Dodgers Stay in Swing of Things and Win Again

Two straight big games from the Dodger offense?

The National League’s worst collection of hitters accomplished the improbable feat Thursday night in a 9-4 victory over the struggling St. Louis Cardinals, completing a short-series sweep before 35,610 at Busch Stadium.

“Coming in here with the circumstances being the way they were, and the way things have gone for us offensively to this point, to rebound against a team doing what they’re doing offensively is a major step forward for us,” said Manager Jim Tracy, whose team produced 15 hits one night after getting 11 hits in a 6-5 victory.

“We swung the bats better in the last two games here than we had swung it in the last three weeks combined. It’s not even close.”

Especially for Shawn Green.

The star right fielder has come under fire for his subpar performance at the plate throughout the season, and recently for his effort on defense.

So the Dodgers -- who improved to 2-2 on the seven-game trip -- were delighted/relieved about Green’s four-hit, four-run game that included two doubles. Green is the barometer for the Dodger offense, and his performance Thursday indicated good things.

“As much as we may not want to say anything about it, our offense keys off of this guy,” Tracy said. “When he starts to get hits, for whatever reason, there’s a lot of people on this club who think they can hit. They go out there and they start it.”

Like it or not, such is the responsibility on Green’s shoulders.

“I understand my role in this offense is a big part,” said Green, who had his third four-hit game of 2003. “I haven’t done the job to this point this season, but the way I look at it is, it’s all in the past now.

“Each day is a new day. If I can get going, then the whole offense can get going. We did tonight.”

The frustrated Cardinals would agree.

The Cardinals (46-45) continued to disappoint fans among the most supportive in professional sports, dropping their fourth in a row and second in as many nights to the Dodgers (48-42), who won for only the fourth time in 17 games.

The Dodgers pounded St. Louis starter Matt Morris (8-6) in a five-run first, batting around in their biggest opening inning of the season. Two-run singles from Jolbert Cabrera and Adrian Beltre helped to provide an early cushion for Odalis Perez (6-7), who isn’t used to working with so much support.

The Cardinals, who had 14 hits but stranded 11, scored three runs in the bottom of the first to keep things interesting. They pulled within 6-4 in the fifth, Perez’s final inning, but couldn’t get any closer against the Dodger bullpen.

Guillermo Mota worked two scoreless innings, running his streak to 16, left-hander Tom Martin was perfect for two-thirds of an inning and Paul Quantrill pitched the final 1 1/3 innings for his first save of the season.

Cabrera drove in three runs, Paul Lo Duca had three hits and every starting position player had at least one hit.

How could Dodger batters be so successful against the Cardinals after being so bad against, well, everyone else?

“I don’t know,” batting instructor Jack Clark said. “Maybe you just get to the back side of the process, and there’s only one other way to go.”