One Error Is No Problem for Bohanon

On the second pitch of Friday night’s game at Dodger Stadium, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Tony Womack hit a grounder to third that went through the legs of the Dodgers’ Adrian Beltre into left field.

Just what the Dodgers needed.

After stumbling through a 4-6 trip, after getting swept by the Montreal Expos, after losing five of six, after losing big in some games and losing leads in others, the Dodgers’ hopes of a fresh beginning at home hadn’t survived the second pitch.

But on the mound, Dodger starter Brian Bohanon wasn’t worried.

“He’ll get more,” Bohanon told himself. “I throw inside. Everybody knows that. So let’s hold our heads up high and let’s go get ‘em.”

Bohanon’s pep talk worked wonders for him and maybe Beltre got the message by mental telepathy.

With Bohanon holding the Pirates to a run and two hits in 7 1/3 innings, Beltre shaking off the effects of his error to record nine assists and Gary Sheffield returning from a three-game suspension with a hot bat, the Dodgers beat the Pirates, 3-1, in front of a crowd of 41,676, handing Pittsburgh its 10th loss in its last 12 games.

Catcher Charles Johnson gave Bohanon the early lead by smashing his 16th home run of the season over the center-field wall in the third inning.

Sheffield, who had gone home to Florida while the Dodgers played Montreal, was worried that his rhythm at the plate might be affected by his forced absence.

Not to worry.

After singling in the first, Sheffield doubled to right-center in the fourth and scored the Dodgers’ second run as Bobby Bonilla hit into a double play.

“He must have been hitting in his backyard batting cage,” Dodger Manager Glenn Hoffman said of Sheffield.

The Dodger right fielder knocked in his team’s third run with a sacrifice fly to right in the sixth, scoring Eric Young, who had gotten aboard on an error by Pirate shortstop Kevin Polcovich. A strong throw from Jose Guillen arrived at home plate an instant before Young. But catcher Jason Kendall, with only a split second to react, tried to spin and make the tag. By the time his glove hit Young, the ball had sailed out of Kendall’s hands.

In the meantime, Bohanon was using his cut fastball and his curve to get the Pirates to hit the ball on the ground. Most of the time Beltre’s way.

“I feel bad about that first play,” said the 20-year-old rookie who was brought up from double-A ball on June 24. “When something like that happens, that runner can score and you are already behind.”

But Beltre kept scooping up everything that came his way and gunned it to first. He got an assist in the second, one in the third, one in the fourth, three in the seventh, one in the eighth and two in the ninth.

The play in the eighth was spectacular. With Lou Collier aboard after a walk, Womack laid down a bunt. Beltre charged the ball, grabbed it, leaped and fired a sidearm strike to first to nip Womack.

It was a crucial play because if Beltre’s throw arrives any later, the Pirates have the potential tying runs on with nobody out.

“You are not going to see a better play than that,” Hoffman said.

“I love that kind of play,” Beltre said. “I like the players to bunt to me [in practice] because I love to make that play.”

After Beltre’s big play, Hoffman brought in Antonio Osuna to close out the Pirates in the eighth and Jeff Shaw to close out the game in the ninth, which he did to record his 34th save.

For Bohanon (5-7), it was an important outing. When starter Ismael Valdes, suffering from a pulled muscle on his left side, returns, there will be an odd man out in the rotation and Bohanon hopes it isn’t him.

“The Mets didn’t give me much of a chance to start,” said the left-hander, who came from New York in a July 10 trade for reliever Greg McMichael. “That’s what I’ve always wanted, to start. I can come out of the bullpen, but I consider myself a starter.

“I don’t have the greatest stuff in the world, but I have command of everything. I’ll take that out there every five days.”

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ANGELS RAINED OUT

They will play a doubleheader today in Chicago. A spot in the rotation will be found for Juden. C8