A Rally Good Show

By BOB NIGHTENGALE

Sept. 26, 1996 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

The Dodgers, who taunted the opposition with words of bravado in spring training and teased them with mediocrity during much of the season, didn’t even celebrate Wednesday night.

There was no music blaring in the clubhouse, no back-slapping, and certainly no champagne.

All they could do was grin.

The Dodgers, with one more victory or a Montreal Expo loss, will be in the playoffs.

Their 7-5 victory over the San Francisco Giants in front of 42,405 at Dodger Stadium clinched a tie for a playoff berth, thanks to losses by the Expos and San Diego Padres.

“We want to win this thing ourselves,” said first baseman Eric Karros, who hit the tie-breaking home run in the eighth. “All we need to do is play well, and it will happen for us. I don’t think anybody is going to be satisfied with just being a wild card or division winner. We want to do some work in the playoffs.”

The Dodgers, who came back from a 5-0 deficit to produce their 15th comeback victory since Aug. 15, not only moved 2 1/2 games ahead of the Padres with their victory, but four games ahead of the Expos with only four games remaining.

The Dodgers’ magic number for clinching the National League West is two. They can clinch a tie for the division title with a victory over the Giants tonight. And a victory in one of the final three games against the Padres will win the division outright.

The Dodgers will open the best-of-five playoff series Tuesday at Busch Stadium against the St. Louis Cardinals if they indeed do win the division. If the Dodgers win the division and the Expos are the wild-card team, the Dodgers will open the playoffs Wednesday in Montreal. And if they win only the wild-card spot, they will open Wednesday at Dodger Stadium against the Atlanta Braves.

“I just want to win the division,” Dodger Manager Bill Russell said, “and we’ll let the rest take care of itself.”

The Dodgers’ victory Wednesday, sparked by Billy Ashley’s record-setting fifth pinch-hit homer in the seventh and Karros’ go-ahead homer in the eighth, was a microcosm of their entire season.

The Dodgers, who vowed that outfielder Barry Bonds would not beat them, watched him lead the Giants to a 5-0 lead after 5 1/2 innings. Bonds reached base three times, drew a league-record 149th walk, produced one hit, one RBI, and stole two bases. He now is only one stolen base shy of joining Jose Canseco as the only players in baseball history to hit 40 homers and steal 40 bases in the same season.

The lead looked safe with Giant starter William Van Landingham on the mound, until the Giants awoke to reality, and once again reverted to their vaudeville act.

It began when Wayne Kirby hit a soft single to left in the sixth. Mike Piazza hit an infield single off Van Landingham’s foot. Karros followed with a single to left, scoring Kirby, and Piazza stopping at second.

Van Landingham, who already had defeated the Dodgers twice this season, was yanked for reliever Mark Dewey. Raul Mondesi greeted him with a single to left, loading the bases.

Tim Wallach then hit what appeared to be a routine double-play bouncer to third baseman Kim Batiste. Batiste fielded the ball cleanly, waited momentarily for rookie Bill Mueller to cover second, and then fired the ball into right field. Piazza and Karros scored, and when right fielder Glenallen Hill’s throw bounced away, Mondesi scored from third.

In the seventh, with two outs and nobody on base, Russell turned to Ashley to hit for Kirby. Ashley slammed a 2-and-0 fastball from Jim Poole into the right-field seats for his fifth pinch-hit homer of the season, tying the score, 5-5. Ashley’s homer tied Lee Lacy’s Los Angeles record, and is one shy of the franchise record of six by John Frederick in 1932 with Brooklyn. He now has six home runs in his last 13 at-bats.

“I put it in the back of my mind,” Ashley said. “I’ve got one shot, and one shot only. If I’m going up there, somebody’s looking for a home run.”

The Dodgers, who have won all six games in which Ashley has homered, made it stand again in the eighth. The stadium scoreboard flashed the news of the Colorado Rockies’ 5-3 victory over the Padres at 10:19. One minute later, Karros hit a leadoff homer into the right-field seats for his 34th homer of the season. Raul Mondesi scored an insurance run on Doug Creek’s wild pitch, and Todd Worrell shut the door with his 44th save.

Was the Padre score responsible for Karros’ homer?

“If that was the situation,” Karros said, “I’d want them to put up a score every time. I’m not that good.”

Said Russell: “Eric’s been the unsung hero for us. He’s got to get some MVP votes as far as I’m concerned. Both he and Mike [Piazza] have kept this team together.”

It will be a few days before the Dodgers know just where they’re headed, but if nothing else, they were able to all but finalize their postseason pitching plans with Wednesday’s turn of events.

Pedro Astacio, who was a candidate to be in the starting rotation in the first round of the playoffs, now will be in the bullpen after yielding six hits and five earned runs in 5 2/3 innings Wednesday night.

The Dodgers tentatively have scheduled ace Ramon Martinez for Game 1, Hideo Nomo for Game 2 and Ismael Valdes in Game 3. The Dodgers need only a three-man rotation in the first round.

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THE NL WEST

Stretch Drive

WEDNESDAY’S GAMES

* Dodgers 7, San Francisco 5

* Colorado 5, San Diego 3

TODAY’S GAME

* San Francisco (Gardner 11-7) at Dodgers (Candiotti 9-10)

Channel 5, 7 p.m.

DECISIVE SERIES: SAN DIEGO AT DODGERS

* Friday: 7 p.m., Channel 5

* Saturday: 1 p.m., Channel 11