New Players Bring Dodgers Success

The method of the victories is one measure. The mood of the clubhouse is another.

Call it a resurgence--one of the many ways Manager Bill Russell described it after the Dodgers beat the Montreal Expos, 6-3, Sunday, with Gary Sheffield and Bobby Bonilla again contributing important hits, as they did in their Dodger debuts Saturday night.

“Different team, different confidence, different attitude,” a suddenly effusive Russell said of his team.

“Say what you want after two games, but we were looking for a direction and I think we’ve found it.

“We’re still eight games back [of the San Diego Padres in the National League West], but we had to get our house in order first. I mean, it’s as if our season started [Saturday], as if that was opening day.”

The Dodgers are 2-0 in their new season and 21-22 overall. The trade with the Florida Marlins seems to have provided a greater array of weapons--and more.

Confidence has replaced doubt. Smiles have replaced frowns.

It’s just two games, but Ramon Martinez, who ignored stomach flu to pitch six innings Sunday, said, “everybody seems happier and having more fun. There’s definitely a different attitude.”

Said Russell: “It starts in the clubhouse, starts before the game. Guys are talking, relaxing, laughing. We had a meeting last night and everyone was loose, ribbing each other.

“I mean, something had to change. The players weren’t having any fun, the fans weren’t having any fun and I wasn’t having any fun.

“You see a different team out there now. This has been a big change for the better.”

Better, Russell and the Dodgers seemed to be saying, because they have filled critical needs.

Better as well, they seemed to suggest, because of a conviction that Mike Piazza had created an overriding distraction and demonstrated where his priority was when he chose to complain about his contract situation on opening day.

“We have a whole new team with everybody trying,” said Raul Mondesi. “We’re going to win a lot of games.”

A Dodger Stadium crowd of 45,382 saw the hustling Mondesi light up a 10-hit attack Sunday with two doubles, a single and a sacrifice fly.

Said Sheffield: “Now I get to see with my own eyes what Mondesi can do. He’s a very exciting player who sets a tone. We’re just trying to follow his example.”

Sheffield singled twice, walked twice, drove in one run and scored two. He has been on base seven times in 10 trips to the plate as a Dodger.

“I was swinging the bat well when I came over and I’m just trying to continue,” he said.

The score was tied, 3-3, in the fifth when Sheffield singled, Bonilla doubled and Mondesi added his sacrifice fly for a 5-3 lead.

If Sheffield arrived with a hot bat, so did Bonilla, who is hitting .349 since April 28, raising his average from .175 to .276.

“I think people were looking for us to come in and make an impact, but all we’re doing is being ourselves,” Bonilla said, adding that the little things were as important as the more obvious Sunday. Charles Johnson and Eric Karros advanced a runner from second to third by grounding to the right side of the infield, giving up an at-bat.

“That’s a big part of winning,” Bonilla said. “I don’t think it’s important to worry about average. The bottom line is shaking hands at the end of the game.”

Antonio Osuna and Scott Radinsky retired the last nine Expos in order after the weakened Martinez toughed out the six innings for his fifth win in seven decisions. The Dodgers, of course, should win games against an undermanned opponent that starts the inexperienced Javier Vazquez and Mike Johnson, as the Expos did Saturday and Sunday, but then the Dodgers had lost four of the previous five against the Philadelphia Phillies and Expos on this homestand.

Now, Russell and others insisted, they are a different team, and, perhaps, the manager said, they may become a better-looking team. He referred to Sheffield’s facial adornment and said: “You might see a lot of the guys growing goatees.”

* PIAZZA UPDATE

Mike Piazza staked Florida to an early lead, but Brian Jordan drove in four runs in St. Louis’ 13-4 victory. C9