Dodgers Mop Up for Big Sweep

The Dodgers wasted hours trying to correct Carlos Perez’s problems.

A solution has always been available, and they finally figured it out Thursday night.

Perez can help if the club overwhelms opponents when the soft-throwing left-hander pitches, which occurred during an 11-7 victory over the San Francisco Giants that completed a three-game sweep in the first regular-season series at Pacific Bell Park.

It should have been easier, as the Dodgers had an 11-3 lead after 6 1/2 innings, but Onan Masaoka and Alan Mills struggled in relief and Jeff Shaw had to get the final two outs for his second save of the day.

The Dodgers scored six runs in the first inning against San Francisco starter Mark Gardner, staking Perez to a big lead. The Dodgers pounded 13 hits against five Giant pitchers.

That followed the completion earlier Thursday of Wednesday’s rain-suspended game--a 6-5 victory that put the Dodgers in position to ruin the Giants’ opening week in their new home.

The Dodgers sent 10 batters to the plate in the first, the first six reached base safely, inspiring another frustrated sellout crowd of 40,930 to mock Gardner (1-1) with applause when Chad Kreuter’s grounder produced the first out. Gardner remained the fans’ target in the second, giving up Shawn Green’s first home run as a Dodger.

Green’s two-out, solo blast to left-center ended Gardner’s rough night. He left after straining his right quadriceps muscle.

Perez (1-1) took advantage of the support, throwing strikes and challenging batters in earning his first victory since last May 29.

He worked six innings, giving up six hits--including two homers--and three runs. Barry Bonds hit a two-run homer against Perez in the first, sending the ball high off the right-field foul pole.

Leadoff batter Marvin Benard homered to open the third. However, Perez was unfazed with a 7-3 lead at that point.

He threw 89 pitches, 58 for strikes, while striking out three with a walk. Perez’s fastball was clocked at 88 mph on ballpark’s radar gun.

It wasn’t a stunning turnaround, but Perez finally gave the Dodgers reason for optimism after they provided peace of mind before he took the mound.

The Dodgers had planned to option Perez to triple-A Albuquerque after Thursday’s game, but he might get a reprieve.

Perez’s performance, and the rain-suspended victory, helped the Dodgers go 6-3 on their opening trip. They play the Cincinnati Reds in the Dodger Stadium opener today, returning home feeling good.

The Dodgers’ good long day started poorly. Rookie left-hander Jeff Williams was shaky in his season-debut in the sixth inning of the rain-suspended game, and the Giants scored twice to go ahead, 4-3.

But the Dodgers rallied, scoring three runs in the seventh to take the lead for good.

Reliever Terry Adams (1-0) pitched well after inheriting a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the sixth, and Mike Fetters worked a scoreless eighth in his first appearance since aggravating a left quadriceps muscle injury during Saturday’s victory over the New York Mets. Shaw retired Jeff Kent with runners on first and second to earn the save.

And then the Dodgers returned to work, after Johnson praised Adams’ timely performance.

“We were in a jam, and Adams came in and did a great job,” he said. “I told him if we get rain every day, I’m going to use him every day. Just a great job.”

The game was delayed 1 hour 38 minutes Wednesday before it was suspended at 8:56 p.m. It resumed at 5:07 Thursday, with the Giants batting in the sixth.

Darren Dreifort worked five strong innings Wednesday, and the Dodgers led, 3-2, when the field was covered.

Williams’ appearance was brief. Working on five days’ rest, he appeared nervous while struggling with his command. He faced only four batters, walking two and giving up a hit.

“The kid was real nervous,” Johnson said. “I didn’t think I’d see him that nervous out there.”

Enter Adams.

With one out, he got Ellis Burks to ground to third baseman Adrian Beltre, setting up a potential inning-ending double play. But Beltre took his eye off the ball and bobbled it, settling for one out as a run scored to tie the score, 3-3.

The Giants took the lead on Rich Aurilia’s run-scoring single. Adams got a grounder from Bobby Estalella to get out of the jam cheaply, but Johnson focused on what could have been.

“We’ve got to turn that,” Johnson said of the potential double play. “It’s tough to get a hop on this infield, it’s new and it makes everyone a little jumpy, but [Beltre] took his eye off of it.”

Beltre atoned for the mistake in the three-run seventh, contributing a run-scoring infield single.

“We’ve played a rough stretch of games to start the season,” Adams said. “We’re not going to win the pennant in April, but we’ll look back at these games as the season goes on.”