Dodgers Send Bold Message

The Dodgers have vowed all week that they would be sending a message to their National League West rivals, and after their latest victory Friday night, they decided it’s time to start spreading the news.

These may the first days of summer, but the way the Dodgers are playing, they’re boldly predicting there might not be a pennant stretch for the rest of the division this fall.

The Dodgers ripped apart the San Francisco Giants, 7-2, in front of a paid crowd of 41,948 at Dodger Stadium, leaving the players wondering how many of them will be heading to Texas for the All-Star game.

The Dodgers (28-26) have won six of their last seven games, and are 15-7 (.682) since Memorial Day. Friday’s victory moved them into second place, one game behind the Colorado Rockies.

“We’re playing our game now,” said Dodger right fielder Raul Mondesi, who threw out Giant pitcher Mark Portugal at first base on a potential hit in the fifth. “When we play our game, we feel we can beat anybody. We’re showing people that we can be the best.”

Said Giant Manager Dusty Baker, who was ejected in the fifth for arguing balls and strikes: “They’re on a roll. They’re not missing pitches they’re supposed to hit. They’re a power-hitting team. You go hot and cold. It’s like a three-point-shooting team.”

Everyone in baseball conceded that the Dodgers had the best talent in the division, but since they were so young, no one envisioned they could put it together this quickly.

“The talent is there, and the attitude is there,” said Fred Claire, Dodger executive vice president, “but you have to do that on a consistent basis. Don’t talk about it, do it.

“I think that’s what’s starting to happen now.”

Certainly, there has been no bigger surprise this season for the Dodgers than Ismael Valdes. He didn’t become a permanent fixture in the Dodger rotation until five weeks ago, but has emerged as perhaps the finest young right-handed starter in the league.

Valdes (5-2) became the latest candidate Manager Tom Lasorda plans to nominate for the all-star team after winning his fifth consecutive start. Relying primarily on his curveball, Valdes yielded only five hits and two runs (one earned) in eight innings, lowering his earned-run average to 2.11, third-lowest in the National League.

“I’ve seen it from the outset, he’s one of the gifted,” Claire said. “Everything he does is impressive.”

Valdes’ poise was epitomized in the first inning when Valdes walked the first two batters he faced, bringing up Barry Bonds. No problem, Valdes struck out Bonds looking.

Valdes gave up a run-scoring single to Mark Carreon in the first, but allowed only five balls to be hit to the outfield the remainder of the game.

One of those balls hit to the outfield just happened to provide Mondesi with a play he says he’ll remember for a lifetime.

Portugal (5-2) hit a sharp one-hopper into right field in the fifth inning. Mondesi, playing shallow, charged the ball and fired on the run. The ball bounced once, and first baseman Eric Karros scooped it out of the dirt for the out, giving Mondesi his eighth assist and first in his career at first base.

“That’s the only way I can get assists, anymore,” Mondesi said. “Nobody runs on me. They don’t even try.

“Well, at least they have to run to first base, so I’ve got a chance there.”

Said Karros: “I’ve been looking out for it all year. I know he’s been wanting to do that all year. He waited for the opportunity and took advantage of it.”