Beltre Walks Off in Glory

There have been times this season when Adrian Beltre felt responsible for much of what has gone wrong for the Dodgers.

The young third baseman knows many in the organization believe he will always be an underachiever.

However, opinions change.

Beltre provided more to be considered in a re-evaluation process occurring nightly at Dodger Stadium, continuing his remarkable resurgence Wednesday with a three-run, game-winning home run in the 10th inning to cap a 4-1 comeback victory over the Montreal Expos.

With runners on first and second, Beltre sent a 1-and-1 pitch from Montreal closer Rocky Biddle into the left-field pavilion, triggering celebrations throughout a crowd of 31,427.

Beltre was mobbed at the plate by teammates after hitting his 15th homer, and helping the Dodgers (65-60) pull within four games of Philadelphia in the National League wild-card race.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen, I don’t know what they want to do and it’s not up to me. All I can do is just keep playing hard and [produce] the way I know I can,” said Beltre, who leads the Dodgers with 63 runs batted in and tops the NL with 22 RBIs in August.

“They [Dodger officials] can say what they want because I didn’t hit [in the first half]. If I had done my job better, maybe we would have played better, so I can’t say anything about that.

“But it’s about the team. It’s not about one person. When you don’t play [well], it’s because the team doesn’t play well.”

Beltre’s shot off Biddle (4-6) ended a six-game winning streak for the Expos (66-61), and gave Eric Gagne (2-3) a victory after Montreal took a 1-0 lead against him in the ninth on Vladimir Guerrero’s one-out solo homer.

Gagne escaped a two-on, two-out jam in the top of the 10th, setting the stage for Beltre’s dramatic homer.

Jolbert Cabrera, who entered in left field in the fifth after right fielder Shawn Green left the game because of a neck spasm, doubled with one out and the Expos intentionally walked cleanup hitter Jeromy Burnitz with Beltre on deck.

Beltre, a career .303 hitter in August, hit his ninth homer in 112 at-bats since the All-Star break after hitting only six in 306 at-bats in the first half.

“I was just looking for something over the plate,” Beltre said of his latest clutch hit. “I’m seeing the ball a lot better. When you’re seeing that good, you go to the plate with a lot more confidence.”

Biddle knew it was gone.

“It was a sinker in. I left it right over the plate, right where people hit home runs,” said the right-hander, who got his 30th save in Tuesday’s victory over the Dodgers.

“It was a bad pitch at the wrong time.”

Manager Jim Tracy said Beltre was the right guy for the Dodgers.

“It’s like acquiring a player at the trade deadline that you didn’t have in the first four months of the season,” Tracy said. “He’s doing some serious offensive damage.”

The Dodgers forced extra innings when Alex Cora scored from third in the ninth on Ron Coomer’s dribbler to third.

Dodger starter Wilson Alvarez and Expo starter Livan Hernandez matched each other in a scoreless duel for seven innings. Guillermo Mota worked a perfect eighth for the Dodgers.

Gagne entered in a non-save situation, trying to preserve the shutout and give the Dodgers a chance to win it in their final at-bat. Gagne has had some of his worst outings in that role, but the plan appeared to be going well when Gagne struck out Jose Vidro to start the inning.

But then Guerrero came to the plate, setting up a showdown between two of the major league’s brightest young stars.

Guerrero swung at the first pitch and took the second -- a 97-mph fastball -- for an 0-and-2 count. Gagne’s third pitch was an 87-mph breaking ball, which Guerrero hit into the seats in the left-field corner for his 16th home run and a 1-0 lead for the Expos.

“It was a great game, that’s what it’s all about,” Gagne said. “The guys picked me up tonight. I felt great, I just didn’t get it done.”