BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : DODGERS : After Long Night, Strawberry Delivers

Darryl Strawberry spent about 12 hours getting from the Orlando airport to Vero Beach after the limousine he hired broke down on a dark, two-lane Florida highway Saturday night.

“I wasn’t about to get out of the car and walk down that dark road,” Strawberry said. “So we just slept there, but you don’t really sleep, you know?”

Strawberry arrived in Orlando about 9 p.m. Saturday after spending Friday night in Los Angeles with his wife, Charisse, and their new baby, Jordan Shay, who was born Thursday. Strawberry said that midway to Vero Beach, which is a 90-minute drive from the airport, the limo’s engine overheated because the driver had forgotten to put oil in it.

“The driver said to me, ‘We are a long way from anywhere,’ ” Strawberry said. “And I told him, ‘Let’s just sit here and wait.’ He didn’t have a phone in the car. So about 7:30 this morning (Sunday), a policeman came by, and he called a tow truck for us.”

A tired Strawberry arrived at Dodgertown at about 10 a.m., in time to play in a 7-6 loss to the New York Mets, and had his best game of the spring. He lined a fastball from Bret Saberhagen to center field in the second inning for a single, stole second base and later scored. In the fourth, he robbed Luis Rivera of a home run with a catch over the fence. And in the eighth inning, Strawberry hit his second home run of the spring, a solo shot over the right-field fence.

“There were times in the past two years I had doubts about getting to this point,” said Strawberry, who had permission to stay longer in Los Angeles, but wanted to get back for Sunday’s game. “I couldn’t steal bases before and I certainly couldn’t hit a good fastball from Saberhagen. . . . That was impossible.”

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Kevin Gross made his first start of the spring and pitched four scoreless innings, giving up four hits and three walks. He says he will be ready when the season starts. . . . For the second consecutive game, Billy Ashley came off the bench and hit a two-run homer. . . . Cory Snyder has inflammation in his lower back, but no herniation. He will stay in Los Angeles this week for treatment. . . . Chan Ho Park will make his fourth start today, against the Montreal Expos. . . . Greg Hansell, Omar Daal and John DeSilva were optioned to triple-A Albuquerque. . . . Delino DeShields says he no longer needs his protective mask, but he has been blanked at the plate the last couple of games. “I’m doing everything the same,” he said. “I just think I may be trying too hard trying to show everyone I can play.” . . . Left-handed pitcher Mike Milchin will have surgery on his left elbow this month.