Goodwin’s Controversial Triple Lifts Dodgers

He doesn’t bunt.

He rarely walks.

And he doesn’t hit enough line drives.

So how does Tom Goodwin keep his spot atop the Dodger lineup?

With at-bats like the one he had in the fifth inning Saturday night at Dodger Stadium.

With one solid, level swing, Goodwin sent the ball sailing down the right-field line, his team into the lead and the opposing manager into the showers, leading the Dodgers to a 4-2 victory over the San Diego Padres in front of 30,295.

Goodwin smacked a two-out triple, leading to a four-run inning that was equal parts skill, speed, grit--and perhaps luck.

As the ball sailed into right field and skipped up against the stands, Padre right fielder Bubba Trammell began pointing as he raced over, indicating a fan had interfered with the ball.

Goodwin, rounding first, lost a shoe but never slowed down, steaming into third base.

Over on the first-base line, San Diego Manager Bruce Bochy was also steaming, demanding that interference be called.

Instead, after a few heated minutes, Bochy was ejected.

The game had been relatively calm to that point, the most stirring moment occurring prior to the first pitch when the press box was named for Hall of Fame Dodger announcer Vin Scully in an emotional ceremony.

Leadoff batter Rickey Henderson was hit on the left side with the sixth pitch thrown by Dodger starter Luke Prokopec. Henderson moved to third on a single by Damian Jackson and then scored when Ryan Klesko hit into a double play.

That leaves Henderson 65 runs short of Ty Cobb’s record 2,178.

Prokopec, the Dodgers’ emergency starter, was able to reward the team’s dependency on him by shutting the Padres off from that point until the Dodgers moved into the lead.

Prokopec (2-0) had been optioned to triple-A Las Vegas during spring training, was recalled when Dodger ace Kevin Brown was put on the disabled list because of a strained Achilles’ tendon, returned to Las Vegas when Brown returned and is now back because another Dodger starter, Andy Ashby, has a strained right elbow.

Prokopec came up for a crucial at-bat in the Dodger fifth with his team still trailing, 1-0.

On base were Angel Pena, who had singled, and Alex Cora, whose pop-fly single fell in front of Henderson in left.

Prokopec was unable to bunt the runners over, but his bouncer, gloved by Klesko at first, achieved the same result, moving the runners to second and third for Goodwin, whose triple pushed the Dodgers into a 2-1 lead.

“The key for him is keeping the ball out of the air,” Manager Jim Tracy said of Goodwin. “When he hits line drives, he increases his chances of being on base and he understands that.”

How far might Goodwin have gotten if he had kept both shoes on?

“He’s pretty fast with one,” Tracy said.

Mark Grudzielanek followed Goodwin with a run-scoring single. After Gary Sheffield smashed a line drive off the glove of third baseman Dave Magadan, Shawn Green drove home the fourth run of the inning with a sacrifice fly to left.

The Padres attempted to come back in the sixth, when Klesko hit his first home run of the season, a line drive into the seats in the right-field corner.

But that was as close as they came with Prokopec giving way after six innings.

“You could tell by the way the balls were being hit,” Tracy said, “and the quality of the pitches that he was starting to fatigue.”

Terry Adams shut the Padres down for two innings and Jeff Shaw finished them off in the ninth, picking up his sixth save.

The victory improved the Dodgers to 10-8 and dropped the Padres, who were already last in the National League West, to 6-11.

Afterward, Bochy was still talking about the controversial call.

“It was a judgment call,” he said, “and I didn’t agree with it. That’s a huge run. We would have been playing in a one-run game. I wish the decision would have been made by committee.”

Asked if he thought there was interference, Tracy said, “It looked like a possibility, but, even so, that’s a little bit of a gray area. It’s up to the discretion of the umpires how far he would have gotten.”

With one shoe or two?