Win Has a Central Theme

Let the great Dodger center fielder debate begin.

Minutes after it was announced that the injured incumbent, Devon White, had been activated from the disabled list, his replacement, Todd Hollandsworth, made two on-field statements that basically said he wasn’t going to give up the position without a fight.

Defensively, Hollandsworth raced to the left-center gap to snare a Marvin Benard liner, robbing the San Francisco leadoff hitter of a sure double with the shoestring catch.

Offensively, Hollandsworth smacked the first pitch he saw, a fastball from Giant starter Russ Ortiz, over the left-center fence for his eighth home run.

Yet while the impending battle for the starting job in center was given a jump start Sunday, it was merely a highlight of the Dodgers’ 5-0 rubber-game win over the Giants in front of 47,969 at Dodger Stadium.

Dodger starter Darren Dreifort had one of the more commanding performances of his career, giving up only two hits in seven innings, and right fielder Shawn Green hit two home runs.

But it was Hollandsworth that got things rolling.

“It all started in the top of the first with Holly making that great catch in left-center,” Dreifort said. “Then he follows it up with a home run.

“You know, jumping out to a 3-0 lead from the get-go makes it a lot easier.”

Three batters after Hollandsworth’s blast, Green took Ortiz into the right-field pavilion for a two-run homer on an 0-and-1 pitch, scoring Mark Grudzielanek, who had singled, for the three-run cushion after one inning.

Dreifort (6-7) won his second consecutive start, striking out nine, equaling a season-high, and walking one.

In the seventh, however, he seemed to hurt himself sliding feet-first on the synthetic track in front of the visitors’ dugout chasing down an errant Adrian Beltre throw from third base, prompting Manager Davey Johnson to replace Dreifort with Terry Adams to start the eighth. Jeff Shaw came in with two out in the ninth to close only the second shutout against the Giants this season.

“That was just an outstanding performance by Dreif,” Johnson said. “I was a little concerned when he slid on that warning track. I didn’t know if he was bleeding or if he was just [stained] by the warning track.”

It was a stain.

The Dodgers made it 4-0 in the third when Beltre’s two-out flare single to right brought home Gary Sheffield, who had doubled to right-center.

The Dugout Club seats, which were installed during the off-season and reduced the foul area behind home plate by 25 feet, kept Dreifort’s shutout in line.

With Barry Bonds at third base with two out in the fourth, a Dreifort wild pitch went to the backstop but bounced back quickly to catcher Chad Kreuter. Bonds, who had started toward home, quickly retreated to third and Dreifort struck out J.T. Snow to end the threat.

Ortiz (5-9) gave up four runs and eight hits in seven innings. After the rough start, Ortiz gave up only one hit after the third inning.

Green’s second homer, a solo shot in the eighth, came on a 1-and-2 pitch from Scott Linebrink. It was the second time this year Green homered twice in a game and the 11th time of his career.

Hollandsworth, who began the game with a .236 average, was two for four and sheepish about his Sunday performance while reflecting on a likely reduced role with White rejoining the team.

“Yeah, well, I don’t think one thing has anything to do with the other,” Hollandsworth said. “This is a group effort in here.

“But the opportunities are going to present themselves to both of us,” he added. “There are going to be plenty of opportunities because I know Greenie and Sheff are going to be needing some days off coming up. As long as we’re winning and we make the playoffs, then everything’s good.”

The third-place Dodgers (51-46) picked up ground in the National League West with the win over the second-place Giants (53-43) as the division-leading Arizona Diamondbacks (56-43) lost to the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday.

Today, the Dodgers begin a 10-game trip to Colorado, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

“A lot of good things happened here,” Johnson said. “We take two out of three from the Giants and that’s a good way to [go into] a trip.”

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DODGERS AT A GLANCE

NATIONAL LEAGUE WEST

*--*

Arizona: 56 43 -- S.F.: 53 43 1 1/2 Dodgers: 51 46 4 Colorado: 48 48 6 1/2 San Diego: 44 54 11 1/2

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NL WILD CARD

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S.F.: 53 43 -- New York: 53 44 1/2 Dodgers: 51 46 2 1/2 Cincinnati: 50 48 4 Colorado: 48 48 5

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UP NEXT

Dodgers’ Kevin Brown

(9-3, 2.38)

vs. Rockies’ Rolando Arrojo

(5-8, 6.14 ERA)

* Tuesday--Chan Ho Park (10-7, 4.23) vs. Masato Yoshii (4-11, 5.73).

* Wednesday--Carlos Perez (4-4, 4.98) vs. Brian Bohanon (4-7. 6.44).

* Thursday--Eric Gagne (1-6, 5.59) vs. Kevin Jarvis (2-4, 6.56).