Roberts Steals Out to a Sizzling Start

While most of the Dodger offense was mired in a horrendous slump last week, leadoff batter Dave Roberts surged to the top of the major league stolen-base charts and enjoyed an eight-game hitting streak that had raised his average from .184 to .313 after Sunday night’s 16-4 win over the Giants.

Roberts had a double, two singles, two runs batted in and scored twice Sunday night, giving him 16 hits in his last 31 at-bats. The center fielder has also stolen nine bases in 11 attempts, including six in his last seven games.

“He’s doing exactly what we described in spring training,” Manager Jim Tracy said. “He’s a better player now than he was at any time in 2002.”

Roberts hit .277 with 63 runs and 45 stolen bases last season, his first as a big league starter, but he has further refined his game this season, turning the bunt hit into an art form -- he has seven already this season -- running the bases more effectively and displaying a stronger arm from the outfield.

“He has a better understanding of what he’s all about, and what he needs to do to be that guy,” Tracy said. “He has a better understanding of the opponent, knowing when to go, when not to go. He’s going to score a lot of runs when we get the middle of the order going.”

*

Adrian Beltre, hitting .190 with two walks and 13 strikeouts in 58 at-bats, was benched for the third time in six games. The third baseman was also pulled from Saturday night’s game as part of a double switch in the fifth inning.

“It’s obvious right now we have a club that is searching to score runs,” Tracy said before the game. “There’s little else to say about it other than that.”

Beltre has two hits in his last 25 at-bats dating to April 8. He is hitting .091 (one for 11) against left-handers, .077 (one for 13) with runners in scoring position and has a paltry .226 on-base percentage. His replacement, Ron Coomer, hit a two-run single in the seventh inning Sunday night.

Tracy also gave shortstop Cesar Izturis the night off, a move that paid dividends. Second baseman Alex Cora moved to shortstop and Jolbert Cabrera started at second.

Cabrera sparked the offense with a two-run homer in the fourth that pulled the Dodgers to within 4-3 of the Giants and added a run-scoring double during the eight-run seventh inning that blew the game open.

*

Odalis Perez’s 10-minute bullpen workout Sunday went “better than expected,” Tracy said, and the left-hander, sidelined since suffering a sprained right ankle April 11, could return to the rotation as early as Thursday.

Perez, who on Friday feared he would have to be put on the disabled list, will throw in the bullpen again Tuesday in Cincinnati, and the Dodgers will determine after that workout when he will return. The most likely date will be Saturday in Pittsburgh, but there’s a chance Perez could pitch Thursday against the Reds.

*

Reserve outfielder Daryle Ward didn’t arrive at the stadium until 4 p.m., about an hour before game time. Ward’s car overheated on the drive from his Riverside home, and he called Tracy at about 2 p.m. to tell him he would be late.... Fred McGriff’s RBI single in the fourth moved him past Mickey Mantle and into 39th on baseball’s all-time RBI list with 1,510.... Barry Bonds’ second-inning homer was his 24th in Los Angeles, moving him past George Foster and into first place among opponents at Dodger Stadium.