Brown Keeps Dodgers From Giant Sinkhole

The struggling Dodgers shouldn’t presume anything these days because they aren’t doing much well.

The high-priced ballclub hasn’t met expectations offensively or defensively, and although the starting pitching has improved recently, things could be better with that bunch too.

Of course, Kevin Brown has been the exception to the rule.

The right-hander continued to buck the overall disappointing trend Friday night in a 4-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants.

Brown had another outstanding effort against the team he has dominated throughout his career, working 7 1/3 innings and ending the Dodgers’ three-game losing streak before a typically hostile crowd of 36,849 at 3Com Park.

Manager Davey Johnson removed Brown with one out and a runner on second in the eighth. Left-hander Pedro Borbon got the final two outs, striking out Bill Mueller looking on a full count to end the inning.

Closer Jeff Shaw worked a scoreless ninth to earn his 17th save. Giant starter Shawn Estes (4-5) pitched a season-high eight innings, but the left-hander was no match for the Dodger ace.

Brown (9-4) gave up five hits and two earned runs while striking out five with a walk. He lowered his earned-run average from 2.92 to 2.89--the best in the National League.

He improved to 7-0 in eight career starts against the Giants. Brown has a 0.78 ERA against San Francisco. It drops to 0.62 when Brown faces the Giants at the ballpark formerly known as Candlestick.

The Dodgers especially needed the strong outing from Brown Friday.

They were coming off a three-game sweep against the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium, dropping them to 6-14 in June. Beginning play Friday, only a half-game separated the last-place Padres and fourth-place Dodgers in the National League West.

The Padres defeated the Colorado Rockies on Friday, meaning you-know-who would have been alone in last place if they had lost to their despised Northern California neighbors.

Hello, Brown.

Brown is as close to a sure thing as the Dodgers (33-38) have. He has stopped losing streaks at three games on three other occasions this season, and is 7-2 after Dodger losses.

For a change, the Dodgers had some timely hits. Jose Vizcaino came through with a one-out, two-run single in the second to stake Brown to a 2-0 lead.

Gary Sheffield increased the Dodgers’ lead to 3-1 with a run-scoring single in the fifth.

Sheffield drove in leadoff batter Eric Young, who singled to open the inning and stole his 25th and 26th bases with Sheffield batting.

Catcher Todd Hundley replaced starter Angel Pena in the sixth and hit a solo home run--his eighth--in the ninth to close the scoring. Pena is listed as day-to-day because of tightness in his right hamstring.

Young singled twice and showed signs of regaining his form from earlier this season. He’s not there yet, but the Dodgers hope Friday’s aggressive performance was a start.

“We need to stay aggressive, and we need to keep fighting,” Sheffield said. “When you’re in a situation like we are right now, you can go one of two ways. You can just sit back and not try to change things, or you can keep doing everything you can do to try to make it right.

“What we’re dealing with now, this is all about character building. That’s what I’ve been trying to talk to the young guys about. This is the time when you find out what everyone is about.”

Paying the Price

The Dodgers have a payroll of $79,180,952 and only 32 wins before Friday, the worst ratio in baseball. A look:

Team: Price per win

Dodgers: $2,474,405

Baltimore: $2,452,673

Yankees: $2,025,104

Texas: $1,827,681

Colorado: $1,729,113

Note: The Angels are eighth with a price of $1,609,786 per win.