Dodgers Get Trade Dividend

Someday Dodger General Manager Tommy Lasorda might look back with regret on the date of July 4, 1998, the date he traded two of his organization’s brightest prospects--infielder Paul Konerko and pitcher Dennis Reyes--to the Cincinnati Reds for reliever Jeff Shaw.

Someday perhaps, but not these days. Certainly not Tuesday night.

Shaw and Konerko came face-to-face at Dodger Stadium in the eighth inning with the game on the line and there could be no argument about who won this matchup.

Shaw is at the top of his game while Konerko, struggling in his first season, is battling to keep his average above .200.

Shaw got Konerko on a ground ball and, for the second time in as many nights, made Lasorda look good, shutting down all four of the former teammates he faced to save a 4-2 victory over the Reds in front of a Dodger Stadium crowd of 30,452.

That gave the Dodgers a sweep of the two-game series, Shaw getting saves in both to give him 27 this season.

After the game, Lasorda wasn’t about to gloat publicly over the outcome.

“I love Paul Konerko,” he said. “I wish nothing but the best for this guy.”

But on Tuesday night, the thing Lasorda loved the most was that it was Shaw, not Konerko, who was wearing a Dodger uniform.

Dodger starter Ismael Valdes has been in desperate need of support lately, having only a 3-3 record to show for his last nine starts despite his 2.69 ERA over that span.

It looked as if things were going to be different Tuesday. His Dodger teammates staked Valdes to a 4-0 lead by the third inning.

Rookie third baseman Adrian Beltre put the first two runs on the scoreboard in the second inning by hitting a 1-and-1 pitch from Cincinnati starter and loser Brett Tomko (9-7) over the wall in left-center, a 390-foot shot that scored Eric Karros.

Beltre may be hitting only .222, but he had an excellent series. He drove in the winning run in Monday’s 2-0 victory over the Reds.

“He’s worked hard and it’s nice to see him having some success,” Dodger Manger Glenn Hoffman said.

The Dodgers added two more runs in the third, Gary Sheffield getting an RBI single followed by an RBI double from Karros.

All Valdes had to do was hang on, but he almost let the game get away. Cincinnati outfielder Willie Greene started Valdes’ downfall in the seventh with a double to right. When Valdes then issued two walks, he was replaced by Scott Radinsky.

Radinsky had his problems as well, walking pinch-hitter Barry Larkin to force in a run before getting outfielder Dmitri Young on a sharp liner to Karros at first to end the inning.

Radinsky opened the eighth by getting himself into more trouble, surrendering a single to Eddie Taubensee.

He retired the next two batters, bringing the right-handed hitting Konerko to bat as the potential tying run against the left-hander.

Hoffman never hesitated. For the second time in less than a week, Hoffman went to him in the eighth.

Hoffman certainly wasn’t mulling over the irony of having the two key figures in the trade face each other. Not at that point.

“I didn’t even think of it,” he said. “I was just thinking of the matchup.”

Shaw is thinking he’s got a pretty good deal with his new team if his manager has enough faith in him to go to him early.

“I’ve told him,” Shaw said, “that coming in in the eighth is not unusual for me and he said that, as long as I’m fresh, I’m going to be out there.”

And as long as he keeps pitching the way he has.

Shaw got Konerko on a force play at second and then retired the three men he faced in the ninth. In the two games against Cincinnati, Shaw faced seven Reds and retired them all. Since he joined the Dodgers, he has retired 22 of the 24 men.

The victory moved the Dodgers two games above .500 at 51-49. That may not seem like much, but it is the first time they have been that far above since June 12.

In the long upward climb facing the Dodgers, with four teams ahead of them in the battle for the National League’s wild-card spot, any move upward is appreciated.