Mondesi Going to Head of Class : Baseball: Rookie drives in four runs to fuel 8-3 victory over the Mets. Piazza adds his 21st home run.

He is ever the rookie, Raul Mondesi, delightful most of the time and wildly inconsistent at others, but never because of lack of effort. Each day, Manager Tom Lasorda reminds him where to hit the ball and how not to swing at bad pitches. Nearly every game, he is coached by Brett Butler in the outfield, who praises him, admonishes him, teaches him.

And one thing has become clear--Mondesi is a good student.

Saturday night at Dodger Stadium, Mondesi reached new heights, driving in four runs in the Dodgers’ 8-3 victory over the New York Mets.

After Mike Piazza’s home run over the right-center-field fence broke a 1-1 tie in the sixth inning, Mondesi hit a two-run homer that barely cleared the 395-foot sign in right center.

“Believe me, I’ve spent a lot of hours with this guy, Reggie (Smith) and I have, long after everybody was gone in spring training,” Lasorda said of Mondesi. “I’d like to have a penny for every ball I’ve thrown to him.”

Then, after the Mets scored two more runs in the top of seventh to move within one run, Mondesi rifled a two-run shot down the left-field line for a double. In the eighth, Henry Rodriguez also hit a two-run homer, a towering shot that landed in the seats barely inside the right-field foul pole.

The victory put the Dodgers five games ahead of the Colorado Rockies atop the National League West and ensured them of a winning home stand. They have won two of the three series played over the 14-game stretch and are certain of at least a split against the Mets when they play their final game before the All-Star break today.

“We hit the long ball tonight and hit the ball the way we can and are supposed to hit,” Lasorda said. “We haven’t been hitting well this home stand, but our pitching has kept us in the game.”

The Dodgers scored their first four runs against a left-hander, beating Mike Remlinger (0-3), who was perfect against the first 10 batters. But in the sixth, Piazza led off by hitting a ball that soared as high as the flag poles in center field before landing about five rows beyond the 395 sign at the edge of the right-field pavilion. It was his second homer in two games, giving him 21 this season and four in the last 12 games.

“What this guy does never surprises me,” Lasorda said. “I’ve got four guys in that picture on that wall who hit 30 or more homers, and they didn’t reach the seats the way this guy does.”

Tim Wallach followed Piazza with a walk before Mondesi hit his 15th homer, making up for a wild throw he made in the top of the sixth that allowed the Mets to tie the score, 1-1. As he walked to home plate to bat in the bottom of the inning, he was met with a mixture of boos and slight applause from the crowd of 39,589. Then he went on to redeem himself.

“I try to throw the ball to the base all the time,” said Mondesi, who is batting .324 with 49 runs batted in. “Rafael (Bournigal) said I throw the ball too hard; it’s not my fault I throw so hard.”

Meanwhile, Ramon Martinez (8-5) was having another solid outing, giving up only two hits and striking out seven until the sixth, when a one-out walk to Jose Vizcaino turned into an unearned run on Mondesi’s throwing error.

“I’ve been exercising, doing upper-body work for the first time, and I feel so strong every time I’m out there,” Martinez said.

Martinez got into trouble in the eighth and was relieved by Kevin Gross, sent in to get some work before the All-Star break. Gross held the Mets to one hit and a walk the rest of the way, earning his first save.

Martinez has pitched seven innings or more in 11 of 18 starts and reached at least the eighth inning in eight starts, including three complete games.

In the two years when Martinez won a total of 37 games, his fastball was 88 to 96 m.p.h. He lost some velocity for a couple of years but this year is closer to his old form, his fastball consistently going between 88 and 94 m.p.h.