Dodgers Still Enjoying Trip

The Dodgers believe it’s too early for fans to be overly excited or disappointed about their performance.

Judge them in October, they say.

But the Dodgers are feeling better about themselves daily, especially after their fifth victory in a row, a 12-6 victory Saturday over Philadelphia Phillies at Veterans Stadium.

The Dodgers, scoring their most runs of the early season, had 12 hits against six Philadelphia pitchers in winning for the second time in the three-game series before a crowd of 22,053.

They broke the game open in the second against Philadelphia starter Paul Spoljaric (0-3) and reliever Mike Grace, scoring five runs to take an 8-0 lead, building on their successful trip. Starter Darren Dreifort (4-1) pitched well for six innings, rebounding from a shaky outing in his previous start.

Rookie relievers Onan Masaoka and Jamie Arnold struggled, giving up three runs combined in the final three innings. But that wasn’t nearly enough to prevent the Dodgers from winning their fifth game on the nine-game trip while matching their longest winning streak since 1997.

“Well, it wasn’t pretty, but it was effective,” Manager Davey Johnson said. “We got a big lead and I liked what Dreifort did.

“He threw a lot of pitches down and in the middle of the plate, and he went after them. It was a good outing.”

The Dodgers staked Dreifort to a 3-0 lead in the first inning on Raul Mondesi’s two-out, three-run home run. Seven of Mondesi’s National League-leading nine homers have either tied the score or given the Dodgers the lead.

Dreifort had his second quality start of the season. He did not experience the control problems that plagued him in previous starts, giving up 10 hits, three runs and striking out five.

The right-hander began the game tied for the NL lead with 22 walks. Saturday, Dreifort walked only one while throwing 109 pitches, including 67 for strikes.

Dreifort was second in the league with four wild pitches, and he added another against the Phillies.

Typically, Dreifort wasn’t overly pleased with himself.

“I still gave up 10 hits tonight, which I’m not happy about,” said Dreifort, who lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in his previous start last Sunday, the Dodgers’ last loss. “The only difference is that three of them scored and we had a big lead.”

Although one couldn’t tell by Dreifort’s comments, he played an important role in helping the Dodgers win five in a row for the first time since Aug. 26-30, 1997.

The Dodgers matched their longest road winning streak since Aug. 21-25, 1997 and improved to 14-10.

“We know we have a lot of talent on this club, it just takes time to get everything going,” said left fielder Gary Sheffield, who walked and scored on Mondesi’s homer in the first, and had a run-scoring single in the Dodgers’ five-run second. “It’s a long season, you’re going to have your ups and downs, so you can’t panic if you have some early on.”

In a glamorous matchup, Kevin Brown faces the Phillies’ Curt Schilling today as the Dodgers try to complete a sweep. The Dodgers swept the Milwaukee Brewers in a three-game series before arriving in Philadelphia.

They last swept consecutive three-game series May 9-15, 1994, against the Houston Astros and San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium.

After facing Paul Byrd and Spoljaric in the first two games, the Dodgers will see a different kind of pitcher in Schilling.

Spoljaric was booed almost throughout his short outing, lasting only 1 1/3 innings. He gave up four hits--including Mondesi’s ninth homer--and eight runs (six earned) while walking three.

His pitch count was 59--way too high for less than two innings. Not that he had been impressive before Saturday’s game.

Spoljaric began his work with a 13.00 earned-run average. It had increased to 16.65 when he finished.

“It doesn’t matter who pitches against us, we always give 100%,” Mondesi said. “We always try to do everything we can to win a lot of games.”

HOT START

A look at Raul Mondesi’s hot start, with where he ranks on the Dodgers in key categories:

BA: 270 (5th)

HR: 9 (1st)

RBI: 20 (1st)

SLUG%: .596 (1st)