Runs There for Candiotti for a Change

Tom Candiotti must have thought he was dreaming.

The Dodgers rarely score when Candiotti is pitching. He led the National League last season with the lowest run support (3.4) and he hadn’t fared much better this season as the Dodgers scored three runs or fewer in six of his seven starts.

However, the Dodgers scored six runs in the first five innings of Wednesday night’s game against the Montreal Expos and Candiotti did the rest, retiring 21 consecutive batters as the Dodgers won, 7-2, before 26,875 at Dodger Stadium.

“It’s a whole different story when you get some runs to work with, and tonight was a good example,” Candiotti said.

Candiotti (2-3), who had pinpoint control, gave up two unearned runs on four hits as he pitched his first complete game since last May.

“The last game I threw in St. Louis, the knuckleball really came along for me great and tonight I really had everything going. It was great.” Candiotti said.

Candiotti didn’t allow a hit from the second inning until David Segui’s two-out double in the ninth.

He tried to downplay his performance.

“It wasn’t one of the better nights I’ve had, but the pitches were in good places,” he said.

In an attempt to shake the Dodgers out of their hitting slump, Manager Tom Lasorda called off batting practice.

Lasorda seemed testy when asked about the move.

“Why, is that a big thing?” Lasorda said. “I thought maybe it might have been a big thing. I never heard a reporter come in and say, ‘Why didn’t we take batting practice?’ You never talk about when we do take batting practice. You never ask me how come we’re taking batting practice, why would you ask me why aren’t we taking batting practice?

“They work hard and take a lot of batting practice, so I just want to give them a day off.”

Whatever, the Dodgers’ had 10 hits in the first seven innings.

Raul Mondesi, who began the game batting .211, singled in his first three at-bats and scored twice. Mike Piazza had a single and a walk and scored twice. And Chad Fonville, who had 19 bunt singles last season, had two in four at-bats and scored a run.

First baseman Eric Karros drilled his fifth home run of the season with two outs in the seven inning off reliever Alex Pacheco, who was called up before the game.

Third baseman Mike Busch, who started in place of Mike Blowers, drove in two runs with a one-out, bases-loaded single off starter Jeff Fassero to tie it, 2-2, in the fourth inning, and shortstop Greg Gagne drove in a run with a grounder to short to give the Dodgers a 3-2 lead.

Piazza singled in Fonville in the fifth inning, and Todd Hollandsworth drove in Piazza with a single to center off reliever Barry Manuel. Mondesi scored from first on Hollandsworth’s two-out single when center fielder F.P. Santangelo misplayed the ball, Mondesi almost running over third-base coach Joe Amalfitano.

Suddenly, the Dodgers, who hadn’t scored three runs in an inning in 71 innings, had done it two innings in a row.

The Dodgers, who had gone eight consecutive games without making an error, committed two in the second inning as the Expos took a 2-0 lead.

Left fielder Billy Ashley, who made three errors last season, misplayed Dave Silvestri’s routine one-out single when the ball went under his glove. Silvestri advanced to third and scored on Lenny Webster’s single, then Webster scored on Gagne’s two-out fielding error.

Lasorda said the experiment worked.

‘You try everything,” Lasorda said. “It’s like a snowball rolling downhill, it gets bigger as it goes. We needed to mix it up.

“These guys started to hit tonight, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure it out.”