to do it, I know I could have gone at least five innings in each game,” said Candiotti, who, might not pitch in any doubleheader. He is starting Saturday in a single game against Philadelphia, meaning his next start, on four days rest, would be next Thursday.