Dreifort

Although the Arizona Diamondbacks have the best 1-2 starting punch in the National League West, the Dodgers believe their rotation can lead them to the division championship because Darren Dreifort and Chan Ho Park have been impressive recently.

The Dodgers acknowledge Arizona made a great move acquiring hard-throwing right-hander Curt Schilling from the Philadelphia Phillies in a four-for-one trade, adding him to a rotation that already included overpowering left-hander Randy Johnson.

In his Diamondback debut Friday, Schilling pitched eight strong innings in a 4-1 victory over the Florida Marlins at Pro Player Stadium. That’s the impact the Diamondbacks expected, and the Dodgers weren’t surprised. Or worried.

“No question about it, he’s a great pitcher and he’s going to help them,” second baseman Mark Grudzielanek said. “He’s had a lot of success and he’s one of the top pitchers in the game.

“But I don’t think anyone around here is panicked or nervous because we’ve got a lot of confidence in our guys. I mean, look at what Chan Ho and Dreif have done lately. They’ve been pretty good.”

Dreifort is 3-0 with a 1.29 earned-run average in three starts since the All-Star break. He pitched seven shutout innings Friday--including 5 2/3 hitless--in a 2-0 victory over the Phillies at Veterans Stadium.

After going 1-6 with a 7.51 ERA in nine starts before the break, Dreifort is 7-7 overall with a 4.46 ERA. Dreifort made mechanical adjustments in his delivery during the break, but Manager Davey Johnson said there’s more to his turnaround than that.

“I know he went through a point where his [pitching] elbow was bothering him,” said Johnson, who plans to limit Dreifort to 100 pitches the rest of his starts. “And knowing Dreif, he probably had a problem with his knee and just didn’t want to say anything about it.

“When he’s just kind of smooth and loose, and doesn’t overthrow, he’s nasty. That’s what he’s been doing.”

His teammates also have noticed.

“Dreif has been awesome lately,” first baseman Eric Karros said. “His last two or three starts, Dreif has been throwing like he threw earlier in the year. Any team is going to be as good as their starting pitching, and Dreif is definitely going to be a big part of whatever we do.”

Park too.

The right-hander is 2-0 with a 3.46 ERA in his last two starts, and 11-7 with a 4.14 ERA overall.

“We get that from Dreif and Chan Ho, and that sets the tone for the whole team,” left fielder Gary Sheffield said. “You know what you’re going to get from [Kevin Brown], but it can’t all be on Brownie. It takes a lot of guys stepping up to be a championship club, and that’s what we’re getting from those other guys now.”

Dreifort finished strong last season, but was only 13-13 with a 4.79 ERA. Park was 13-11 with a 5.23 ERA.

“That was the disappointing thing last year, our pitching was not championship caliber,” Johnson said. “But Chan Ho, from day one this year, has been a lot better.

“Dreif has been spotty. He was real good, then he struggled, and now he’s real good again. We keep getting this, we’ll be right there.”

TODAY

DODGERS’

CHAN HO PARK

(11-7, 4.14 ERA)

vs.

PHILLIES’

RANDY WOLF

(8-5, 3.69 ERA)

Veterans Stadium, 10:30 a.m. PDT

TV--Fox Sports Net 2

Radio--KXTA (1150), KWKW (1330)

* Update--Park pitched seven solid innings July 25 in a 6-4 victory over the Colorado Rockies. The right-hander gave up seven hits and four runs, two earned. Park is 4-0 with a 2.89 ERA against the Phillies. Wolf, a former standout at Woodland Hills El Camino Real High and Pepperdine, has limited opponents to a .247 batting average--10th best in the league. The left-hander is 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA against the Dodgers. He had a complete game May 28 at Dodger Stadium.

ALMANAC

Dodgers 2000 Season

Dodger record: overall: 55-48 in home games 26-23 in road games 29-25 vs. NL East 14-13 vs. NL Central 18-14 vs. NL West 17-12 vs. American League 6-9 vs. left-handed starter 7-12 vs. right-handed starter 48-36 on grass 49-45 on artificial turf 6-3 in day games 13-15 in night games 42-33 in one-run games 14-13 in extra inning games 6-3