Brown Sharp, Dodgers Roll

The Dodgers were counting on a strong effort from Kevin Brown against the lowly Florida Marlins after they lost the series opener.

The staff ace delivered, working eight impressive innings Saturday night in an 8-1 victory before 36,595 at Dodger Stadium.

Brown (3-2) helped the Dodgers improve to 17-13, defeating his former club for the first time in three career starts.

The Dodgers have struggled with runners in scoring position, but they capitalized in the eighth inning against the Marlins, sending 10 batters to the plate and breaking the game open with a six-run inning.

Closer Jeff Shaw finished for Brown, working a perfect ninth.

Brown felt good and it showed.

“I just felt outstanding tonight,” said Brown, who struggled in losing to the Philadelphia Phillies in his previous start last Sunday. “I moved the ball well, inside and out. I approach the game the same way each time I go out there--I just try not to give up any runs.”

He came close Saturday.

The Marlins scored their only run in the eighth on a groundout by pinch-hitter Craig Counsell. Todd Dunwoody tripled into the right-field corner to open the inning and scored on Counsell’s grounder to second, cutting the Dodgers’ lead to 2-1.

That was it for the Marlins.

Brown gave up only three hits. He struck out five and walked one while throwing 106 pitches, 67 for strikes.

Marlin leadoff batter Luis Castillo singled to open the game against Brown, but was stranded at third. Brown retired 10 in a row after Castillo’s hit, and another 10 in a row after Cliff Floyd doubled with one out in the fourth.

“That was a great game,” Manager Davey Johnson said of Brown. “He had a really low pitch count, but I was going to Shaw after they scored that run.”

The Dodgers staked Brown to a 1-0 lead in the fifth on Devon White’s two-out, run-scoring single, and added another run in the sixth on a fielder’s choice grounder by Adrian Beltre. That might have been a double play if third baseman Kevin Orie hadn’t bobbled it.

They took command once Marlin starter Livan Hernandez (1-4) left the game, scoring the six runs in the eighth against relievers Antonio Alfonseca and Vic Darensbourg. Mark Grudzielanek’s two-run single against Alfonseca gave the Dodgers a 4-1 lead, and they just kept rolling in the inning.

Hernandez continued to be a workhorse for the Marlins, throwing 122 pitches in seven strong innings. He struck out seven without a walk.

The Dodgers performed better with runners in scoring position as the game went on, which hasn’t been their pattern.

They were batting .230 (67 for 291) with runners in scoring position beginning play Saturday. They were even worse with less than two outs, batting .220 (29 for 132).

They struggled against Hernandez in those situations, but made up for it against the Marlin relievers.

Todd Hundley extended his hitting streak to seven games, going three for four with two singles and a double.

The Dodger catcher struggled earlier in the season while continuing his rehabilitation after undergoing reconstructive surgery on his throwing elbow in September of 1997.

But the switch-hitter appears to be regaining the batting form that made him a two-time all-star. Hundley raised his average during the streak to .481 (13 for 27, five doubles, two homers).

Hundley said the reason for his recent resurgence is simple.

“It’s just all about getting comfortable with yourself again,” Hundley said. “I’m not fighting myself anymore, I’m staying within myself and just trying to hit the ball hard each time.

“It’s really about getting back to basics all over again. Sometimes, you just have to go back to the beginning and remember the things you did that got you here. It feels like I’ve been slowly figuring that out again.”