Perez Mixes It Up With Good Effort

Maybe the Dodgers should tell Carlos Perez his job depends on every pitch.

The shaky left-hander has responded well to pressure this season and did again Saturday night during a 12-6 victory over the Florida Marlins.

Perez worked six solid innings after giving up seven runs in his last outing, strengthening his position in the rotation. The soft-throwing pitcher frustrated the Marlins with change-ups, sliders and a good fastball--for him--in another surprising performance before 21,142 at Pro Player Stadium.

Holding to form, Perez (4-2) overcame a rough first inning and the Dodgers provided strong support. The combination provided the club’s fourth victory in a row and sixth in seven games.

The Dodgers had seven extra-base hits among 15 overall. Gary Sheffield’s seventh-inning grand slam--his team-leading 13th home run--to dead center gave the Dodgers a 12-3 lead. The homer was estimated at 442 feet.

“That was a rocket,” Marlin Manager John Boles said. “No matter how deep center field was, you knew it was gone.”

Eric Karros hit his 12th homer--a two-run shot--in the Dodgers’ three-run fifth. Shawn Green also had a big night, scoring three runs and finishing a home run short of being the first Dodger to hit for the cycle in 30 years.

Leadoff batter Todd Hollandsworth continued to provide a spark, reaching base base four times. Hollandsworth singled in the second, walked in the fourth, singled and scored in the sixth and doubled in the ninth.

The Dodgers (23-17) improved to 6-4 on the trip that ends today. They trail the Arizona Diamondbacks by three games in the National League West after the Diamondbacks swept them to start the trip.

Perez had the most to smile about after decreasing the heat on the hot seat again.

“Well, he battled,” Dodger Manager Davey Johnson said. “When he was warming up, he had a better fastball than he’s had in a while.

“He threw a lot of sliders and used his off-speed stuff well. He had trouble again in the first inning, but after that he cruised.”

Perez needed to impress after his poor 1 2/3-inning outing in a 12-10 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals last Sunday.

Perez gave up eight hits--among them three homers--in that game. That stirred more talk of Perez being bumped from the rotation if he struggled against the Marlins.

Perez didn’t stumble Saturday. He gave up nine hits--including two solo homers--and three runs.

He struck out four and walked one while throwing 72 strikes in 105 pitches. With his job in jeopardy earlier in the season, Perez had five effective starts.

“I don’t worry about nothing, I just try to help my team win,” said Perez, who lowered his earned-run average from 5.93 to 5.74.

“Like I said, one bad game don’t mean nothing. You’re going to get a lot of starts to do your job. I had a good fastball tonight, and I know what type of team I have behind me.”

The Dodgers have averaged 7.5 runs in Perez’s nine appearances. The average is 8.1 runs in his eight starts.

“We put some runs up for him, and any pitcher would like to have that run support,” Karros said.

“He kept us in the ballgame and he pitched out of some jams. He got out of [the Marlins’ three-hit first inning] with only one run, and that’s kind of been his Achilles’ heel. He gave us six innings.”

Green had a run-scoring triple and scored on Todd Hundley’s single as the Dodgers took at 2-0 lead in the first against Brad Penny (3-6). Green singled and scored in the third on Adrian Beltre’s two-run triple, and doubled and scored on Karros’ fifth-inning homer.

Green walked in the sixth and struck out in the seventh. First baseman Wes Parker was the last Dodger to hit for the cycle, accomplishing the feat May 7, 1970, against the New York Mets at Shea Stadium.

“Yeah, I was trying to get it,” Green said. “I knew I’d have at least two more shots at it [after doubling], and I was up there trying for [a homer]. But I’m always up there trying to hit a homer.”