Grissom Changes Everything

Marquis Grissom left the Dodgers after two seasons and is beginning life with the San Francisco Giants.

He took a big step toward completing the transition period, hitting a solo home run against his former club Thursday night to provide the difference in a 2-1 victory over the Dodgers before 38,294 at Pacific Bell Park.

Grissom connected on a first-pitch fastball from Dodger starter Hideo Nomo with one out in the fourth inning, sending the ball over the fence in left-center to give the Giants a 2-0 lead. Rookie starter Kurt Ainsworth did the rest, with some help from the bullpen and the Giants’ sparkling play defensively.

Ainsworth (2-0) pitched into the ninth inning after escaping a bases-loaded jam in the eighth, leaving to a standing ovation after Paul Lo Duca led off with a ground-rule double. Lo Duca eventually scored the Dodger run on Tim Worrell’s wild pitch, but Worrell struck out Fred McGriff to record his fourth save and the Giants’ ninth victory in 10 games under new Manager Felipe Alou.

Alou, facing Dodger Manager Jim Tracy, his former bench coach with the Montreal Expos, for the first time as the Giants’ manager, earned his 700th victory, adding another chapter to a storied rivalry being renewed again in a four-game series.

It was a nice way for Grissom and Alou to start new chapters too.

“That was my first homer with the Giants, and I’m not going to lie, it feels good,” said Grissom, who left the Dodgers because the Giants assured him the starting job in center field. “I have a lot of love for those guys over there [in the Dodger clubhouse] -- but I want to beat ‘em.

“Not because I hate the Dodgers because they didn’t sign me or anything like that, because they did offer me a contract, so there’s no animosity. I just want to beat them because we want to win all our games, but everyone knows about the rivalry.”

Especially Alou, a former Giant player who moved into the manager’s office at Pacific Bell Park after the popular Dusty Baker led San Francisco to the National League pennant, then bolted for the Chicago Cubs.

The Giants are streaking under Alou, and Ainsworth’s performance is among many things going right for them.

“We needed to forget about the bullpen until the ninth and we did,” said Alou, who used four relievers in Wednesday’s 15-11 victory over the San Diego Padres. “[Ainsworth] was throwing strikes and he was very aggressive.

“I really like that guy. I really liked the way he pitched in Arizona [during spring training], and I was looking for something like that. He is close to graduation.”

Ainsworth dominated the Dodgers after getting Cesar Izturis to ground into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded in the second. He gave up six hits and one run in a 101-pitch, 72-strike effort, outdueling Nomo (1-2), who was denied his 100th victory despite a strong seven-inning performance.

After Lo Duca doubled to start the ninth, Alou summoned left-hander Scott Eyre to face left-handed batter Shawn Green. Green flied out to left and Worrell entered to face cleanup batter Brian Jordan.

Lo Duca advanced to third when Jordan flied out to right, and scored on Worrell’s wild pitch with McGriff at the plate. But Worrell, filling in for injured All-Star closer Robb Nen, got McGriff swinging to end the game.

“You’ve got to give him credit, he threw well,” Green said of Ainsworth. “He really mixed his pitches well and he threw a lot of first-pitch strikes. He was tough.”

The victory put Alou at 700-717 in his career.

“It’s big,” he said. “I was almost 57 years old when I was given a shot of winning one game. Not only that, but it was in Montreal where everybody thought we wouldn’t win any games. I’m proud of it because I got started so late.”