Mondesi Doubles His Fun

Raul Mondesi is among the players concerned about the Dodgers’ less-than-impressive start, though he remains confident things will improve soon.

Mondesi is doing his part to change things.

The cleanup batter powered the Dodgers to a 4-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs by hitting a pair of two-run home runs Monday night at Dodger Stadium.

Mondesi crushed pitches from Chicago starter Steve Trachsel (1-4) in the fourth and sixth innings with a runner on each time, providing the Dodger offense before a crowd of 32,925.

That marked the 10th multi-homer game of Mondesi’s career and second this season.

“Everybody knows we have got a good team, we just have to keep working hard and playing together,” said Mondesi, who also hit two homers--including the game winner--in an 8-6, 11-inning victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on opening day.

“We got a team with a lot of guys [who] can get on base like E.Y. [Eric Young], Sheff [Gary Sheffield] and Viz [Jose Vizcaino].

“As long as you have a lot of guys who can get on base a lot, that gives you a lot of chances to drive in runs.”

Mondesi drove in four Monday. He also moved into a tie for second in the National League homer race, joining Fernando Tatis of St. Louis and Matt Williams of Arizona with 11, one behind Arizona’s Jay Bell.

“Mondy is a joy,” Manager Davey Johnson said. “He’s going to have his good days and his bad days. But he’s going to have more good than bad.”

Dodger starter Ismael Valdes (4-1) gave up only one run despite being in trouble throughout six innings.

The Cubs scored a run against setup man Alan Mills in the seventh, and closer Jeff Shaw had problems in the ninth.

Chicago cut the lead to 4-3 on Henry Rodriguez’s two-out, run-scoring single, and Benito Santiago represented the tying run at the plate. Shaw struck out Santiago swinging to earn his eighth save in eight opportunities.

Mondesi’s homers helped the Dodgers (18-14) feel a little better about themselves, winning the opener of the three-game series after losing two of three to the Florida Marlins during the weekend.

Valdes gave up nine hits--including a homer to Tyler Houston. He struck out three and walked three while throwing a lot of pitches (121, 73 for strikes).

“It was a tough outing,” Valdes said.

“I was battling the whole way, but we got the win.”

With the Dodgers trailing, 1-0, in the fourth, Sheffield singled with one out and advanced to second on a wild pitch by Trachsel. On a 1-and-0 count, Mondesi homered to right-center.

In the sixth, Vizcaino opened the inning with a single. After Sheffield flied out, Trachsel worked a 1-and-2 count on Mondesi, who homered into the seats in the left-field pavilion.

The Dodgers protected Valdes’ 2-1 lead in the sixth by making several strong defensive plays.

Houston, who went three for four, led off with a hit and moved to second on a single by Jose Hernandez.

Third baseman Adrian Beltre made the Dodgers’ first fine play of the inning, fielding Trachsel’s bunt and throwing to shortstop Vizcaino to get Houston at third for the first out.

First baseman Eric Karros then made a diving stop of a hard-hit ball by Lance Johnson, beating Johnson to the bag for the second out.

Mickey Morandini flied out to center for the final out.

The Cubs left runners at second and third, marking the ninth and 10th runners they had stranded. They stranded 12 overall.

Valdes lived especially dangerously through the first four innings. He threw 89 pitches--way too many for that point in a game.

But Valdes worked out of trouble, displaying the improved mettle that has marked his performance during his strong start.

The Cubs took a 1-0 lead in the second on Houston’s second homer of the season. The leadoff blast to center marked the ninth homer Valdes has given up this season, tying him with Chan Ho Park for the team lead.

Valdes and the Dodgers were pleased to only be trailing by one, considering the Cubs had many baserunners through four.