BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : DODGERS : Piazza Gets the Day Off

Mike Piazza finally got some time off Wednesday after having caught 20 consecutive games since May 29.

With a day game against the Padres on the heels of a 13-inning marathon Tuesday night, Manager Tom Lasorda decided it was time to give his all-star catcher a rest.

Piazza’s stand-in, Carlos Hernandez, responded by hitting his first home run of the season. Piazza finally was used as pinch-hitter in the ninth. He has appeared in 68 of the Dodgers’ 71 games.

“A day off here and an off day tomorrow should bring Mike back strong,” Lasorda said. “I want him to catch about 140 games, but I’ve got to give him a rest once in a while.”

Piazza is batting .338, with 15 home runs and 65 runs batted in. He is leading catchers in the National League voting for the All-Star game in Pittsburgh July 12.

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Lasorda doesn’t buy the popular notion that a juiced-up baseball is responsible for the increase in home runs this season.

“I just think there’s a lot of strong guys in baseball,” he said. “The guys that are hitting home runs are capable of hitting them. Look what happened (Tuesday) night at Denver. A guy (David Nied) pitched a shutout.” . . . Lasorda said that newcomer Ismael Valdes had worked himself into a prominent position in the Dodger bullpen by pitching hitless ball in his first five major league innings. “He’s going to be a big addition to this club,” Lasorda said. . . . Mitch Webster was still accepting congratulations for the first inside-the-park home run of his career, hit in the 13th inning Tuesday night. “It was fun.” he said. “I hope I can do it at least once more.”