PADRES 3, DODGERS 2 : Dodgers Get an Earful of Caminiti MVP Support

If nothing else, the Dodgers say, at least they no longer will be hearing the ‘MVP-MVP-MVP” chant when San Diego Padre third baseman Ken Caminiti comes to the plate.

Caminiti is vying to become the first Padre to win the most valuable player award. The crowds--a record 197,225 for the four-game series--broke into the chant virtually every time he stepped to the plate at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

Caminiti leads National League batters in all of the Triple Crown categories since the All-Star break: .357 batting average, 26 homers and 77 runs batted in.

Earlier this season, he got tired of hearing a teammate’s constant second-guessing of Manager Bruce Bochy. Finally, he put all of his teammates’ clothes in Bochy’s office. When the teammate came looking for his clothes, Caminiti said: “If you want to manage so bad, go ahead and dress in the office.”

It was the end of the second-guessing.

“He’s the best I’ve ever been around,” Padre right fielder Tony Gwynn said. “I always thought that Matt Williams [of the San Francisco Giants] was the best third baseman I’ve seen since Mike Schmidt. But this guy, wow, he’s right there. Let me put it this way, we wouldn’t be here without him”

Said Kevin Towers, Padre general manager: “You never hear the guy talk about a buck or incentives. His incentive is to come out and improve the team. I really can’t think of a weakness he has.”

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A Dodger starting pitcher lost for only the third time since Aug. 21. The staff leads the National League with a 3.45 earned-run average and is vying for its first ERA title since 1991. While most staffs are tiring, the Dodgers continue to get stronger. They had a 2.38 ERA in the four-game series.

“You’ve got to be happy with the way we’ve pitched,” pitching coach Dave Wallace said. “I’m very proud with what we did this series.”

The reason for the Dodgers’ success is simple, Wallace said. Call it preventive medicine.

The Dodgers have only six complete games and the only starter who has thrown more than 130 pitches in a game is Ramon Martinez, who threw 132 on Aug. 14 against the St. Louis Cardinals.

“I’ve been a real pain to a lot of people, making sure that everyone stays healthy,” Wallace said. “I think that’s the key. Right now, you’re seeing the dividends.”

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Ted Giannoulas, who dons the Famous San Diego Chicken costume, lashed back at Gwynn for his complaints that Giannoulas disrupted Thursday’s game with his antics.

“I recognize some athletes live in a culture of complaint, but even at that, Tony Gwynn’s remarks about me . . . were unfortunate and irresponsible,” Giannoulas wrote in a letter to the editor in the San Diego Union-Tribune. “In all these years of sports, I’ve found that real men don’t whine. Evidently, Dodgers ace Ramon Martinez wasn’t fazed by any delay in the game as Gwynn was.

“If my little pep talk comedy was the worst thing Gwynn has seen in his life then that’s one charmed existence sadly oblivious to a real world of social despair, disease and debt.”

Said Gwynn: “I ain’t worrying about The Chicken. The Chicken will be around for a long time.”

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Catcher Mike Piazza hit a 446-foot homer into the second deck in the eighth inning, only the 13th time in San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium that has been done. The last time it occurred was June 25, 1995, by Andres Galarraga of the Colorado Rockies. . . . Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the Dodgers’ torrid streak in which they’ve won 29 of 41 games is that they have not lost back-to-back games since Aug. 7 at Pittsburgh and Aug. 9 at Cincinnati. The Atlanta Braves, on Aug. 3-4, are the last team to beat the Dodgers in consecutive games.