Piazza Puts Cap on Dodger Rally in the Ninth, 9-6

The Dodgers needed a confidence boost after struggling to score in their three-game losing streak.

Rallying from a six-run deficit qualified.

Mike Piazza hit two home runs--including the game winner in the ninth--as the Dodgers overcame their largest deficit in four seasons Wednesday night in a 9-6 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers before 14,083 at County Stadium.

The victory was as unexpected as it was thrilling, the Dodgers said.

“We’ve obviously been struggling offensively, and we haven’t shown that we can battle back after being down,” Manager Bill Russell said. “But when we fell behind early tonight, we bunched a lot of hits together.

“We got some key two-out hits, got some breaks, and got back into the game. Then we had the big guy up there in the right situation, and he came through in a big way.”

The Brewers scored six runs through the first three innings against Chan Ho Park. The Dodgers had scored only four runs in their previous 29 innings before Wednesday, so Milwaukee seemed to be in a good position to win its sixth game in a row.

But Piazza hit a solo homer in the fourth, and the Dodgers, with some help from the Brewers, scored five runs in the fifth to tie the score. Piazza’s three-run homer in the ninth completed the Dodger rally and capped the 19th multi-homer game of the all-star catcher’s career.

“I just got a couple of good pitches to drive, and I didn’t miss them,” said Piazza, who hit his sixth and seventh homers on 0-and-2 counts. “Our offense has been inconsistent, but we did a good job of picking it up tonight. Fortunately, I was able to come through.”

And the bullpen continued to do the same.

Five relievers combined to hold the Brewers scoreless over the final five innings, and the bullpen has not been charged with an earned run in 18 1/3 innings. Antonio Osuna (2-0) pitched 1 1/3 innings to earn the victory, and Scott Radinsky pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to earn his team-leading third save.

The Dodgers defeated the Houston Astros, 9-8, after trailing, 8-2, after three innings on May 9, 1994. But Wednesday, history wasn’t their focus.

“When you’ve been struggling like we have, you have to go out and prove that you’re capable of climbing back in a game,” said Matt Luke, who started in left field. “Sometimes, the best way to break out of it is forget about what happened in the past, stop talking about correcting your problems, and just go out there and prove you can do it.”

Park provided the opportunity.

He has been the Dodgers’ best starter behind Ramon Martinez, but he was out of sync against the Brewers. Park gave up six hits and six runs in the second and third, and Russell removed him after the fourth.

Park said his strained back had little to do with his worst start of the season.

“I was putting pressure on myself because of the umpire’s calls,” he said. “I got mad at myself and lost my control after they got a couple of base hits.”

The Dodgers got Park off the hook when they tied the score, 6-6, in the fifth. Wilton Guerrero, who pinch-hit for Park, made the first and final outs of the inning in which the Dodgers sent 10 batters to the plate.

Trailing, 6-3, with two out and the bases loaded, the Dodgers scored two runs when Paul Konerko hit a line drive that went under the glove of third baseman Jeff Cirillo for an error. Luke, who had walked to force in a run, then scored the tying run on Jose Vizcaino’s single to right.

“Everyone else got the job done after I struck out [in the fifth], which was big,” Piazza said. “It just seemed like it was feast or famine for me.”

It was the former in the ninth.

With one out and Eric Young at second and Todd Zeile at first, Piazza hit a sinker from Bob Wickman (1-4) into the seats in left-center, which ignited a celebration in the Dodger dugout.

“Our big guy created a lot of energy with that one swing,” Russell said. “He put us up three runs, and we really needed that.”