They Finally Got a Complete Effort

That’s one.

For days the butt of criticism and jokes, the Dodgers finally did something right Tuesday night. They defeated the San Diego Padres, 6-2, on the strength of Chan Ho Park’s excellent pitching and Todd Zeile’s two home runs.

Welcome back to the pennant race.

Time is short, but sick is better than dead. If the Dodgers win all five of their remaining games--including four in Colorado--they can take the division outright if the San Francisco Giants go 2-2.

Not a pretty picture, but not as bleak as it was 24 hours ago.

The 45,711 who came to Dodger Stadium saw the Dodgers come through with a 12-hit, error-free, well-pitched game that was long overdue.

For a night, the booing stopped.

Manager Bill Russell heard the only sounds of discontent, when he was hooted loudly in the eighth inning, simply for walking out to the mound to speak with Park.

Russell was cheered for leaving Park in the game, and was justified when Park put away the Padres with no further difficulty.

It was a tremendous effort by Park, who has become L.A.’s best pitcher.

Zeile tossed him a nice compliment, saying, “He’s starting to believe he’s got great stuff.”

Tuesday’s was the 157th game of the season, but, once again, better late than never.

The kid from Kong Ju City, Korea, showed a lot of heart. Chan Ho stayed out there on that hill, in the heat of the night, until he had thrown 139 pitches. And the 139th looked as sharp as the first. It struck out San Diego’s Chris Gomez, looking.

“I felt more powerful in the ninth inning,” Park said, after his second career complete game.

Someone asked what transpired when Park got a visit from the manager during the Padre eighth, with a man on first and 1996 National League MVP Ken Caminiti coming up to bat.

Park said, “I thought that I would be taken out. I was a bit mad.

“But before he asked, I said I could stay. I know how to pitch to Caminiti.”

And what did Russell say to that?

“He wished me luck,” Park said.

Then he got Caminiti on a fly to left.

No wonder the new Dodger advertisements--the ones with the caricatures of the star players--have begun featuring Park, along with the ones of their five former rookies of the year.

“We needed somebody to step up, and he did,” Russell said of Park, who will pitch Sunday’s game in Denver that could decide the championship.

A few other Dodgers stepped up, notably Zeile, who knocked his 28th and 29th homers out of the yard.

Neither one flew as high or far as Mike Piazza’s monster mash did the other night--few do--but they were bigger in every way for the Dodgers, who have desperately been in need of some muscle.

After a few horrid months, Zeile is now hitting .268 with his 29 home runs, numbers the Dodgers gladly would have desired from him as of March, in spring training.

The only numbers important to the Dodgers now are the ones in the National League West standings, including San Francisco’s magic one.

“Obviously, we’re back in it . . . we didn’t think we were out,” Zeile said.

Still, Zeile is a realist, one of the few Dodgers who had come right out and said, after five consecutive losses, that the team was suffering from high anxiety. He bluntly said after Sunday’s loss to the Rockies, “Everybody knows we have to win all six of the games we have left, or we’re done.”

Absolutely right.

And make it five.

Several of his teammates helped out, Darren Lewis hustling his way into scoring position, Otis Nixon lining an RBI single to get him home. Piazza also gunned down a runner trying to steal, which is always a good sign.

And it was good to see Eric Karros find the sweet spot of his bat, doubling home Piazza and belting his first home run since an Aug. 31 one against Seattle.

Having played so poorly of late, the Dodgers gladly would have settled for any kind of a victory . . . 1-0 or 20-19.

Imagine their relief at finally winning one by a four-run margin. This was the first Dodger victory by more than one run since way back on Sept. 7.

They have a long way to go, and a short time to get there.

But, as Russell did with Park, wish them luck.