Three-Deep Offense Is a Major Hit

The Dodgers unveiled a fall classic on the second-to-last day of summer, capitalizing on a rare power surge and an unanticipated boost from a seldom-used reliever Sunday for a 7-5 victory over the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium.

September call-up Rodney Myers pitched three scoreless innings in the wake of a bad start by Kazuhisa Ishii, and the Dodgers rallied from a three-run deficit when Robin Ventura, Adrian Beltre and Jeromy Burnitz hit consecutive home runs in the fourth inning.

Dave Roberts drove in Alex Cora with the go-ahead run in the seventh, the Dodgers added another run in the eighth and Eric Gagne closed out the victory with 1 1/3 perfect innings to record his 53rd save, breaking the franchise record he had set last season.

It also was his major league-record 61st consecutive save dating to last season.

“Everybody talks about a save, but that was a save right there,” Gagne said of Myers’ performance. “He kept them right there, and we came back.”

The Dodgers, who also got a two-run home run from Shawn Green, rallied against a San Francisco lineup that included only one regular, right fielder Jose Cruz Jr. But given the circumstances, with the Dodgers clinging to life in the National League wild-card race, the sellout crowd of 54,584 didn’t seem to mind during the last regular-season game at Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers pulled to within 2 1/2 games of the Florida Marlins in the wild-card standings. They also trail the Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs.

“We’re not going to quit here,” said Roberts, whose triple to right-center in the seventh proved to be the difference. “We’ve got eight games left, and we’re going to keep playing to the end as long as there’s games to be played.”

The Dodgers open a four-game series tonight in San Diego before concluding the regular season with a four-game series against the Giants at Pacific Bell Park. If the Dodgers can overtake the three teams ahead of them, they would open the playoffs the following week in Atlanta. “It’s going to go right down to the wire,” Dodger catcher Paul Lo Duca said. “We just need to keep winning ballgames.”

San Francisco looked as if it might be headed for a three-game sweep when it hammered Ishii for six hits and five runs in three-plus innings, taking a 5-2 lead in the fourth.

Ishii had experienced a severe headache and vomited Sunday, according to pitching coach Jim Colborn. The left-hander declined to comment on whether his ailment had affected his performance.

In the second, Todd Linden hit an Ishii pitch into the loge level down the left-field line for his first major league home run, a three-run shot.

In the fourth, Giant starting pitcher Kevin Correia added a run-scoring bloop single before Ishii gave up his fifth walk to put runners on first and second with no outs.

Myers, who had not pitched in 15 days, relieved Ishii and walked Cruz to load the bases before retiring Pedro Feliz on a run-scoring groundout. He retired the next two batters to avert further damage.

“Rodney picked us up, which is tough when you haven’t thrown in a while,” Lo Duca said. “He threw strikes and really dominated.”

Said Myers: “I just tried to keep us in it, and we battled back and won.”

Beltre’s solo shot during the Dodgers’ three-consecutive-homer barrage -- their first of the season -- was his 22nd, a career high.

Gagne, who said he experienced goose bumps upon entering the game, insisted he is capable of throwing two innings a game over the final week of the season. The Dodgers only hope they can put him in that position.

Perhaps the surest sign that the Dodgers still harbor optimism could be found on a marker board in the clubhouse. A message toward the bottom scribbled in red ink read, “Pack your bats and bags for road trip. San Diego. San Francisco. Atlanta!”