Drought Over for Dreifort

Don’t let all that country music Darren Dreifort plays in the clubhouse on the days he pitches fool you; the Dodger right-hander is not one for sentimentality.

Dreifort earned his first victory in almost two years Wednesday, overcoming early control problems to give up two runs and six hits in six innings of the Dodgers’ 5-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks before 25,764 at Dodger Stadium.

To many Dodgers, this was a momentous occasion, the culmination of Dreifort’s long and arduous recovery from two major elbow surgeries and a knee surgery, but to Dreifort, it was about as significant as a February bullpen session in Vero Beach, Fla.

Asked what he did with the game ball from the victory, which was fueled in part by Shawn Green’s two-run home run in the first inning and RBI single in the third, Dreifort said, “I don’t have it.”

His first win since June 24, 2001, and Dreifort didn’t even get the game ball?

“Yeah, whatever ... Gagne probably has it,” Dreifort said, referring to closer Eric Gagne, who pitched a perfect ninth for his second save. “It’s significant for him. For me, the first ball I played catch with a year and a half ago was significant. This one wasn’t.”

To others, it was. When he found out Dreifort didn’t have a memento to mark the occasion, Gagne took the game ball out of his locker and gave it to Dreifort, who balked at first. Gagne insisted, and Dreifort finally gave in, accepting the ball.

“He’s amazing,” Gagne said. “After not pitching for almost two years, he makes it look easy. I wish I could do that. He deserves to win 30 games this year with all the hard work he’s put in. He’s a classy guy.”

That’s what made Wednesday’s win special for the Dodgers. Many players who sit out for a year and a half go into virtual seclusion, rehabilitating their injuries away from the team.

But Dreifort was at Dodger Stadium early every day, getting treatment before the regulars arrived so he wouldn’t clog up the training room, and he was on the bench for every home game, cheering on his teammates.

“He’s been there for us, and now it’s just great to see him out there,” left fielder Brian Jordan said. “Everyone got a little emotional on the inside, seeing him come back and win. He’s worked so hard. We’re pulling for him.”

Dreifort was shaky early Wednesday, needing 27 pitches to escape the first inning, which included Tony Womack’s leadoff double and Carlos Baerga’s sacrifice fly. But the rally was snuffed out by shortstop Alex Cora, who made a diving stop of Steve Finley’s infield single on the grass behind second base and fired a one-hop throw to the plate to nail Craig Counsell, ending the inning.

Green followed Jolbert Cabrera’s first-inning walk by smashing a Byung-Hyun Kim fastball into the pavilion in left-center field for a 2-1 lead, and Cabrera’s RBI double and Green’s RBI single made it 4-1 in the third.

Dreifort walked three of the first seven batters he faced and went to three-ball counts eight times in all, but after the first inning, no Arizona player reached third with the exception of Luis Gonzalez, who hit a solo home run in the fifth. Dreifort finished with four walks and three strikeouts.

“I just didn’t have my good rhythm today,” Dreifort said. “I wasn’t using the lower half of my body. I was just out there throwing and was out of whack. [Pitching coach Jim Colborn] told me between innings to just settle down, use my lower half, and [catcher Todd] Hundley did a great job of staying with me the whole time.”

Dreifort walked pinch-hitter Quinton McCracken to open the seventh, and Manager Jim Tracy pulled him in favor of left-hander Tom Martin, who got Womack to ground out but yielded a single to Counsell, putting runners on first and third.

Tracy summoned right-hander Guillermo Mota, who struck out pinch-hitter Matt Williams with a nice changeup and got Gonzalez, who had four hits, including two homers, in five career at-bats against Mota, to pop to third, ending the inning.

Mota provided some insurance with an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh, and he and Gagne closed out the Diamondbacks in the eighth and ninth to preserve the win for Dreifort.