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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Gary Sheffield said he felt like it was opening day again.
|  | | Gary Sheffield slammed his 42nd home run of the season. |
He only wishes that was the case, the way the Los Angeles
Dodgers are playing right now.
Sheffield hit just his second homer since Aug. 19, and Darren
Dreifort blanked San Francisco on two hits over seven innings
Tuesday night as the red-hot Dodgers beat the NL West champion
Giants 9-0.
The win was the ninth in 10 games for the Dodgers and kept their
slim wild card hopes alive. They trail the New York Mets by five
games with five remaining.
The Giants, who clinched the division title Thursday night, are
one game behind Atlanta in the race for the NL's best record -- and
home-field advantage in the NL playoffs.
"I've always believed we could do as a team what we've done in September," said Sheffield, who hasn't been able to do much personally because of illness and injury. "It starts with the pitching and defense."
The pitching has been rather unbelievable lately; L.A.'s starters
have allowed only 19 earned runs in 105 2/3 innings over the last
15 games for a 1.62 ERA.
Sheffield's 42nd homer of the season, a two-run shot off Russ
Ortiz (13-12), capped a three-run fifth that put the Dodgers ahead
4-0. The homer tied a career high and moved Sheffield within one of
Duke Snider's franchise record, set in 1956.
Sheffield, who had missed five straight games and seven of eight
due to a lower back strain, stopped an 0-for-17 slide with his
first homer since Sept. 8. He missed 11 games in late August and
early September due to a viral infection before being bothered by
the back problem.
"I feel fine, a lot of adrenaline going today," he said. "It
felt like the first day of the season."
Dreifort (12-8), who has won eight of his last nine decisions,
has pitched 14 2-3 scoreless innings in his last two starts. Mike
Fetters and Terry Adams finished with hitless relief.
"The No. 1 thing is defense," Dreifort said. "The defense has
been outstanding the last couple of weeks, I don't think it could
have been better than this."
The Dodgers have 135 errors -- second-most in the majors.
The only hits allowed by Dreifort were a first-inning single by Barry Bonds and a fourth-inning single by Ellis Burks.
"Dreifort has kind of come into his own the second half of the
season," Giants shortstop Rich Aurilia said. "He's got a good
fastball, with movement, he throws it up at around 96 miles an
hour, and tonight he was spotting his breaking ball. In the past,
he was pretty erratic."
The Dodgers took a 1-0 lead in the third when Tom Goodwin hit a
one-out triple and scored on a single by Mark Grudzielanek.
Goodwin hit four of the Dodgers' nine hits, tying a career best.
Goodwin and Grudzielanek singled with one out in the fifth
before Ortiz threw a wild pitch and catcher Bobby Estalella
committed a throwing error, allowing Goodwin to score. Sheffield
homered on a full-count pitch.
The Dodgers scored four times in the seventh on sacrifice flies
by Shawn Green and Todd Hundley, a bases-loaded walk to Sheffield by Doug Henry, and an error by second baseman Jeff Kent.
Ortiz, who lost for just the second time in his last 10
decisions, allowed six runs and seven hits in six-plus innings.
Pinch-hitter Kevin Elster hit a solo home run off Chad Zerbe for
the Dodgers' final run. It was Los Angeles' 12th pinch-hit home run
of the season, tying the major league record.
"We don't like coming down here and getting beat," Giants
manager Dusty Baker said. "They're playing good ball, they always
play well late in the second half. But it doesn't matter, they can
play as good as they want to, it's too late."
Game notes
The Dodgers have a 7-3 record against the Giants this
season. ... Sheffield's homer was his 23rd at Dodger Stadium,
breaking the record of 22 set by Mike Piazza three years ago. ...
Ortiz has allowed only three homers in his last 82 innings to July
23, when he gave up first-inning homers to Shawn Green and Todd
Hollandsworth at Dodger Stadium. ... Bonds snapped an 0-for-9
drought with his first-inning single. ... The Dodgers have hit 208
homers, tying the franchise record set by the 1953 Brooklyn
Dodgers. The Giants have 219 homers -- two shy of the franchise
record set by the 1947 New York Giants. ... Dreifort became the
third straight Los Angeles starter to allow two hits. Kevin Brown
did so in nine innings Saturday night, and Chan Ho Park did so in
eight innings Sunday. ... The Giants have lost only seven of their
last 27 games. ... The Dodgers have four shutouts in their last
seven games, allowing five runs.
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Baseball Scoreboard
San Francisco Clubhouse
Los Angeles Clubhouse
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