Dodgers Take This Series Win

Kobe Bryant rose to his feet, rocking his daughter in his arms as the hottest finisher in Los Angeles rocked the house. Eric Gagne reared back and fired a strike, and bedlam erupted at Dodger Stadium.

And not only from the stands. David Ross leaped from the Dodger dugout, waving a towel at the sky. Jose Lima ran from the dugout too, then turned back to the screaming fans, pointing to the “Dodgers” script on the front of his jersey. As the players giddily retreated inside the clubhouse, owner Frank McCourt -- his hair messed up and his sleeves rolled up -- greeted Lima with a hug and a high-five.

“Now we’re rocking!” McCourt hollered after the 5-4 victory over the New York Yankees.

The Dodgers, October strangers for years, had beaten the team that owns October yet again. Gagne struck out Alex Rodriguez to end the eighth inning and Hideki Matsui to end the ninth Sunday, preserving a thrilling victory before a raucous crowd that alternated between cheering the home team and mocking the visitors, all at decibel levels worthy of October.

“My heart was racing,” Ross said, “and I was sitting on the bench.”

The Yankees, with 26 World Series championships and the best record in the major leagues, surely are amused that they can stir such fanfare by losing two of three games in June.

But the Dodgers, on a quest for their first playoff invitation in eight years and first playoff victory in 16, were ecstatic over their performance in a faux October setting. The Dodgers and Yankees sold out the weekend, with the total of 165,240 setting a Dodger Stadium record for a three-game series.

“I didn’t see anyone leave early the whole series,” Dodger outfielder Dave Roberts said. “They could care less about the traffic jam in the parking lot. The excitement and passion was pretty awesome.”

Said catcher Paul Lo Duca: “We showed we can play under some pressure and in front of electric fans. That was awesome.”

Bryant got a standing ovation when he arrived in the third inning, curiously dressed in a Dodger cap and Yankee jersey. Billy Crystal wore a classic navy blue Yankee cap, Jack Nicholson a hideous yellow one. McCourt walked over and gave him a Dodger cap, which Nicholson brusquely dropped onto an adjacent seat.

Shawn Green hit a solo home run, Roberts drove in two runs and scored another, circling the bases for an insurance run after an error by left fielder Matsui, and Lima earned the victory by holding the Yankees to three runs over six-plus innings.

“He’s not only staying in the rotation, he’s entrenching himself into it,” Dodger Manager Jim Tracy said.

Lima ended the sixth inning by striking out Rodriguez, then pumping his fist, skipping off the mound and jumping high over the foul line.

“I’m not going to change if people get mad at me,” Lima said. “You can dance if you hit a home run off me.”

The Dodgers used three relievers to get the next five outs and Gagne to get the last four. Jason Giambi homered in the ninth, but Gagne still earned his 81st consecutive save.

The Dodgers closed a 5-1 homestand in which Gagne saved every victory. They open a four-game series in San Francisco tonight, leading the Giants by 1 1/2 games, and Tracy is well aware of the rubber chickens the Giants are selling for $10 a pop, encouraging fans to wave them and protest intentional walks to Barry Bonds.

“I hope the chickens they’re selling have strong legs while we’re in town, so while they’re waving them, their legs don’t snap off,” Tracy said. “They’ll get a chance to get waved.”

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Drawing Power

The Dodgers set a regular-season attendance record this weekend for a three-game series, as well as a record for highest average attendance for a regular-season series at Dodger Stadium (55,080). The previous three-game series record was 162,376 in 1999 vs. St. Louis.

* Total attendance: 165,240

* Friday: 55,207

* Saturday: 54,876

* Sunday: 55,157