Role Players Steal Spotlight : Dodgers: Rodriguez, Hansen and Gwynn fuel 9-3 victory over the Phillies.

On a starless Southern California night, some of the Dodgers’ lesser lights twinkled brightly through the fog.

And Henry Rodriguez absolutely glowed.

With the big power-hitters on the bench, three role players went on a roll Saturday night, leading the Dodgers to a 9-3 victory over the depleted Philadelphia Phillies before 38,237 at Dodger Stadium.

After an admittedly lifeless shutout loss Friday night, Manager Tom Lasorda shook up the lineup--loading it with left-handers--and the Dodger offense came to life Saturday.

Mike Piazza and Eric Karros were given the day off, but with Rodriguez hitting line drives all over the park, who needed them?

Rodriguez started at first base and batted clean up, hitting a single, double, and home run in five at-bats, scoring twice and driving in a career-high five runs.

Tim Wallach didn’t play, but his backup at third base, Dave Hansen, who has only one other start this season, singled twice, doubled and figured in three Dodger runs.

And Chris Gwynn, like Hansen used almost solely as a pinch-hitter, stepped into the starting left fielder spot with two singles, a walk, and an RBI. Overall, the Dodgers had 16 hits.

“It was nice for all of us to get out there,” Hansen said. “We sit there on the bench and we do the team thing that way. But it was nice to play.”

Starter Tom Candiotti (6-3), staked to a 9-1 lead in the sixth, took it from there and delivered a strong complete-game performance. It was his team-leading fifth complete game.

Candiotti, who gave up 10 hits, struck out seven and walked two, giving up one run in the fifth and two in the eighth.

“I really got into a groove from the outset, got the knuckleball in the strike zone,” Candiotti said. “I gave our offense a chance to get going, and that was the game.

“Tonight, the ball was moving for me, it was in the strike zone. That makes it an easy day.”

The victory kept the first-place Dodgers 5 1/2 games ahead of the Colorado Rockies--the widest division lead in baseball.

The Phillies, meanwhile, are playing without injured hitting stars Lenny Dykstra, Darren Daulton and Dave Hollins.

Probably most satisfyingly to Rodriguez, Hansen and Gwynn--all left-handed hitters who rarely get a chance to face left-handed pitchers--most of their damage came against left-handed reliever Andy Carter.

“Tomorrow, it’s Fernando (Valenzuela, a left-hander),” Rodriguez said. “I may play left field, I might not play at all.”

Carter was pitching in relief of emergency starter Paul Quantrill (2-2), who went four innings in place of scheduled starter Shawn Boskie, scratched after suffering from dizzy spells Saturday.

When the Dodgers broke open the game with seven combined runs in the fifth and sixth innings, Carter was roughed up for six hits and six earned runs.

In the fifth, with Delino DeShields on first base, Rodriguez hit a 2-and-1 pitch from Carter deep into the empty right-field pavilion for his sixth home run of the season. That extended the Dodgers’ lead to 4-1.

Hansen followed the homer with a bloop double barely over the outreached glove of shortstop Kevin Stocker, and scored on Gwynn’s ground-ball single to right.

Then, in a four-run sixth, the Dodgers batted around, with Rodriguez’s two-run single and Hansen’s run-scoring single the key blows. Raul Mondesi also had an RBI-single in the inning.

* DARRYL STRAWBERRY: The outfielder, newly signed by the San Francisco Giants, discusses nine years of substance abuse. C12