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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
LOS ANGELES (AP) – The Los Angeles Dodgers went up against one
of the best defensive teams in the majors and played just as well
in the field. In fact, Gary Sheffield did the Florida Marlins one
better.
|  | | Dodgers catcher Chad Kreuter puts the tag on Eric Owens in the sixth inning. |
Sheffield threw out the potential tying run at the plate from
left field for his fifth assist of the season, helping Chan Ho Park
preserve a one-run lead in the sixth inning in a 3-2 win over the
Florida Marlins on Wednesday night.
Eric Owens legged out a double and Charles Johnson singled with
two out past diving third baseman Dave Hansen. But Sheffield
charged the ball and made a perfect throw to catcher Chad Kreuter,
who held on in a violent collision with Owens.
"I didn't think Gary had a chance, to be honest with you,"
manager Jim Tracy said. "But because of the accuracy of the throw
and the job that Chad did, it turned out to be one very big play in
the course of this game."
Owens, who saved two runs in the fourth when he grabbed Mark
Grudzielanek's drive on the dead run before crashing into the
right-field fence, jammed his right shoulder in the collision with
Kreuter.
"You're hoping as the play develops in front of you that you're
going to get a good throw and it's going to be in time," Kreuter
said. "I just started assessing what I needed to do -- and since it
was a one-run ballgame, I'm going to block the plate and he's going
to have to go through me.
"I knew it was going to be bang-bang, and he ended up hitting
me before the ball even got to me. There's a lot of luck involved,
and it was a great throw by Gary. That's the bottom line in all of
that."
Park (4-3) allowed three hits over seven scoreless innings. The
right-hander gave up a leadoff single to Luis Castillo in the first
inning and did not allow another hit until Owens' double.
"It was one of those outings where he didn't have his best
stuff," Kreuter said. "But he goes out there and battles and
makes the best use out of what he has that night.
"We're seeing that out of a lot of our pitchers. That's the
attitude of our staff. They're not going to give in or feel that
they're not going to win on a particular night, just because they
don't have their best stuff."
Park struck out eight and walked two. When he retired Ryan
Dempster (3-4) on a sacrifice bunt for the second out in the fifth,
Park reached the 1,000-inning mark in the majors.
The Korean-born right-hander made his major league debut on Apr.
8, 1994, with an inning of mop-up relief -- the same night that
Atlanta's Kent Mercker pitched the last no-hitter at Dodger
Stadium.
"He has good stuff and he's mixing his pitches up," Johnson
said. "He's throwing a lot of sliders now. Even when he's behind
in the count, he's mixing his pitches up and just finding a way to
get guys out."
After Park struck out the side in the seventh, Grudzielanek made
it 3-0 with his seventh homer after a single by Tom Goodwin.
Mike Fetters relieved Park at the start of the eighth,
surrendering a leadoff walk to Castillo and Cliff Floyd's one-out
homer to center.
Jeff Shaw pitched the ninth for his NL-leading 11th save.
Mike Lowell, who entered the game leading all third basemen this
season with a .988 fielding percentage, committed his second miscue
in 87 total chances when Shawn Green's two-out bouncer toward the
hole glanced off his glove in the Dodgers' third. Grudzielanek, who
singled, advanced two bases on the error and scored on Eric Karros'
single.
Green tripled to left field past the diving Floyd in the fifth
and tried to make it all the way home, but was nailed by shortstop
Alex Gonzalez's relay throw -- and received a standing ovation from
the crowd of 27,301 for making the attempt. The Dodgers have not
had an inside-the-park homer since Mitch Webster's on June 21,
1994, at San Diego.
Game notes
The last inside-the-park homer in the majors was by Chris
Singleton of the White Sox, on Sept. 29, 2000, at Comiskey Park
against Kansas City. The last one by a National Leaguer was three
days earlier, by Philadelphia's Kevin Jordan at Wrigley Field. ...
Lowell, who missed two games and didn't start a third after getting
hit on the left arm last Saturday by Milwaukee's Mark Leiter, took
a fastball in the ribs from Park in the fourth. ... In his previous
seven starts against Florida, Park was 1-2 with a 5.79 ERA. ...
Goodwin, whose 55 stolen bases were the second-most in the majors
last year behind Castillo, was thrown out at second by Johnson in
the third inning. Johnson already is 10-for-18 against enemy
baserunners, after throwing out only 20 of 72 last season.
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RECAPS
Seattle 10
Boston 5
Cleveland 5
Kansas City 1
Detroit 3
Texas 2
NY Yankees 2
Minnesota 0
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Toronto 5
Baltimore 8
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Houston 7
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San Diego 0
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Florida 2
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San Francisco 0
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