It’s a G’Day for Williams and a Bad One for Giants : Dodgers: Rookie gets a victory in first major league start and L.A. hits four homers in 9-4 victory over San Francisco.

The Dodgers are looking forward to their upcoming vacations, though their many critics contend they took the season off.

The San Francisco Giants probably don’t agree after losing for the second time in as many games to the Dodgers, 9-4, Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium as their postseason hopes dwindle.

San Francisco was held in check for five innings by rookie Jeff Williams (1-0), who was making his first major league start. The Australian left-hander gave up only one unearned run and departed with a 5-1 lead.

The Giants are fading fast in the National League West with four losses in a row. The Arizona Diamondbacks’ magic number is three after their victory over the Colorado Rockies and the Giants’ loss.

The Dodgers, who have won four in a row, made Williams’ first start a success by hitting four home runs before a crowd of 31,881.

Eric Karros staked Williams to a 3-1 lead in the Dodgers’ half of the first with a three-run blast--his team-leading 33rd homer--against Giant left-hander Kirk Rueter (14-9), who was pounded for seven hits and five runs in 4 2/3 innings. Karros has seven runs batted in the last two games and 108 for the season.

Gary Sheffield hit his 28th homer in the fifth to atone for a run-scoring error, and Paul LoDuca hit homer No. 3--his third and a two-run shot--in the sixth.

Then Raul Mondesi capped the Dodgers’ power display with his career-high 31st blast in the seventh. Mondesi hit 30 homers in 1997 and ’98.

Barry Bonds hit his 33rd homer in the sixth against reliever Robinson Checo, who hasn’t provided much relief. But even the sight of Checo on the mound wasn’t enough to unnerve the Dodgers after Williams’ fine work and four homers among 11 hits.

“This has been like a dream come true,” said Williams, who was limited to 75 pitches because he hadn’t had much activity lately. “I really can’t describe it any other way. From the time your in lower level baseball, this is something that you always dream about. You always hope this could happen for you one day, and today it did for me.”

Williams’ contract was purchased from triple-A Albuquerque on Sept. 6. Manager Davey Johnson was impressed with Williams at times during spring training, and he was eager to observe him in a starting role in the big leagues.

Again, Johnson liked what he saw.

“I like the way he goes about his business,” the manager said. “It was an awfully good effort. I like the movement of his fastball and the way he spots it.

“He’s got a shot.”

San Francisco had only two hits against Williams, who walked three and struck out one. Williams’ performance after what occurred in the first inning was especially encouraging for the Dodgers.

He gave up a one-out single to Bill Mueller with Bonds on deck. Bonds hit a line drive to left field that Sheffield lost in the lights, and Mueller scored from first and Bonds advanced to second on the error.

The Giants had a 1-0 lead with a runner in scoring position and power hitters coming to the plate against the wide-eyed Williams. Many rookies would buckle under those circumstances, but Williams displayed some heart in minimizing the damage done by the error.

Cleanup batter Jeff Kent popped out and, after walking Ellis Burks, Williams got an inning-ending fly ball to center from J.T. Snow. In the process, Williams earned respect from his new teammates.

“I just had to make my pitches,” Williams said of the jam. “I couldn’t worry about anything that went on with the runner. I just had to make my pitches and hope it worked out. It did.”