Piazza Takes What Rocky Pitchers Offer

Colorado Rocky Manager Don Baylor, unable to watch, walked up the dugout runway.

Dante Bichette, standing in right field, grumbled under his breath.

The Dodgers, along with the rest of the paid crowd of 35,562 at Dodger Stadium, simply braced themselves for the spectacular.

Mike Piazza, emerging as one of the greatest hitters in Dodger history, again left everyone shaking their heads Saturday afternoon, hitting the game-winning home run in the Dodgers’ 3-2 victory.

Piazza’s two-out, two-run homer in the eighth inning off Rocky closer Bruce Ruffin simply provided the latest chapter in his book of heroics, leaving even his own teammates in awe.

“It’s to the point now when you see the ball go down the middle of the plate to him,” Dodger reliever Mark Guthrie said, “you flinch. . . . It’s ridiculous what he can do.”

Dodger closer Todd Worrell took full advantage of Piazza’s homer by pitching a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his 200th save. Piazza and Worrell hugged one another afterward, and Piazza plopped the game ball in Worrell’s glove for the souvenir.

The Dodgers (47-41), who have won five of the last six games under interim Manager Bill Russell, found themselves losing, 2-1, after run-scoring singles by Walt Weiss and Eric Young in the fifth inning. Starter Tom Candiotti was knocked out of the game when he was hit on the right elbow in the bottom of the fifth by a Mark Thompson pitch.

Reliever Antonio Osuna (4-3) pitched three hitless innings to set the stage for Piazza in the eighth.

Pinch-hitter Roger Cedeno opened the inning by drawing a walk from rookie pitcher Jamie Wright. Chad Fonville sacrificed Cedeno to second. Baylor summoned left-handed reliever Ruffin, who retired Delino DeShields on a grounder for the second out.

That brought up Piazza, and the crowd came to its feet. Baylor had a decision to make. Permit Ruffin to pitch to Piazza, who is hitting .422 off left-handed pitchers, or try his luck with cleanup hitter Eric Karros? Baylor opted to pitch to Piazza, who had been hitless in three at-bats against Ruffin.

“Everyone was shocked they even pitched to him right there,” DeShields said. “He’s beaten them so many times. Baylor showed some [guts] right there.”

Piazza watched Ball One and Strike One. Ruffin came in with a high fastball. Cedeno’s heart jumped when he saw the ball hanging over the plate. Piazza swung and sliced the ball into the right-field stands, leaving Bichette cursing all of the way.

“I tell you what,” Bichette said, “you can’t pitch to that guy in that situation. In the last week, we’ve done that twice to him and once to [Barry] Bonds and we’ve been burned three times.

“That was a no-no. We paid the price of pitching to him.”

Piazza’s 24th homer probably wouldn’t have left Coors Field because of its high right-field wall, but then again, it’s scary to imagine how many homers Piazza would hit if he played 81 games a year in Denver. He is batting .388 in his career against the Rockies, with 16 homers and 55 RBIs. This season alone, he is batting .405 with six homers and 14 RBIs in only 37 at-bats. He has hit more homers against the Rockies than any team in the league.

“It gets to a point now where you just expect him to hit a home run about 90% of the time,” Cedeno said. “Every time he goes up to the plate, everyone says, ‘Home run. Here it comes.’ ”

Piazza, who leads the league with a .361 batting average and is bidding to become the first catcher to win the National League batting title since Ernie Lombardi in 1942, realizes the expectations he has created. With 24 homers and 63 RBIs before the All-Star break, it’s as if it will be a disappointment if he doesn’t break Duke Snider’s franchise record of 43 homers in a season.

“It just goes with part of the territory,” said Piazza, who will leave after today’s game for the All-Star game. “You set a standard for yourself. It can get frustrating at times, but it’s understandable.

“I just try to do what I can.”

Said Reggie Smith, Dodger hitting coach: “What can you say, the guy is amazing. He reminds me of [Mickey] Mantle. . . . He’s a hitting coach’s delight.”

And the Rockies’ worst nightmare.