Dodgers Bomb the Mets : Baseball: Ball promotion backfires, but that’s all that goes wrong for L.A. in 13-3 victory.

It was a nice idea, giving baseballs to the fans on “photo ball night” at Dodger Stadium, until the fans started throwing them back at the players.

In the midst of a Dodger rally in the fourth inning, after they had scored two runs to move ahead 2-1, baseballs, which had likenesses of Mike Piazza and Eric Karros, inexplicably started dropping onto the field. The first few landed in left field, then a few more landed in the infield, then a couple in right.

The players looked around, puzzled. Karros, who was at the plate, backed out of the box. Nothing in particular had happened to cause the stir, but the umpires weren’t taking any chances--they cleared the field.

When play resumed a few minutes later, the Dodgers picked up where they left off. Karros drove Dwight Gooden’s first pitch into left field to score Henry Rodriguez, sending the Dodgers on their way to a 13-3 rout in front of 34,717.

It was the Dodgers’ third consecutive victory and moved them two games behind the San Francisco Giants in the National League West, the closest the team has been to first place in a week. Orel Hershiser (1-0), who had given up three runs or fewer in each of his previous three starts and had nothing to show for it, finally earned his first victory of the season. He held the Mets to one run and eight hits before leaving for a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning.

Raul Mondesi went three for five, including a three-run homer, and scored three runs. Karros had three hits, including a double, and scored two runs and Jose Offerman had a two-run triple. The Dodgers scored three runs in each of the fourth, sixth, seventh and eighth innings. Gooden (2-1) left in the sixth, after the Dodgers had scored three runs to move ahead, 7-1.

But the standout of the game was Delino DeShields, who had his best performance as a Dodger. Wearing his pants baggy and stirrups pulled up to his knees for the second consecutive game, DeShields figured into every Dodger rally. He went three for four, scored two runs, knocked in two runs and stole three bases. His three stolen bases tie a career high and give him seven this season. The last time he stole three bases was three years ago against Cincinnati.

“It shows how important it is for me to be out there,” DeShields said. “I just haven’t been getting the job done, and I have to carry this with me until tomorrow. I got out there tonight and the guys just followed.”

DeShields, who wore the baggy look last season out of respect for the old Negro Leagues, stopped doing so in spring training because he said the high stirrups impaired his circulation and elicited too many questions. He decided he wanted to be known for what he did on the field, not what he wore. But DeShields has been in a slump both at the plate and, periodically, in the field. He has been troubled physically by a weakened thigh muscle and stressed about his poor start--he was batting .176 before the game.

“Everybody has been telling me I’m going to come out this slump,” DeShields said. “I was the only one who was worried. I think it’s because I wanted to come over here and do such a good job and make such a good impression that I think I was trying too hard.”

When the team was in Philadelphia, DeShields went to see family members, who said they were upset he had changed his uniform style and told him to wear it the way he did last season.

“I didn’t know it upset them so much,” DeShields said. “I realize that this is important, this is something I started, and now it’s part of me.”

So, he changed back. And Thursday night, so did his game. With the Dodgers trailing, 1-0, in the fourth inning, DeShields singled deep to Jose Vizcaino in the hole at shortstop and easily beat the throw. With DeShields at first, Brett Butler walked. On the first pitch to Piazza, Butler and DeShields successfully pulled off a double steal. Piazza was caught looking a third strike, but cleanup hitter Tim Wallach grounded through the hole at short, and DeShields and Butler scored standing up to put the Dodgers ahead, 2-1.

Henry Rodriguez’s line drive to center put Wallach at second, and with Karros batting, Wallach, one of the least likely candidates to steal, was caught stealing third.

That’s when the baseballs began to fly.