Arizona Homers Do Talking, 12-6

The Dodgers were rude hosts to the Arizona Diamondbacks last week, sweeping their guests during an opening series at Dodger Stadium that was marked by a bench-clearing shoving match in the second game.

The Diamondbacks were equally inhospitable in their home opener Monday night, pummeling the Dodgers and pitcher Chan Ho Park--who ignited hostilities in the previous series by nearly hitting Matt Williams with a pitch--12-6 at Bank One Ballpark.

First baseman Travis Lee delighted a sellout crowd of 46,929, hitting a grand slam against Park in the Diamondbacks’ five-run third inning. Lee also had a run-scoring fly ball in matching the two-year-old franchise’s single-game record for RBIs with five, leading Arizona to its second win in seven games.

“It was just one of those games,” Manager Davey Johnson said. “We got nothing. No breaks at all. I thought Chan Ho threw all right at times.”

Jay Bell’s three-run home run against reliever Mel Rojas in the seventh highlighted the Diamondbacks’ second five-run inning, giving them a 12-4 lead. The Diamondbacks were buoyed by the return of leadoff batter Tony Womack, who had been sidelined since March 6 because of a fractured right wrist, and the opportunity to face Park (0-1), who struggled through five innings.

“I’m going to keep trying to give him work,” Johnson said of Rojas. “I have a role I need him to fill for me. I have to get him to give me decent work often if we’re going to win. He’s got to do it. It’s as simple as that. I can’t abuse [Dave] Mlicki. If I had a Plan B I’d go to it, but I’d have to figure out what Plan B is.”

Diamondback starter Andy Benes (1-1) wasn’t much better through five-plus innings, but he had strong support.

The Dodgers got a two-run homer from Eric Karros, who moved into fourth place among the Dodgers’ all-time Los Angeles leaders in RBIs; and two-out run-scoring singles from Eric Young and pinch-hitter Jose Vizcaino in the sixth, cut the Diamondbacks’ lead to 5-4. But the Dodger bullpen gave up seven runs.

Rookie left-hander Onan Masaoka, who relieved Park in the sixth, struggled with his command, walking three in only two-thirds of an inning. He was charged with two runs.

Then there was Rojas.

The struggling reliever was hit hard, failing to escape the seventh. Rojas gave up three hits--including the three-run homer to Bell--and five runs. His earned-run average increased from 6.00 to 15.75.

Park self-destructed in the third, and the Diamondbacks took advantage, batting around. Vizcaino hit for Park in the sixth, ending his evening.

“I thought some of the pitches were the wrong calls [by the umpires],” Park said. “That made me lose some concentration. That made it hard for me.”

The right-hander gave up six hits--including Lee’s grand slam--while striking out three with three walks. Park threw 84 pitches, 51 of them strikes.

Park began the inning as poorly as he could, walking Benes, giving up a single to Womack and walking Bell to load the bases for Lee with none out. On a 1-and-2 count, Lee blasted Park’s pitch into the right-field seats for the sixth grand slam in Arizona’s history.

Thanks to Park’s rough inning, the Arizona fans lost much of their fury created by last Tuesday’s events in a 3-2 Dodger victory in 10 innings.

The previous game had spurred heated words from the visitors’clubhouse on the final day of that series, and the Diamondbacks’ fans apparently carried a grudge. They booed Park when his name was announced in the opening lineup, and before his first at-bat.

Showalter figured Park would be the center of attention again.

“We expected to hear some woof calls and stuff like that [from fans seeking retaliation],” Showalter said. “Some of the remarks made last week were made my passionate and competitive people who thought things were being done to jeopardize their health.

“It’s all a part of sports. I’m not going to get into if it was intentional or not intentional. We have a new series here now, and it’s time to move ahead.”