No Matter the Batter, It’s an Inside Job for Perez

Common sense dictates that a pitcher be extremely careful throwing to Giant slugger Barry Bonds, but Dodger left-hander Odalis Perez, who will start against San Francisco tonight, prefers a more head-on approach to baseball’s single-season home run king.

“He might be the best player in baseball, but at the same time, when I’m on the mound, there’s no one better than me,” said Perez, who was acquired from Atlanta in the Gary Sheffield trade last winter. “I’m not afraid of him. I’m not going to let him beat me. Any time I face him, I won’t be afraid to go inside. If I hit him, I hit him. That’s part of the game.”

That was a big part of Perez’s game in his Dodger debut last Thursday, and not only with Bonds. Perez, 23, put Giant shortstop Rich Aurilia on his back with a high-and-tight fastball, he hit Bonds on the right shoulder and first baseman J.T. Snow on the right elbow, all in the sixth inning of San Francisco’s 3-0 victory.

Perez took the loss that night, but he was aggressive and effective and he kept Bonds in the park after Bonds hit four home runs in the first two games of the season.

“I have to send a message that I’m not afraid to pitch inside,” Perez said. “In Atlanta, they always wanted me to throw outside, outside, outside, but I have to pitch inside. My changeup is a good pitch, but I have to set it up by going inside with my fastball. That also sets up my back-door slider.”

Perez’s approach will no doubt ruffle some feathers. Snow exchanged angry words with Perez after getting hit last Thursday, but he did not charge the mound.

“If they stand too close to the plate, I have to get them out of there,” Perez said. “If they feel too comfortable, you have to do something to get them off the plate.”

The Giants faced Perez only twice before last week’s game, but they couldn’t help but notice his intimidation tactics.

“The Braves make their money pitching away, and it worked well for them, but maybe the Dodgers have a different theory,” Aurilia said. “It’s evident [Perez] is trying to go inside. He threw up and in and hit a couple guys. That’s part of his game, and he has the stuff to do it.”

Dodger Manager Jim Tracy was asked Tuesday if Kazuhisa Ishii’s rocky spring training performance, when jittery nerves led to control problems and a 12.96 spring earned-run average, was only a smokescreen to give opponents the impression he wouldn’t be that dominant.

Ishii threw 52/3 innings of two-hit, shutout ball, striking out 10, in his major-league debut Saturday night, leading the Dodgers to a 9-2 win over Colorado.

“If he was laying in the weeds,” Tracy said of Ishii, “it would be comparable to Chief in ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.’ It’s like we didn’t know he liked Juicy Fruit, and we didn’t know he could talk.”

*

TONIGHT

DODGERS’

ODALIS PEREZ

(0-1, 4.76 ERA)

vs.

GIANTS’

RYAN JENSEN

(1-0, 0.00 ERA)

Pacific Bell Park, San Francisco, 7:15 p.m.

TV--Fox Sports Net 2.

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

Update--Aurilia, who hit .391 (nine for 23) with three doubles, five runs and two RBIs in San Francisco’s first six games, suffered a strained left groin while legging out a double in Sunday’s game against San Diego and will not play against the Dodgers. Jensen, the rookie right-hander filling in for the injured Jason Schmidt, threw seven shutout innings, giving up three hits, in the Giants’ 3-0 win over the Dodgers last Thursday night.