Dodgers Get Bounce From This Victory

Jeff Reboulet, the forgotten man on the Dodger bench, the utility player who had one at-bat in the previous 15 games, lined a pinch-hit RBI single to center field in the bottom of the 13th inning Monday night, lifting the Dodgers to a 3-2 victory over the New York Mets before 27,659 in Dodger Stadium.

Eric Karros started the winning rally with a one-out single to left and, after Hiram Bocachica struck out, took second on Mark Corey’s wild pitch. Adrian Beltre was walked intentionally, and Reboulet singled to center.

Timo Perez fielded the ball as Karros rounded third and the center fielder made a strong throw home, but the ball short-hopped catcher Mike Piazza and caromed away as Karros slid home with the winning run.

Dodger right-hander Giovanni Carrara blanked the Mets in the 12th and 13th innings to gain the win, and left-hander Omar Daal struck out four in the 10th and 11th innings, buying some time for a Dodger offense that ranks 14th in the National League in runs.

Daal survived a scare in the 11th when Roger Cedeno singled with two outs and Timo Perez hammered a high fastball to the warning track in right, where Shawn Green, who went 0 for 5 and hit into two double plays, made the inning-ending catch.

The Dodgers put runners on first and second with two outs in the bottom of the 10th, but Paul Lo Duca flied to the warning track in left. They had two on with two out in the 11th, as well, but Met right-hander Grant Roberts blew a fastball by Alex Cora for strike three.

Dodger starter Odalis Perez gave up two runs on seven hits in 71/3 innings, the seventh consecutive game he has gone six innings or more and allowed three earned runs or fewer, raising his National League-leading earned run average to a mere 1.75. Not since San Francisco’s three-run sixth inning during his Dodger debut on April 4 has Perez given up more than one run in an inning.

He struck out six and walked three, one intentionally, during a 111-pitch performance in which he threw 74 strikes. But Perez, who has held opponents to a league-low .164 batting average, didn’t have a solution for Met third baseman Edgardo Alfonzo, who doubled and scored in the fourth and eighth innings.

Trailing, 2-1, Alfonzo opened the eighth with a drive to deep right-center, a ball that could have, and probably should have, been caught but bounced off the glove of sprinting center fielder Marquis Grissomand fell for a double.

Dodger shortstop Cesar Izturis made a nice play on Roberto Alomar’s grounder up the middle, fielding the ball to the second-base side of the bag and throwing Alomar out as Alfonzo took third.

Manager Jim Tracy chose to intentionally walk cleanup batter Mike Piazza, seemingly a wise choice considering Piazza had singled in his two previous at-bats. But Mo Vaughn, who replaced the injured John Valentin at first base in the bottom of the fifth, fisted a full-count pitch into center field for an RBI single and a 2-2 tie.

Jesse Orosco replaced Perez and struck out Jeromy Burnitz, and the Mets loaded the bases when Jay Payton, facing reliever Paul Quantrill, reached on second baseman Mark Grudzielanek’s error. But Izturis charged Rey Ordonez’s slow roller and made a strong throw to first to end the inning.

Alfonzo also sparked New York’s first run when he doubled to left-center to open the fourth, took third on Alomar’s bunt and scored on Piazza’s single to center.

The Dodgers didn’t exactly throttle Met starter Shawn Estes, a left-hander who has given them little trouble; he entered with a 3-7 career record and 5.36 ERA against L.A., and six players in Monday’s Dodger lineup--Grissom, Lo Duca, Karros, Brian Jordan, Adrian Beltre and Grudzielanek--combined for a .393 average (55 for 140) against Estes.

But the Dodgers had to scratch and claw for the two runs they scored against him.Both came in the fifth, when Jordan walked, Beltre singled him to second and Grudzielanek brought him home with a single. Odalis Perez sacrificed and Beltre scored on Izturis’ fly ball to medium right-center.