Park Takes His Lumps, but Fights His Way Out

Chan Ho Park helped ignite bench-clearing brawls in two of his previous four starts against the Angels by throwing a fastball under the chin of leadoff batter Tony Phillips in 1997 and by karate-kicking pitcher Tim Belcher after a hard Belcher tag on Park in 1999.

Perhaps tired of being the aggressor, the Dodger right-hander tried a different tack against the Angels on Saturday, using a little rope-a-dope strategy in the Dodgers’ 8-3 interleague victory before 34,580 at Edison Field.

Park absorbed all sorts of blows from the Angels, who had two runners on base in five of the six innings he pitched, but Park’s knees hardly buckled throughout a 5 2/3-inning, three-run, eight-hit performance that improved his record to 6-4.

Dodger left fielder Gary Sheffield, whose right ankle is a bit wobbly after spraining it three times this season, gave Park an early cushion with a three-run home run in the first, and he added a solo shot in the third off Angel starter Brian Cooper (2-1).

Todd Hollandsworth, who left in the ninth because of a strained right hamstring, had an RBI single in the second, Shawn Green doubled home a run in the fifth, and Chad Kreuter provided insurance with a two-run single in the eighth for the Dodgers.

The Angels left 13 men on base and went three for 15 with runners in scoring position. They had been hitting .294 in such situations this season.

Angel center fielder Garret Anderson, who was batting .315 with runners in scoring position, had an especially rough afternoon, striking out, grounding out and striking out with two on to end the first, third and fifth innings before singling with the bases empty in the ninth.

Though Park needed help from reliever Terry Adams, who got Mo Vaughn to ground out with two on to end the sixth and preserve a 6-3 Dodger lead, he was especially tough after Darin Erstad and Kevin Stocker singled to open the fifth.

Park, facing the heart of an Angel order that leads the American League in batting (.293) and hits (564) and ranks second in home runs (86), got Vaughn to fly to center, struck out Tim Salmon on a curve and Anderson on a slider.

“He has good stuff, he hangs in there, and if things click, he can get out of a jam,” Salmon said. “He seemed to turn it up a notch when we had runners in scoring position.”

This sometimes frustrates the Dodgers. They love the way Park fights out of the corner, but what about when he’s standing toe-to-toe with the opponent, in the middle of the ring, with no side having an advantage?

“I don’t like him turning it off,” Dodger Manager Davey Johnson said. “He’s in total command, making great pitches, then it looks like he loses his concentration and gets himself into little jams.”

The Angels have faced Park five times, but those starts have been spread over four seasons, so even though Park is no stranger, he is something of a mystery to some.

“He’s confusing to me--I haven’t got a good read on him, and I don’t see the ball well against him,” Salmon said. “I’ll go up trying to be aggressive and come back thinking, ‘I’m swinging at balls.’ I’ll go up after a walk and think, ‘Be patient,’ and boom, you’re down 0-2 in the count. He’s a very good pitcher when he gets it going.”

And Sheffield is a very good hitter. Sheffield hit a towering fly ball off the left-field foul pole in the first, and crushed Cooper’s hanging breaking ball into the Angel bullpen in the third.

Sheffield added a single and scored a run in the fifth, and is now batting .326 with 17 homers, 44 RBIs and 40 runs. He also has 35 walks and only 25 strikeouts, a remarkable ratio for a No. 3 batter amid today’s batch of power hitters, most of whom have a bash-or-crash mentality.

“When you put the whole package together, how selective he is, how he uses the whole field, his bat speed, his plate coverage, how he drives pitches others can’t, he’s one of the top five offensive players in the National League,” Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said. “He’d hit in the middle of the lineup if you put an all-star team together.”