First Things First for Mondesi, Dodgers

First baseman Eric Karros stood in front of his locker discussing the Dodgers’ playoff hopes, talking about what has to happen for them to win the division.

He scanned the clubhouse, found right fielder Raul Mondesi and subtly gestured toward him.

“That’s the key to our team, right there,” Karros said. “I know this team needs Mike [Piazza]. I don’t know what would happen if something happened to Todd Worrell. But to me, there’s no question in my mind that Mondy’s the key down the stretch.”

Mondesi led the Dodgers to a 7-6 victory over the New York Mets on Tuesday at Shea Stadium, catapulting them into first place in the National League West.

The Dodgers (76-62) have won 10 of their last 12 games and 17 of 23 and are percentage points ahead of the San Diego Padres. It’s the first time since Aug. 18 that they have had at least a share of first place.

“I know most players know how important I am,” said Mondesi, who’s batting .283 with 22 homers, 71 runs batted in and a team-leading 80 runs. “They say, ‘Mondy, if you do something good in the game, we win.’ And I think that’s true.”

There was no better example than Tuesday. Mondesi reached base five times, going three for four with three RBIs, and was involved in six of the Dodgers’ seven runs. He got on base with a single, double, error and hit by pitch, and then hit a three-run homer in the ninth, offsetting Met outfielder Bernard Gilkey’s three-run shot in the bottom of the inning.

“Mondy is huge for us,” Dodger Manager Bill Russell said. “It seems like Karros and Piazza are always on base, and they seem to be in scoring position for Mondy.”

This is only Mondesi’s third season in the major leagues, but he wonders why he is blamed for mistakes because of his inexperience, and why everyone worries about his lifestyle.

“People talk about what I spend,” said Mondesi, who recently bought a vintage 1956 Cadillac, “but that’s my money. You should be able to do what you want with your own money.

“When I was in the Dominican, nobody ever gave anything to me. So why should it matter what I spend now?”

It also has been disturbing, Mondesi said, that his tardiness tends to be more publicized than that of other players.

“Hey, I play the game hard, everyone knows that,” Mondesi said. “That’s what matters. Sometimes people say when a player signs for [big] money, they don’t care about the anything else. That’s not me.”

Said Reggie Smith, Dodger hitting coach: “I can honestly say that Mondy plays the game as hard, if not harder, than anyone I’ve ever seen. I’m talking about Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, anyone. You can never accuse this guy of not hustling.”

Yet, while Mondesi stole the show, it was the hustle of pinch-runner Chad Fonville that provided the Dodgers with the go-ahead run in the eighth inning with the game tied at 3-3.

Fonville ran for Tim Wallach at second base with two outs in the eighth. Pinch-hitter Dave Clark hit a grounder to the hole. Shortstop Rey Ordonez picked up the ball cleanly, and threw to second to try to force Greg Gagne.

But Alvaro Espinoza, playing second base for the second time, never bothered to cover the bag. Ordonez’s throw to Espinoza was wild, and trickled behind him.

Fonville, seeing the ball behind Espinoza, took off for home. Espinoza’s throw to the plate was late and Fonville slid in safely for a 4-3 lead.

Said Russell: “That was probably the play of the game.”

Mondesi, who was hit in the middle of the back in the eighth by Butch Henry, made sure the lead would stand in the ninth. He stepped up with pinch-runner Wilton Guerrero on second base and Piazza on first, and belted Henry’s slider 412 feet, over the Dodgers’ bullpen and out of the stadium.

Dodger reliever Antonio Osuna yielded a three-run homer to Gilkey with one out in the ninth before retiring Todd Hundley and Alex Ochoa, ending the game.

“We just have to keep playing hard, and with confidence, and everything will be all right,” Mondesi said. “I believe that. You’ll see.”