Karros Takes Jog, Gives Dodgers Win : Baseball: Rookie can’t run, so he hits a three-run home run as Martinez ties up Giants, 6-1.

His teammates knew Eric Karros would have to make adjustments during his rookie season. But he has taken adjusting to new heights.

Karros can barely run, so he is getting hits that don’t require running.

Guaranteeing that Ramon Martinez’s 6 1/3 innings of no-hit pitching would not be in vain, Karros hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning Wednesday, leading the Dodgers to a 6-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants before 28,147 at Candlestick Park.

It was Karros’ fourth hit in six days and all have been home runs.

Because of a bruised right calf muscle suffered in a collision in New York 10 days ago, he knows he won’t be much help if he has to stop at one of the bases.

“I can’t move so well . . . but it doesn’t hurt when I hit,” Karros said. “The last thing I will do is come out of the lineup. I am not giving anybody any reason to put me on the bench.”

The victory ended the Dodgers’ seven-game losing streak and salvaged the final game of another dreadful trip, this one yielding only three victories in 13 games.

Martinez gave up three hits in seven innings and Carlos Hernandez added his second homer in his last three starts as the Dodgers won for only the fourth time in their last 26 road games.

It is in lost seasons such as this that players such as Karros become centerpieces.

For now, he may be the National League rookie who is most afraid of losing his job. But with 15 home runs and 45 runs batted in, he is moving toward a comfortable lead in the race to become rookie of the year.

“I’m not going to think about that until Oct. 10, or whenever the season ends,” Karros said.

The season ends Oct. 4, but Karros will probably find a way to play until Oct. 10 just to make sure the Dodgers can’t find somebody else to stand at first base.

“He has a work ethic that you don’t often see in younger players today,” Mitch Webster said. “You watch him, and he can barely move, and he is still in there.”

Karros finally limped out of the game in the eighth inning Wednesday to nurse his bruise, but only under official escort by a trainer.

“I figured, ‘Well, OK, we’re leading, so I’ll leave this time,’ ” Karros said.

But Karros promised he will be at Dodger Stadium early today, as usual. Sometimes, after arriving early to work with Manager Tom Lasorda, he spends his final hour before the game looking for a place to take a nap.

“But you will not step on that field until you are treated,” assistant trainer Charlie Strasser called to him with a smile.

In typical Karros fashion, he blamed himself for the first hit against Martinez, a bouncer by Will Clark down the first-base line with one out in the seventh inning.

“I could have fallen on that ball,” Karros said. “I don’t know how I missed it. Sometimes my mobility is not so good.”

Martinez also left the game with an injury--a stiff neck that is not considered serious--but only after he struck out six with a curveball that was suddenly effective.

His 2.57 earned-run average in his last two starts equals his best consecutive efforts this season.

He was supported not only by the big hits, but with one of the biggest little things the Dodgers have done all season.

Brett Butler coaxed an 11-pitch walk out of Giant pitcher Trevor Wilson with one out in the sixth, which led to Mike Sharperson’s hit-and-run single before Karros’ home run over the left-field fence.

“That at-bat by Butler was the key to the game,” Webster said. “Looked like he messed Wilson up a little bit.”

Wilson, who held Butler to two hits in his previous 15 at-bats, actually yelled when he lost the battle with Butler that included seven foul balls.

“Yeah, he yelled something like, ‘Ahhhhh,’ ” Butler said. “I think I unraveled him a little bit, which is what you want to do.”

Afterward Wilson said of the Dodgers: “To me, their offense was the weakest I’ve seen for a long time. They are running a lot of guys out there who are usually on the bench as reserves.”

So now the Dodgers have read that quote 101 times this season. For once, they had the last word.