Prince Is King of Dodger Win

Can the so-far so-so Dodgers possibly rally themselves back into the NL wild-card playoff race? Stranger things, as Manager Glenn Hoffman said, have happened.

Many of them happened Sunday.

Little-used Tom Prince replaced late-scratch Charles Johnson and poked two game-turning doubles and starter Dave Mlicki saved the bullpen by shutting down the Mets in a crisp 4-2 victory over New York in front of 44,746 at Dodger Stadium.

But even though the Dodgers, who suffered back-to-back dramatic defeats in the previous two games, moved within seven games of the Mets and the Chicago Cubs in the wild-card standings, they still could not escape the night unscathed.

Gary Sheffield, the team’s most dangerous hitter, sprained his left ankle at the end of a bizarre double-caught-stealing play in the eighth inning, and spent the next several minutes writhing in pain.

The agony of defeat, followed by the agony of victory?

“That was a huge win,” Hoffman said. “If there was one that we had to win, that was the one. They’re all big, but for us to keep going, that’s the one we needed.”

Sheffield was taken to Centinela Hospital for X-rays, which were negative. He is listed as day-to-day, but ankle injuries are always iffy at best. Shortstop Jose Vizcaino already has missed more than two months after suffering his own ankle sprain.

So what if Sheffield has to miss significant time?

“It’s another blow,” Hoffman said quietly. “That’s a big guy we can’t replace. But I’m talking like he won’t be back. Let’s wait until tomorrow and just hope for the best. . . .”

Then, even more quietly: “There’s always something that pulls you back.”

Sheffield was on third base with one out in the ninth when Met reliever Greg McMichael faked to third and caught Raul Mondesi breaking off of first. Mondesi got into a rundown, but was tagged out as Sheffield tried to dash home.

Met first baseman John Olerud quickly threw to the plate, and now Sheffield was in a rundown. Very quickly, after two changes of direction, he was in agony, and tagged for the third out, in the baseline between third and home, apparently after his spikes caught in the ground.

“I just hope,” said second baseman Eric Young, “it’s not as bad as it looked.”

Which actually wouldn’t be a bad theme for this whole Dodger season: 1998--It wasn’t as bad as it looked.

On Sunday, the Dodgers started off looking like they were ready for their third consecutive defeat when Mlicki, the former Met, gave up six hits in the first three innings--including solo home runs by Carlos Baerga and Edgardo Alfonzo.

Then, in the fifth, Prince and Young teamed up to put the Dodgers on the board. Prince, filling in after Johnson felt stiffness in his shoulder before the game, doubled Mark Grudzielanek to third. Both scored on a two-out single by Young against Met starter Masato Yoshii to tie the score.

“We were a little flat in the beginning,” Young said. “We didn’t have that type of spark. And that hit seemed to give everybody a lift.”

Two innings later, after hits by Bonilla and Grudzielanek, Prince blasted a shot into the left-center gap against reliever Turk Wendell, for his third and fourth runs batted in of the season.

Meanwhile, Mlicki’s curveball was dominating the Met lineup, which was without Mike Piazza after the first inning, when he took a foul ball off of his right shoulder and was replaced by Jorge Fabregas.

Mlicki surrendered only two singles after the third, and retired the last 13 batters he faced. Mlicki (8-6) had a season-high nine strikeouts and turned in the Dodgers’ first complete game since June 27, when Ismael Valdes did it.

The complete game was especially meaningful since Hoffman had decided to give the struggling Jeff Shaw the day off.

“We were a little short in the bullpen tonight and he came through with a huge game,” Prince said. “He just kept the ball down. He made two mistakes and they hit them both hard.”

Did knowing the Met batters so well make it easier?

“It didn’t seem like it in the first couple innings,” Mlicki said. “I made a couple of mistakes and they hit them out. But as I got into the game the curveball felt pretty good. And that pitch was big for me.”