Dodger Win Has Sudden Impact

The Dodgers have been so starved for runs, so hungry for wins, you got the feeling they would have run through a brick wall in order to score. Wednesday night, Brian Jordan practically did.

The Dodger left fielder capped a three-run, sixth-inning rally by flattening San Diego Padre catcher Gary Bennett en route to the plate, a bone-crunching collision that was reminiscent of Pete Rose barreling into Ray Fosse in the 1970 All-Star Game, and the Dodgers, unlike Bennett, held on for a 3-0 victory.

A Dodger Stadium crowd of 25,513 saw left-hander Kazuhisa Ishii shut out the Padres on three hits over seven innings and reliever Paul Quantrill escape a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the eighth, as the Dodgers ended a four-game losing streak and beat long-time nemesis Brian Lawrence.

“There was a little frustration built up in that hit,” said Jordan, a former NFL defensive back. “We need some excitement and that play sparked not only the players, but the fans. It felt like my football days. I had no intention of hurting the guy; I just went at it hard.”

The Dodgers needed Lawrence Wednesday night like a leaky roof needs a thunderstorm. Talk about pouring it on -- the Dodgers were ranked 14th in the National League in batting (.232) and runs (47),15th in slugging percentage and scored nine runs in four previous losses; Lawrence entered with a 5-2 career record and 2.03 earned run average against the Dodgers

The match-up hardly favored the Dodgers, who were blanked over the first five innings, but they finally solved Lawrence’s array of sinkers, sliders and off-speed pitches in the sixth.

Dave Roberts opened with a bunt single, and Paul Lo Duca flied out. Roberts stole second and Shawn Green, who had two hits in 23 at-bats this season against the Padres, fisted a bloop single to right.

Roberts hesitated before breaking for third and was waved home. Right fielder Xavier Nady’s strong throw reached the plate before Roberts, but the ball short-hopped Bennett, who couldn’t hold on. Roberts was safe, and the Dodgers led, 1-0.

Green took second on the throw, and Jordan was hit by a pitch. Fred McGriff, who entered with a .152 average, was given the green light on a 3-and-0 pitch and rewarded Manager Jim Tracy with a double into the right-field corner.

Green jogged home, and Jordan, a 6-foot-1, 225-pounder, was waved in. Bennett, no lightweight at 6-2 and 208 pounds, went to one knee to field second baseman Mark Loretta’s relay and had the plate blocked.

But as Bennett turned to make the tag, he was pancaked by a shoulder-to-shoulder hit, dropping the ball and banging the back of his head on the ground. Bennett was replaced behind the plate by Wiki Gonzalez one pitch later. The diagnosis: a sprained right knee.

McGriff, whose two runs batted in moved him into 39th on the all-time RBI list, tied with Mickey Mantle at 1,509, was stranded at third, but the damage had been done.

The Dodgers’ three-run inning was their first such outburst since the second inning of an April 6 game at San Diego, a span of 83 innings, and Quantrill made it stand up, striking out Mark Kotsay and Rondell White with the bases loaded to end the eighth. Eric Gagne struck out two of four in the ninth for his third save.

“I told B.J. if I ever play against him, I’m going to ole him,” Lo Duca said. “The last time I got hit like that was by Derrick Gibson in the minor leagues, and I ended up in the on-deck circle. I’ve seen some collisions, and that was a good one.”