So, That Was Mike Who?

Any hint of Mike Piazza nostalgia faded quickly Saturday night as Bobby Bonilla, Gary Sheffield and Charles Johnson made their Dodger debuts and contributed significantly to a 9-4 victory over the Montreal Expos at Dodger Stadium.

Rescued from a season of lethargy and losses in South Florida, the three former Marlins might have wondered if they had landed in blue heaven. A crowd of 51,698, including what Dodger officials felt was a trade-inspired walk-up sale of about 6,000, provided a rousing reception that included chants of “Bobby, Bobby, Bobby” when Bonilla homered to ignite an eight-run sixth inning.

The three new Dodgers were on base six times, driving in four runs. Sheffield got the Dodgers a 1-1 tie with a run-scoring single in the third and Bonilla broke the tie with his leadoff homer in the sixth, an inning in which he also contributed a sacrifice fly as 12 Dodgers batted and collected seven hits, including a run-scoring single by Johnson, Piazza’s replacement behind the plate.

The impressive debut of the three Marlin exiles overshadowed Darren Dreifort’s first win of the season in what might have been his final attempt to escape banishment to the bullpen.

Coming in 0-4 with a 4.61 earned-run average, Dreifort walked five, including three in the first inning, but gave up only four hits and two earned runs in 6 2/3 innings.

He also had two of the Dodgers’ 11 hits, scored twice and shrugged off his pattern of encountering problems after his first trip through the lineup, retiring the Expos without a hit between Mark Grudzielanek’s one-out single in the first and Brad Fullmer’s one-out double in the sixth.

It wasn’t the first time Dreifort and Johnson had formed a battery, having been teammates on the 1992 Olympic team.

Dreifort said it was a relief to get his first win and added, “C.J. was outstanding behind the plate. He worked guys in and out. He’s a hell of a catcher.”

The Dodgers had lost four of five games to the Expos and Philadelphia Phillies on the home stand, and Manager Bill Russell had to decide where to bat his new players and how to arrange his outfield.

He opted to bat Sheffield third and the switch-hitting Bonilla fourth, the first left-handed hitter to bat cleanup since Henry Rodriguez on July 8, 1994. Raul Mondesi, who would single twice, dropped from second to fifth, with Eric Karros sixth, Todd Hollandsworth seventh and Johnson eighth, which bumped Jose Vizcaino to second behind Eric Young.

Roger Cedeno went to the bench, replaced in center by the receptive Mondesi, which allowed Sheffield to play his customary right field. It was the first time Mondesi had played center since 1995, when he played the first 24 games of that season there.

“This is the way it’s going to be for now and we’ll see how it works out,” Russell said. “Mondy has the ability to be an outstanding center fielder, and we have a need to fill. We have a lot of different guys on the team right now and we have to find the right spots to put them.”

The new guys said they were happy to be in a situation where they had the opportunity to win.

As for that reception, Bonilla said, “I’ve been booed all the time, I’m kind of used to that experience. I’ve never been cheered here. That was a new experience.”