Brown Loses, Won’t Win 20

The logic seemed simple enough.

If Kevin Brown won Wednesday night’s game, he would start Sunday’s season finale at Houston on three days’ rest for a shot at winning 20 games.

Brown had, after all, dominated the Giants in San Francisco over his career, going 5-0 with a 0.63 earned-run average, including a no-hitter in 1997 when he was with the Florida Marlins.

Then again, the Dodgers haven’t really done anything logically all season.

Staying true to form, they lost to the Giants, 5-1, in front of 47,343 in the final night baseball game at 3Com Park, ending Brown’s bid for 20.

Brown’s record fell to 18-9 after he gave up four runs on six hits while striking out nine and walking one in six innings. He won’t pitch this weekend against the Astros.

The Giants got to Brown in the first inning when Barry Bonds hit a two-run homer--his 34th--to right-center, driving in Bill Mueller, who had struck out but reached first on Brown’s wild pitch.

San Francisco added two more in the third on J.T. Snow’s single. Jeff Kent homered in the eighth against Onan Masaoka.

The Dodgers scored their only run against Livan Hernandez (8-12) in the sixth when Raul Mondesi doubled into the left-field corner, scoring Eric Karros, who had singled.

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On a night of nostalgia, the 3Com crowd had a chance to jeer two of its most despised--former Dodger manager Tom Lasorda and failed Giant mascot Crazy Crab.

Lasorda, who sauntered onto the field bowing, blowing kisses and tipping his cap to a hostile crowd before trying to sing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” was booed lustily.

“You ever heard such a reception? They love me here,” Lasorda said.

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The possibility of pitcher Ismael Valdes rejoining the Dodgers before the close of the year depends upon the condition of his father, Manager Davey Johnson said Wednesday afternoon.

Valdes, who left the team Monday after receiving news that his father was involved in an automobile accident in his native Mexico, left a message with the team Wednesday morning.

His father, who was still unconscious and in critical condition, was about to be moved to a larger hospital in Monterrey.

“If he should wake up and be out of serious condition tomorrow, maybe [Valdes would rejoin the Dodgers in Houston],” Johnson said. “But we don’t really know.”

Valdes’ absence has prolonged Chan Ho Park’s season.

Park, who was scheduled to return to Korea for four weeks of military training after pitching in San Francisco, will instead throw against the Astros on Saturday on three-days’ rest.