Piazza Has Blast in L.A. Return

Mike Piazza returned to a familiar stage for the first time Friday night, performing with his typical flair.

Spectators accustomed to his act expected something big, and the all-star catcher delivered.

Piazza hit a home run in his first game at Dodger Stadium since he was traded May 15 and scored the winning run in the 10th inning as the New York Mets defeated the Dodgers, 5-4, before a sellout crowd of 52,154.

The Dodgers took a 3-0 lead on Gary Sheffield’s homer in the first inning. The Mets tied the score, 4-4, on a three-run homer by John Olerud in the seventh.

Piazza has been traded twice this season after spending his first five-plus seasons with the Dodgers. Fans welcomed him back to Los Angeles with a standing ovationbefore his first at-bat, and Piazza hit his 26th homer in the sixth to the cut the Dodgers’ lead to 4-1.

“The fans have always been good to me here,” said Piazza, who will file for free agency at season’s end. “That’s something you never forget.”

It appeared the Dodgers might quickly ruin Piazza’s homecoming.

Sheffield hit a three-run homer in the first and Eric Karros added a solo shot in the fifth, giving the Dodgers a 4-0 lead. Starter Carlos Perez was pitching well for the first time in three starts, and the Dodgers were feeling confident.

Of course, they’ve made that mistake before.

The animated left-hander has struggled with the Dodgers, going 0-3 with a 6.35 earned-run average in five starts entering Friday’s game. Perez encountered trouble in the seventh, and was removed with two out and runners at first and second.

Enter Scott Radinsky.

The left-hander earned his 13th save by getting the final two outs in a 10-9 victory Thursday. He didn’t fare as well Friday.

On a 1-and-1 count, Olerud hit a three-run homer against Radinsky to tie the score, 4-4. That assured Perez would remain winless as a Dodger. Perez gave up six hits and was charged with three runs in 6 2/3 innings. He walked four and struck out one while throwing 113 pitches, 64 for strikes.

Piazza was traded to the Florida Marlins in a stunning--and controversial--seven-player transaction after he failed to reach an agreement with the team on a multiyear contract extension. He rejected the team’s final guaranteed offer of $79 million over six years, and instructed his agent to stop negotiating with the Dodgers.

The negotiations were often acrimonious, and Fox Group officials believed Piazza wouldn’t re-sign with the team. Resigned to losing him in free agency, they brokered the deal with the Marlins, sending Piazza and third baseman Todd Zeile to Florida for Sheffield, Bobby Bonilla, Charles Johnson, Jim Eisenreich and a minor leaguer.

Piazza was traded to the Mets on May 22 and Zeile went to the Texas Rangers on July 31. And much has occurred with the Dodgers as well.

“A lot of stuff has happened since then,” Piazza said. “It doesn’t help anybody to keep bringing all that stuff up, all you can do is move forward.

“You never know how things are going to turn out, so it’s just speculation to keep talking about how things could have been different. The Mets have been good to me, and the only thing I’m focusing on is the wild-card [race].”

The Dodgers also have moved on.

“It’s not even an issue over here,” Karros said. “It’s probably an issue over there [in the visitors’ clubhouse] because it’s Mike’s first [series] back and he’s facing a lot of questions.

“It’s probably a distraction for the Mets because the media is going to be in there around Mike all the time, and they have to deal with that. But for us, it’s just not something we’re thinking about.”

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The Big Deal / Revisited

A look at the numbers since the Dodgers traded Mike Piazza and Todd Zeile to Florida on May 15 for Gary Sheffield, Charles Johnson, Bobby Bonilla and Jim Eisenreich (averages are through Friday):

* Dodgers with Piazza: 19-22, .463

* Dodgers without Piazza: 48-47, .505

* Mets without Piazza: 24-20, .545

* Mets with Piazza: 51-41, .554

* Piazza with Dodgers: .282, 9 HRs, 30 RBIs

* Piazza with Mets: .330, 17 HRs, 52 RBIs

* Sheffield with Marlins: .272, 6 HRs, 28 RBIs

* Sheffield with Dodgers: .318, 16 HRs, 57 RBIs

* Bonilla with Marlins: .278, 4 HRs, 15 RBIs

* Bonilla with Dodgers: .227, 4 HRs, 22 RBIs

* Johnson with Marlins: .221, 7 HRs, 23 RBIs

* Johnson with Dodgers: .205, 9 HRs, 28 RBIs

* Eisenreich with Marlins: .250, 1 HR, 7 RBIs

* Eisenreich with Dodgers: .200, 0 HR, 3 RBIs