Homers Are All Dodgers Need

The Dodgers were sloppy again in the field, erratic on the mound, and had difficulty even mounting a rally.

But when you’ve got the magical cure-all, the elixir to all your woes, there are times like Tuesday when you can shrug off your problems.

It is the home-run ball, and once again Tuesday night, the Dodgers relied on their ol’ buddy to pull out a 6-4 victory over the New York Mets in front of a paid crowd of 27,158 at Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers hit three homers for the fifth time this season, and by the time the game ended, their three errors and failure to produce a rally until the eighth inning were long forgotten.

“That’s what this team is built around,” said Dodger first baseman Eric Karros, who has three home runs and eight RBIs in his last four games. “One of our characteristics is that we have the ability to hit the ball out of the ballpark. We can afford to make mistakes because we’ve got guys who can change the game with one swing.”

The Dodgers hardly are playing picturesque baseball, making 11 errors in their last six games, but they’re sitting four games behind the San Diego Padres with more than four months of baseball to be played.

“Right now, we’re covering up our mistakes with the home runs,” said catcher Mike Piazza, who hit his 12th homer in the first inning and raised his average to .364. “We’re still making too many mistakes, myself included.

“I think for us to contend down the stretch, we’ve got to tighten up the defense and concentrate more on execution. . . .

“I mean, these homers are a nice trade-off right now, but our club still is not playing up to its potential.”

The Dodgers on this night simply countered every blunder with a homer, enabling starter Ismael Valdes (5-2) to win despite yielding the most hits (seven) in a start since April 12.

“I was struggling with my pitches and my control,” said Valdes, who has won five of his last six starts, “but those homers, oh my God. It was great to see the home runs from my teammates.”

The Dodgers trailed, 1-0, in the first inning after right fielder Raul Mondesi’s error turned Lance Johnson’s double into a triple. Johnson then scored on Bernard Gilkey’s sacrifice fly to shallow center.

The Dodgers’ response: Piazza hit a two-run homer into the left-field seats--only his second homer to left field this season--for a 2-1 lead.

The Mets came back in the fifth inning with two runs when Gilkey hit a bases-loaded single to right field. Rookie shortstop Rey Ordonez scored easily, and Mondesi’s throw to the plate was well ahead of Johnson, but Piazza was positioned behind the plate, and Johnson danced across for a 3-2 lead.

The Dodgers’ response: Piazza reached first on an infield single that caromed off Met starter Pete Harnisch, and first baseman Eric Karros hit the next pitch 409 feet, over the center-field fence for his fourth home run in his last 24 at-bats. He now has hit two, two-run homers and a three-run homer in his last four games, and has 26 RBIs.

Mondesi, figuring a 4-3 lead wouldn’t stand up, came right back with a 433-foot homer that landed in the blue seats in the center-field bleachers. It was Mondesi’s 11th homer of the season.

“Hey, when you win, everything’s fine,” Mondesi said. “Hey, sometimes we don’t make errors, and we lose the game.”

And just to prove they can score runs in some other fashion, along came the eighth inning. Delino DeShields and Mike Blowers each produced two-out, infield singles, bringing Milt Thompson to the plate. Thompson, who entered the game batting only .091, lined a single to right for his third hit of the game and first RBI as a Dodger.

The Dodgers have scored 73 of their 186 runs this season on home runs. They are 11-1 this season when they hit at least two homers in a game, and are 5-0 when hitting three homers in a game.

“Hey, it’s just nice when you can afford to make mistakes, and then change the score with one swing of the bat,” Thompson said. “It may not look great, but it counts all the same.”