Dodgers Happy to Receive Gift From Caminiti

Interim General Manager Tom Lasorda wants the Dodgers to believe they can accomplish anything.

The former manager has been preaching an optimistic outlook to his players in the clubhouse, on the field and wherever he can corner them.

And Lasorda figures to continue his upbeat show after what occurred Friday night in a 6-2 victory over the National League West-leading San Diego Padres before 53,245 at Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers rallied for five runs in the bottom of the eighth. They scored the tying and go-ahead runs on a throwing error by Padre third baseman Ken Caminiti.

Antonio Osuna (5-0) pitched two-thirds of an inning to earn the victory, and new closer Jeff Shaw pitched a 1-2-3 ninth in his first appearance at Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers have won the first two games in the four-game series, and they moved a game above .500 at 45-44. Moreover, they cut the Padres’ lead over them in the division to 11 1/2 games. And combined with the San Francisco Giants’ loss to Colorado, the Dodgers trail the Giants by 6 1/2 games in the NL wild-card race.

Now that’s what Lasorda has been talking about.

“There is nothing, and I mean nothing, that you can’t do if you believe in yourself,” Lasorda said. “We have the guys, the talent is here on this team, we just have to get everyone believing in themselves.

“Once you believe in yourself, all the possibilities in the world are open to you.”

It seemed that way in the eighth.

Padre starter Kevin Brown frustrated the Dodgers through the first six innings, giving up only a run. But they found the right mix in the eighth against relievers Dan Miceli (7-4) and Brian Boehringer, sending 10 batters to the plate.

With one out, pinch-hitter Wilton Guerrero singled to center, and he took third on Adrian Beltre’s single to right. Eric Young fouled off three full-count pitches against Miceli, and then grounded to Caminiti.

Guerrero was running on contact, and Caminiti threw to the plate. But his throw sailed over the head of catcher Carlos Hernandez, and the sliding Guerrero took out Hernandez’s legs.

Beltre scored when the ball rolled to the backstop, and Young went to third. The Dodgers had a 3-2 lead with more to come, and Caminiti knew he made a big mistake.

“I didn’t have good footing on the play,” the Gold Glove winner said. “The ball was hit to my left, and I didn’t have a chance to set my feet. It was an error, and two runs scored. That’s baseball.”

Said Padre Manager Bruce Bochy: “He just threw it high, and that was the difference in the game.”

With some help from the Dodgers, the Padres took a 2-1 lead in the fourth. Caminiti opened the inning with a single against Dodger starter Darren Dreifort and Greg Vaughn doubled over the head of center fielder Raul Mondesi.

With runners at second and third, Wally Joyner hit a grounder to the hole between first and second. First baseman Eric Karros got to the ball but didn’t have a play at first, and Caminiti scored to tie the score, 1-1.

With Vaughn at third, Ed Giovanola hit a grounder to Young, which should have forced Joyner at second and started a possible double play. But shortstop Juan Castro dropped Young’s throw at the bag, and Vaughn scored, giving the Padres a 2-1 advantage.

The error was the eighth of the season for the smooth-fielding Castro, who was filling in for injured starter Jose Vizcaino. Castro atoned for his mistake by starting the Dodgers’ second double play later in the inning. And he would make a spectacular play in the sixth, going behind the bag and flipping the ball in one smooth motion to Young for a force play.

The Dodgers had taken a 1-0 lead in the first on Gary Sheffield’s two-out, run-scoring single. With one out, Matt Luke singled to center and stole second. He went to third on a wild pitch by Brown and scored on Sheffield’s single to right.

Brown took command for the next five innings, but the Dodgers took the victory in the eighth.

*

JOINING IN: Wally Joyner is happy to be a piece of the puzzle with the first-place Padres. C7

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Second Wind

The Dodgers traditionally have been a strong second-half squad, especially the last three seasons. Since this season’s All-Star break, they are 2-0. The last 10 seasons before and after the break: *--*

YEAR BEFORE AFTER 1988 48-36, .571 46-31, .597 1989 40-47, .460 37-36, .507 1990 39-43, .476 47-33, .588 1991 49-31, .613 44-38, .537 1992 39-49, .443 24-50, .324 1993 46-41, .529 35-40, .467 1994 46-42, .523 12-14, .462 1995 36-36, .500 42-30, .583 1996 47-42, .528 43-30, .589 1997 45-42, .517 43-32, .573 Total 435-409, .515 373-334, .528

*--*