Cast of Characters Comes to Rescue for Dodgers, 8-1

Manager Davey Johnson called in the Rescue Squad for the Dodgers on Saturday, and an unlikely-looking crew showed up to save the day.

With a lineup made of mostly reserves--and with starting pitcher Darren Dreifort back after a brief demotion to the bullpen and oft-injured Todd Hollandsworth batting cleanup--the Dodgers won for only the third time in 12 games.

They beat Philadelphia, 8-1, before 32,315 at Dodger Stadium with Gary Sheffield, Eric Karros, Eric Young, Jose Vizcaino and Devon White on the bench, most of them nursing nagging injuries, and a cast of utility players on the field.

Dreifort, who pitched so poorly in a seven-run, 4 1/3-inning stint in his previous start that Johnson planned to pull him from the rotation, made the most of his reprieve, giving up one run on six hits and walking only two before he left with two outs in the seventh.

“I’m telling you, that was what I saw when I looked at his numbers from last year,” Johnson said. “He did a good job. We had long discussions about where he’s best suited to pitch. . . . He was a pitcher out there today, instead of a thrower.”

He got plenty of support.

Every player in the unusual lineup had a hit. Hollandsworth, Tripp Cromer and Raul Mondesi each drove in two runs, and the Dodgers took advantage of the Phillies’ poor fielding while playing an errorless game themselves.

“The Rescue Team,” Johnson said. “Today to me was like a big step closer to becoming a team. The Rescue Team scored more runs it seems like I’ve seen in a month.

“That should take some heat off my regulars--or put some pressure on them.”

That, of course, was the uneasy joke going around the clubhouse.

Will the lineup of Craig Counsell, Trenidad Hubbard, Mondesi, Hollandsworth, Adrian Beltre, Dave Hansen, Cromer and Angel Pena be out there again today?

“We’ve been looking for someone to spark us as a club,” said Young, who sat out because of a sore ankle. “Those guys played great, going out there like that and scoring runs. What, seven starters didn’t play? That’s what it takes, all 25 guys doing their job.

“I actually mentioned to [Johnson], ‘Hey, if those guys go out and play well and I’m the manager, I’d play ‘em again.’ Those guys have been waiting patiently for an opportunity to play. Hey, I want to play every day, and there’d probably be some upset people, but. . . . “

Johnson suggested he’ll mix up today’s lineup, keeping in some of the players who played well Saturday and mixing in some rested regulars.

The Dodgers took control of the game early by scoring three runs in the third, two of them after Phillie first baseman Rico Brogna dropped Mondesi’s pop-up after losing it in the sun with two outs.

Hollandsworth, activated from the disabled list Saturday, followed with a two-run double to right-center off starter Robert Person (0-1), who lasted only four innings.

“I had it most of the way,” Brogna said. “I got the glove on it. I should have caught it. I just didn’t squeeze at the right time.

“Then the double . . . you really don’t like to make an error when they take advantage of it.”

The Dodgers scored five more runs in the fifth, batting around as reliever Mike Grace hit Beltre and Hansen with pitches.

Dreifort (6-5) didn’t give up a run until the sixth, when Scott Rolen’s two-out double down the third-base line past a diving Beltre drove in Ron Gant, who had singled.

That was a huge relief for the Dodgers, who have watched their rotation get shakier and shakier lately.

Dreifort had given up at least six runs in each of his last three starts, but with the threat of pitching out of the bullpen hanging over him, he got back on track.

“It was a long couple of days,” he said. “It was nice to get back out there and get another start in.”

Johnson was pleased that Dreifort used his changeup more, kept his pitch count down and didn’t struggle with walks.

“I felt like I had to go out and make good pitches and let the defense do its work, which is what I did,” Dreifort said.

“I tell you what, our guys did a great job. We got hit after hit, instead of playing for the long ball. You’ve got to score runs.”