Valdez makes most of chance

In all likelihood, Wilson Valdez will have a short stay at shortstop for the Dodgers.

But he’ll always have Saturday afternoon by the bay.

Valdez has played for seven organizations in eight seasons, accumulating all of 182 major league at-bats. He squeezed onto the Dodgers’ roster because Rafael Furcal is on the disabled list, but Ramon Martinez played shortstop the first four games.

After nearly a week of waiting, Valdez started against the San Francisco Giants and made the most of it, banging out three hits and making several acrobatic plays in the Dodgers’ 4-1 victory at AT&T; Park.

“I guess he was the MVP of the game,” Manager Grady Little said. “He earned his way on the club with a strong spring training, and he showed today he’s earned some more playing time.”

Maybe the decision came when Valdez caught Ray Durham’s pop fly with his back to home plate in the fourth. Maybe it came when he went deep into the hole to backhand a groundball by Pedro Feliz in the fifth. Or maybe it came when he short-hopped Ryan Klesko’s chopper up the middle to end the seventh.

Little decided that Valdez would be back at shortstop today, when the Dodgers try for a series sweep and their fourth victory in a row before their home opener Monday against the Colorado Rockies.

Before the game Little had said Martinez -- who played flawlessly at shortstop the first four games -- would be back in the lineup today. He will be, but Little will move him to third in place of Wilson Betemit, who might have more trouble hitting Giants left-hander Barry Zito.

Valdez, 28, will have a chance to build on the nine assists and one putout he accumulated behind Derek Lowe, Jonathan Broxton and Takashi Saito.

“I asked Lowe to get me a couple ground balls early, and after that I had a lot of confidence,” said Valdez, who at first didn’t want to speak to reporters because of a story last week that suggested he was frustrated at a lack of playing time.

A player with a tenuous hold on a roster spot is especially sensitive about being portrayed as a malcontent, and he didn’t want to risk it again. Especially because it isn’t how he feels.

“I don’t think like that,” he said. “I don’t have any control of what they want to do with me. I just show up and do what they say.”

Valdez also contributed offensively. He was thrown out in the first inning trying to stretch a single into a double, but his single in the fifth started a two-run rally that broke a 1-1 tie. Nomar Garciaparra followed with a bad-hop single through shortstop, and Jeff Kent doubled to score both runners.

The Dodgers scored another run in the seventh when Juan Pierre and Valdez each singled and Garciaparra hit a sacrifice fly. That was plenty of offense for Lowe, who followed his shaky, five-walk opening-day performance with pinpoint control, helped by the largesse of umpire Bruce Froemming.

“Derek is a nibbler, and his ball moves so much that he needs the calls on the corners,” Kent said. “He was able to take advantage of that with Bruce.”

The Dodgers have taken advantage of the slumping Giants, who have scored 10 runs in five games and fell to 1-4 after getting only five hits.

“Our defense was phenomenal,” Lowe said. “We made every play.

“Valdez was great. Even the routine-looking plays were tough because their fast runners were hitting the ground balls.”

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steve.henson@latimes.com