Beltre Is Extra Timely

The process was public and painful, infuriating the Dodgers and emotionally wounding third baseman Adrian Beltre.

It all seems so long ago now.

Beltre continued his evolution from major disappointment to budding star Tuesday night, delivering two timely hits as the Dodgers rallied for a 4-3 victory in 11 innings over the Florida Marlins.

“Adrian is grown up now,” catcher Paul Lo Duca said. “And he’s carrying us.”

Beltre’s two-out, two-strike single in the ninth inning against closer Armando Benitez drove in Lo Duca with the tying run. Beltre then capped another clutch performance in the 11th, hitting a one-out single against Justin Wayne (2-1) and scoring the go-ahead run when third baseman Mike Mordecai committed the Marlins’ fourth error on Olmedo Saenz’s sharp grounder.

“Everybody expected me to do this, and I expected to do this,” said Beltre, batting .370 and leading the Dodgers with nine home runs, 25 runs batted in and a .680 slugging percentage. “I didn’t do it the last couple of years. This year, I feel pretty good.”

Beltre helped to provide an opening for closer Eric Gagne.

The fifth Dodger reliever, Gagne finished another fine effort by the bullpen, striking out Alex Gonzalez and Hee Seop Choi before giving up a single to leadoff batter Juan Pierre.

But, as usual, Gagne finished strong, getting Damion Easley on a called third strike to end the 3-hour 40-minute game in front of those who remained from a crowd of 12,520. Gagne recorded his eighth save of 2004 and major league-record 71st in a row.

Rookie Duaner Sanchez (1-0) overcame a shaky start, working 1 1/3 of the bullpen’s five scoreless innings in relief of starter Odalis Perez to earn his second big-league victory. Leadoff batter Dave Roberts, who had a run-scoring triple and was thrown out trying to steal for the first time in 16 tries, left in the bottom of the fourth after straining the right hamstring and is listed as day to day, so the news wasn’t totally good for the Dodgers.

“It’s my right leg, but it’s not like where I hurt it last year,” said Roberts, limited to 107 games in 2003 because of hamstring problems. “I can still lift my leg, so there’s no limitations, but it hurts behind my knee.

“It was smart to come out today and not make it worse than it is. I could have still played, but it hurt.”

The Dodgers started well overall on their first East Coast trip against the defending World Series champions, losers of four in a row. Beltre led the Dodgers again.

“The thing that’s been so special about Adrian Beltre is the type of at-bats he’s having in these key situations,” Manager Jim Tracy said. “The presence of mind of utilizing the whole field when he gets to two strikes ... tonight is another example of it. It’s very indicative of the reason why he’s where he’s at now. He’s given us terrific at-bats.”

Beltre’s first solid at-bat Tuesday occurred after a frustrating experience against ace Josh Beckett, who overwhelmed the Dodgers in an impressive eight-inning outing and probably would have earned his third victory had his teammates not suddenly forgotten how to play defense.

Trying to preserve a 3-2 lead with one out, Benitez fielded Lo Duca’s slow roller in front of the mound, but his wild throw enabled Lo Duca to reach second on an infield single and an error. After Juan Encarnacion flied out, advancing Lo Duca to third, Benitez jumped ahead against Beltre, 1 and 2, bringing the crowd to its feet.

Beltre went hitless in three at-bats with two strikeouts against Beckett, but he singled to right-center field to knock in Lo Duca. In the 11th, Beltre singled to right-center against Wayne and went to second when Alex Cora was hit by a pitch.

Saenz pinch-hit for Sanchez and grounded to Mordecai, who failed to get down a sacrifice bunt while hitting for Benitez in the 10th and remained in the game at third. Mordecai couldn’t handle Saenz’s grounder and Beltre raced to the plate.

“Adrian is at that point now where he’s turning into something special,” Lo Duca said. “It’s not about potential anymore.”