It’s a G’Day for Dodgers

The Dodgers believed their struggling hitters would improve, but they wondered when?

They got their answer Tuesday.

Breaking out of their season-opening slump, the Dodgers had 13 hits in defeating the Arizona Diamondbacks, 9-1, before a sellout crowd of 52,424 in the home opener at Dodger Stadium.

On a day when all-star catcher Mike Piazza was booed often, presumably because of fans’ anger over his contract negotiations, the Dodgers also gave those in attendance--among them new owner Rupert Murdoch--many reasons to cheer.

“This is what we’ve been talking about all along, about us doing what everyone in this clubhouse knows we’re capable of doing,” said second baseman Eric Young, who sparked the Dodgers with a two-out double in their five-run fourth inning.

“It was good to get another win, but it was also important to put on a good performance for the fans and Mr. Murdoch. If I were the owner, I’d want my new team to put on a good performance for me.”

Murdoch, whose Fox Group recently completed its purchase of the Dodgers, sat with former owner Peter O’Malley in the owner’s box in the newly adorned stadium. Murdoch didn’t speak with the players Tuesday, but they presumed he enjoyed the show.

“We knew he was here, and we were glad he was here,” third baseman Todd Zeile said. “But the main thing, the most important thing, was to come out and do this for all the fans. This is what this team is capable of doing when everyone is relaxed and focused, like today.”

The Dodgers scored as many runs in the fourth inning as they had in their previous three games. They said that Young’s two-out, two-run double set the tone for the inning, in which they sent 10 batters to the plate.

They hit consecutive home runs for the first time when Todd Hollandsworth and Thomas Howard connected in the fifth.

And they scored more runs through five innings against the Diamondbacks than they had in their previous 30.

Chan Ho Park (1-0), who left the game because of a lower back strain, earned the victory by pitching six strong innings. But it was the offense that left the Dodgers smiling.

“It was really just a matter of time,” said Manager Bill Russell, whose team has won its last two games after losing its first four.

“We knew the offense would come around, but we hadn’t been getting those clutch, two-out base hits. Then E.Y. came through with that big one, and that took a lot of pressure off of everyone.”

With the score tied, 1-1, the Dodgers took command in the fourth against Diamondback starter Willie Blair (0-2). Raul Mondesi began the proceedings with a ground-rule double to left, and Blair hit Paul Konerko with a pitch, putting runners at first and second with none out.

Then Hollandsworth, who went two for four with three runs batted in, gave the Dodgers their first lead by driving in Mondesi with a single to center. With two out, Konerko and Hollandsworth scored on Young’s double to right-center, and Young scored on Jose Vizcaino’s single to center--which ended Blair’s work.

“E.Y. broke the ice with that hit,” Zeile said. “It seemed like we just couldn’t get a big two-out hit on the road, then we get a bunch after E.Y. came through with that first one.”

Piazza, who was booed each time his name was announced, then singled to left against reliever Barry Manuel--his only hit in four at-bats. Piazza, who began the season with a .334 career average, is now batting .200 without a homer or RBI. Vizcaino scored the final run of the inning on Zeile’s double to right.

“I let it get away from me in the fifth,” Blair said. “We could have been right there if I had made a couple of different pitches.”

The Dodgers added three more runs in the fifth on a two-run homer by Hollandsworth and a solo shot by Howard, who leads the team with two. Jim Bruske, Mark Guthrie and Antonio Osuna each worked an inning of scoreless relief.

“I looked at today like it was opening day,” Russell said. “I told [the team] to forget about everything that’s happened, that this is our first game. We started all over today.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

DODGERS HOME OPENERS BY THE NUMBERS

22-19: Dodger record since moving to Los Angeles

TIMES STARTING DODGER OPENER

6: Claude Osteen

4: Don Sutton

3: Johnny Podres, Burt Hooton

2: Don Drysdale, Orel Hershiser, Ramon Martinez

1: Carl Erskine, Sandy Koufax, Bill Singer, Al Downing, Doug Rau, Tommy John, Jerry Reuss, Rick Honeycutt, Bob Welch, Tim Belcher, Bob Ojeda, Kevin Gross, Pedro Astacio, Hideo Nomo, Chan Ho Park.

IN 1998

National League (10-6)

Winners: Dodgers, St. Louis, Atlanta, Florida, Chicago, Milwaukee, San Francisco, San Diego, Philadelphia

Losers: Arizona, Houston, Cincinnati, Montreal, Colorado, Pittsburgh

American League (3-7)

Winners: Angels, Toronto, Detroit

Losers: Oakland: Texas, Seattle, Baltimore, Tampa Bay, Minnesota, Kansas City

*Note: The Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees, Cleveland and Boston have not played their home opener.