Dodgers Picked Right Up by Park

Chan Ho Park acknowledged he wasn’t pleased to see Manager Glenn Hoffman on Friday night.

Park thought Hoffman had come to the mound to remove him during the eighth inning against the Florida Marlins, but Hoffman only delivered a pep talk.

He could have saved himself the trip.

The right-hander knew what he had to do before Hoffman’s visit, pitching out of trouble in a 5-1 victory over Florida before a crowd of 19,853 at Pro Player Stadium.

Park (11-7) pitched eight strong innings to earn his first victory in four starts, overcoming three Dodger errors and a triple on a misplayed fly ball. Raul Mondesi and rookie Adrian Beltre hit home runs, and Antonio Osuna pitched a scoreless ninth as the Dodgers swept the two-game series.

They moved back to .500 (64-64) for the 27th time and improved to 2-2 on the trip. The Dodgers still trail the Chicago Cubs and New York Mets by seven games in the NL wild-card race with 34 games remaining.

Park’s teammates made things difficult--but he covered for them.

“Sometimes your defense is going to let you down, and that’s when a starter has to bear down and make his pitches,” right fielder Gary Sheffield said. “Chan Ho made them chase his [breaking] ball when he had to, and they were chasing his [fastball] all night.

“A lot of times you pick your starter up, tonight Chan Ho picked us up.”

Especially in the eighth.

The Dodgers led, 2-1, on a run-scoring single by Beltre in the fourth, and a solo homer--his fourth--in the sixth. Beltre, now backing up Bobby Bonilla at third base, had both hits with two out.

With two out and a runner on first in the eighth, second baseman Eric Young bobbled a grounder by Cliff Floyd, and his error put runners on first and third. Hoffman then went to the mound to encourage his pitcher.

“I told Chan Ho that it was his game,” Hoffman said. “I told him to go and pick up E.Y. [Young].”

Park did that. He got Kevin Orie to ground into a fielder’s choice to end the inning.

“I thought he was coming to make a [pitching] change, but he just wanted to say something,” Park said. “He told me to pick up E.Y., but that’s what I expected to do. [Of course] I wanted to pick up E.Y.”

Young was appreciative.

“There’s no excuse for that, I have to make that play,” said Young, who went two for five with a run scored.

“Chan Ho stepped up big time and got me off the hook. I know I wouldn’t be standing here and talking about this game if he didn’t.”

Park gave up four hits, including a run-scoring single by Marlin pitcher Livan Hernandez in the fifth. He struck out seven with two walks while throwing 111 pitches, 66 for strikes.

Greg Zaun wound up with a leadoff triple against Park in the third when left-fielder Matt Luke lost the ball in the lights.

Park’s response? He struck out the side.

“I wasn’t worried about giving up a run there because it was early in the game,” Park said.

“I just made my pitches. I had a good breaking ball, and I just threw my fastball faster and faster.”

Mondesi hit his team-leading 28th homer--a three-run shot--with two out in the ninth against Hernandez (10-9), giving the Dodgers a 5-1 lead.

But Mondesi wanted to talk about Beltre.

“He got two big hits that helped us win the game,” Mondesi said. “He’s going to help us a lot [next season].”

Hernandez is third in the NL with eight complete games, and leads the league by averaging more than 120 pitches per game. He has thrown at least 125 pitches in his last five starts.

He threw 147 pitches against the Dodgers, 90 for strikes. Mondesi homered on Hernandez’s 144th pitch.

Manager Jim Leyland is concerned about overworking Hernandez, but his options are limited because the Marlins’ payroll-slashed pitching staff lacks experience.

“He’s a real workhorse, so I’m not too worried about it,” Leyland said.

“But we might have to start backing him off soon.”