Dodgers Get Lift From Park

Beating up on the likes of the moribund Montreal Expos is no great feat. The Dodgers, with their $96-million payroll, should take three of four from the $34-million Expos.

But when you’ve played as poorly at home as the Dodgers have this season, winning three in a row at Chavez Ravine is a big deal, especially when you’re about to hit the road for eight games in seven days.

Dodger starter Chan Ho Park beat the Expos with his arm and his bat Thursday in the Dodgers’ 7-0 victory in front of 28,896 at Dodger Stadium.

Park hit his first career home run and had two runs batted in while improving his record to 13-8.

“It was fun, it was my first home run,” Park said. “I was feeling good even before the game in the bullpen. My body was feeling good and I was very focused.

“I just trusted my grip and threw my curve and changeup. I didn’t think out there, I just threw with confidence.”

It was the second consecutive dominating start for Park, who threw a complete-game 4-1 victory against the New York Mets on Saturday. Against the Expos, Park threw seven innings of shutout ball, giving up five hits while striking out seven and walking one.

Dodger reliever Gregg Olson threw two scoreless innings to close it out, striking out four of the seven batters he faced.

“Chan Ho was perfect today,” Manager Davey Johnson said. “He was an outstanding batter and pitched a great ballgame. It was a big day, an outstanding day.

“He’s been so focused this year. It’s been a joy to watch him pitch.”

Chad Kreuter, who has become Park’s personal catcher this season, said the right-hander has become “more gritty a pitcher.”

“He’s not afraid of those tight situations,” Kreuter said. “Before he might have ducked that situation, tried to pitch around it.”

Kreuter was referring to the fifth inning, when Montreal had the bases loaded with one out and power-hitting pinch-hitter Fernando Seguignol up.

Park proceeded to strike out Seguignol and leadoff batter Peter Bergeron to end the threat.

The Expos, playing without injured all-star right fielder Vladimir Guerrero, could muster but one hit the remainder of the day.

Montreal starter Javier Vazquez (8-6) lasted four innings after giving up five runs on six hits. He struck out six and walked one.

It was a much different outing for Vazquez from the last time he pitched at Dodger Stadium, on Sept. 14, 1999, when he threw a complete-game, one-hit shutout while striking out 10.

“I made some good pitches, they were just hitting them,” Vazquez said. “I threw strikes and got ahead of people.”

Unless you count the bomb he surrendered to Park in the third inning.

Park’s home run, a 427-foot solo shot to the bleachers in right-center field, came on a first-pitch, letter-high fastball and gave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead.

Park’s blast was the fifth homer by a Dodger pitcher this season--Darren Dreifort has three, Ismael Valdes one--a mark that leads the majors.

“[Vazquez] was very good the first two innings,” Montreal Manager Felipe Alou said. “When Park hit the home run he got rattled.”

The Dodgers broke it open with a four-run fourth, sending nine batters to the plate.

Shawn Green’s slicing solo homer to left-center was his 23rd of the season, and Eric Karros later scored on right fielder Wilton Guerrero’s throwing error.

Adrian Beltre, who went three for four with two RBIs, singled in Devon White before Park picked up his second RBI of the day with a single up the middle, scoring Beltre.

The Dodgers added two more runs in the fifth off Montreal reliever Julio Santana on a pair of one-out, run-scoring singles by Beltre and Kreuter to go up 7-0.

With 36 games remaining in the regular season, the Dodgers (65-61) moved within 7 1/2 games of the idle San Francisco Giants in the National League West and 9 1/2 behind the Mets in the wild-card race.

The Dodgers don’t face a winning team until traveling to Arizona to face the Diamondbacks on Sept. 11, playing the Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates and Colorado Rockies in the interim.

“Any time you can win three in a row is good,” Johnson said. “We haven’t done that too much this year.”

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SECURING WRIGLEY

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