Brown, Sheffield Do It Up Right

The show has been a hit since the curtain raised, and Gary Sheffield and Kevin Brown are improving the act.

Their latest performance for the Dodgers was their best.

Sheffield doubled, tripled, hit his major league-leading 34th homer and reached base in five plate appearances, and Brown overwhelmed the Colorado Rockies in a 4-1 victory Monday at Coors Field.

Sheffield, the all-star left fielder, drove in the game’s first three runs in helping the Dodgers take the opener of a four-game series before 39,425.

Starter Brown also shined in a co-starring role.

Brown (10-3) defeated Colorado for the second time in six days. The right-hander gave up only three hits--including the Rockies’ run on Butch Huskey’s eighth-inning homer--in another solid eight-inning outing.

Brown also made a statement after Colorado reliever Julian Tavarez hit Sheffield, who needed only a single for the cycle, with a pitch between the numbers on the back of his jersey in the seventh.

Brown hit Todd Helton with a pitch in the same spot on his jersey in the bottom of the inning, triggering boos from the crowd and a discussion between Colorado Manager Buddy Bell and umpires. The benches were warned.

Reliever Bobby Chouinard walked Sheffield on four pitches in the ninth, denying him the chance to become the first Dodger in more than 30 years to hit for the cycle.

Dodger reliever Mike Fetters gave up two hits in the ninth, but escaped the jam for his fifth save.

The Dodgers (52-46) have won seven of their last nine games to move within 3 1/2 games of the idle Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League West.

They are in the playoff chase despite key injuries, suspensions and organization-stirred distractions.

Guess who’s leading the way?

“Sheff and Brownie, Brownie and Sheff,” Manager Davey Johnson said. “It’s the Sheff and Brownie Show.”

The struggling Rockies (48-49) had front-row seats Monday.

“He’s having a phenomenal year,” Mark Grudzielanek said of Sheffield. “I mean have you ever seen something like this for this period of time. With Brownie out there we always feel we’re in it.”

Sheffield had a run-scoring triple in the first, a run-scoring double in the third and hit a one-out, 404-foot, solo shot in the fifth against Colorado starter Rolando Arrojo (5-9).

He was trying to become the first Dodger to hit for the cycle since Wes Parker accomplished the feat May 7, 1970, against the New York Mets at Shea Stadium. The Rockies didn’t give him a chance, but Sheffield said the victory is all that mattered to him.

“I just come out ready to play nine innings or 20 innings,” said Sheffield, batting .342 with 84 runs batted in. “I just try to set the tone for the game.”

However, Johnson was upset.

“He had the tough part of the cycle, then they drill him in the back and don’t pitch to him,” Johnson said. “But he’s been that all year. That’s no secret.”

The word has been out on Brown too.

Brown struck out five and walked one while throwing 69 strikes in 103 pitches. He pitched even better Thursday in defeating Arrojo and the Rockies, 9-1, at Dodger Stadium, giving up only Larry Walker’s first-inning single and an unearned run in eight innings.

On Monday, Brown remained in the game after Tom Goodwin hit a line drive off his right leg in the sixth. The ball hit Brown close to where Edgardo Alfonzo’s line drive hit him May 31 in a start against the Mets, severely bruising his leg.

“Brownie was just awesome,” Johnson said. “That effort, against that club in this ballpark, just awesome.”

Brown downplayed the events in the seventh, saying “things happen.”

He offered more about the Dodgers’ recent strong play.

“No doubt about it, it has not been an easy year,” Brown said. “I think it says something about the character of this team. We didn’t give up or lay down, and we could have several times.”