Ninth Symphony

Dodger Stadium was bedlam and Milton Bradley was running off the field, tugging at his jersey.

It was a familiar sight to fans who remember his ugly bottle-throwing incident in September, yet this time there were only screams of delight from the Dodgers, the record crowd and Bradley.

The center fielder had just delivered with the bases loaded and two out in the ninth inning, giving the Dodgers a stirring 9-8 victory over the San Francisco Giants in the home opener Tuesday. His single brought home Cesar Izturis and J.D. Drew, and when the ball rolled past left fielder Jason Ellison, Jeff Kent dashed home with the winning run.

Bradley had spoken recently about putting team concerns ahead of his own. The proof was in the popping -- of his jersey, that is, both thumbs raised skyward in a gesture popularized in the NCAA basketball tournament.

The message: It’s all about the name on the front of the jersey.

“We have different players wearing the same uniforms,� Bradley said. “I want people to support the Dodgers.�

Enough endings like this and it won’t be a problem.

The Dodgers (5-2) have scored four runs in their last at-bat three times in their last four games. They did it in victories over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday and Saturday.

But it’s one thing to do it against the awful Diamondback bullpen. It’s another to score four against new Giant closer Armando Benitez, who signed a three-year, $21-million contract during the off-season.

“I was pitching too quick to home plate and was a little bit wild,� Benitez said. “It wasn’t my day.�

Early on, the Dodgers might have had the same thought. Nothing kills an opening-day buzz faster than surrendering five runs in the first inning.

The largest regular-season crowd at Dodger Stadium -- 55,892 -- barely had time to settle after watching the obligatory B-2 stealth bomber roar past when low-flying projectiles began doing damage.

Starter Jeff Weaver had no feel for his sinkerball and gave up 11 hits and eight runs before being pulled after Pedro Feliz had hit a three-run homer with none out in the fourth, putting the Dodgers in an 8-3 hole.

The next few innings had a sedate midsummer feel. The Dodgers scored two in the sixth and brought the tying run to the plate with one out, but drew no closer. And in the seventh they loaded the bases with one out, only to see Kent, one of their hottest hitters, ground into a double play.

Meanwhile, though, the injury-riddled Dodger bullpen was turning in a stellar job. Buddy Carlyle, rookie D.J. Houlton and Giovanni Carrara (1-0) each pitched two scoreless innings.

The Giants had 16 hits but stranded 12 runners, including two in the sixth, eighth and ninth innings.

“I hate to begin spending the bullpen so early, but we had to do what we had to do,� Manager Jim Tracy said. “The difference in the game was those guys putting up zeroes the rest of the way.�

The bullpen kept the Dodgers within three runs when they came to bat in the ninth, which lately is too close for the comfort of opposing managers. With one out, pinch-hitter Ricky Ledee doubled and Izturis -- who has five multi-hit games in a row -- singled.

After pinch-hitter Jose Valentin popped up, Benitez walked Drew and forced in a run by walking Kent. Up came Bradley, who worked the count to 2-2 before drilling a fastball.

“I didn’t even fathom failure,� he said.

A player trying to put his tumultuous past behind him provided a reason to remember, if only as a reference point for how different this felt. Even after the players left the field, the crowd stayed and chanted “Bradley� the way they’d chanted “Beltre� last season.

“This is my hometown,� he said. “Even though I’ve had bad times, when you are from here, you stay together. I appreciate these fans, they love the same thing I do.�

And that would be the name on the jersey he was popping.