Revenge Gets Sweeter for Rodriguez

Montreal Expo outfielder Henry Rodriguez insists there is no hatred toward the Dodgers, or even the residue of bitterness, but it hardly eased his frustration.

Sure, he realizes that his All-Star appearance and 33 home runs are enough to convince anyone the Dodgers made a mistake by trading him, but his personal failures against his former teammates tormented him.

That changed in the ninth inning Wednesday night when Rodriguez finally gained his revenge, scoring the game-winner in the Expos’ 6-5 comeback victory over the Dodgers in front of 13,001 at Olympic Stadium.

The Expos, trailing, 5-0, in the fourth inning and, 5-2, in the eighth, came back to win when Rodriguez hit a two-out bloop double to right field and scored on David Segui’s single.

The defeat leaves the Dodgers two games behind the division-leading San Diego Padres in the National League West, and one-half game behind the Expos in the wild-card race. It was the first time since July 20 they’ve lost a game when they’ve scored five runs in a nine-inning game, also ending their five-game winning streak.

“Oh, man, I got hit in my face, my head, everywhere,” Rodriguez said, laughing about the celebration. “This was a huge game for both teams. You could tell how bad both teams wanted to win.”

Of course, the way Rodriguez figures it, the Dodgers wouldn’t even be in this predicament if they never traded him away.

The Dodgers traded Rodriguez to the Expos last May in a four-player deal for outfielder Roberto Kelly, but a hairline fracture of his right leg caused Rodriguez to sit out all but 45 games of the season. This year, Rodriguez leads the Expos in home runs and runs batted in (92), and is as responsible as anyone for the Expos’ bid toward their first playoff berth in 15 years.

“You think the Dodgers wish they had me now?” Rodriguez said, breaking into a grin. “I always wanted to stay in L.A. That’s where I grew up [as a player]. But I never had an opportunity in L.A. I always feel like I had to get five hits every day just to be in the lineup every day. I put a lot of pressure on myself.

“But I have no hard feelings. I always say everything I have now is because of the Dodgers. I owe everything to them.”

Really, the only thing that has eluded Rodriguez in this dream season was to become a hero against the Dodgers. The Dodgers had won eight of 10 games against the Expos. Rodriguez blamed himself as much as anyone, batting .094 (three for 32) against the Dodgers after his eighth-inning strikeout.

He was granted one last opportunity when the Expos tied the game in the eighth. Trailing, 5-2, the Expos got back-to-back doubles off Pedro Astacio, knocking him out of the game. Reliever Scott Radinsky struck out Rodriguez, and then yielded what appeared to be a routine fly ball to Segui. Yet, with the ball carrying toward right-center, center fielder Wayne Kirby suddenly stopped running. Right fielder Raul Mondesi stopped running. Nobody said a word, and the ball dropped in for a ground-rule double.

“It should have been caught,” Dodger Manager Bill Russell said. “They know it. And we know it.”

Said Kirby: “It was just one of those things. It was my fault as well as his [Mondesi’s]. But I’m a center fielder. Whatever I can get, I got to take.”

The mix-up cut the Dodgers’ lead to 5-4, and F.P. Santangelo’s two-out single tied it.

That set up the dramatics for Rodriguez in the ninth. Instead of stopping at first on his blooper to right, Rodriguez gambled and tested the arm of Mondesi. He slid headfirst into second, barely beating shortstop Greg Gagne’s tag. Segui followed with a single to right, Rodriguez didn’t hesitate, and came across the plate ahead of Mondesi’s throw, and into the arms of his celebrating teammates.

“I just wanted to make something happen,” Rodriguez said. “I told myself I got to go for two. Everybody knows that Mondesi has a great arm, but I don’t care. I have to get in scoring position.

“I know it was a gamble. If I make an out, we have no chance to come back. But I had to take that chance. I had to give it a try.

“Thank God it worked.

Said Santangelo: “If we win this wild-card race, we might look back at this game as the turning point.”

The Dodgers hate to even imagine the thought.

“We should have won, and didn’t,” said rookie left fielder Todd Hollandsworth, who had four hits. “The bottom line is it’s just one game. Unfortunately, it was a big game.”