SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- After just two games in Dodger blue, Jose

Valentin already knows his mistakes and highlights both will be

magnified in his new club's biggest rivalry -- and he's hoping to

produce far more hits than misses.

Valentin atoned for his opening-day error with three hits,

including a three-run homer, while Olmedo Saenz drove in three runs

in Los Angeles' 10-4 victory over the San Francisco Giants on

Wednesday night.

Valentin and Milton Bradley also had run-scoring triples, and

Jason Phillips drove in two more runs as the Dodgers shook off

their opening loss with 14 hits and two late-inning rallies in the

rematch.

Valentin's seventh-inning error Tuesday night allowed the

Giants' go-ahead run, but the 11-year veteran responded with an

impressive comeback game, going 3-for-4.

"I've been through a lot of hard times in my career, and that

was just another one," said Valentin, who signed with Los Angeles

in December after hitting a career-high 30 homers for the White

Sox. "If I'm in a situation like that again, I'm going to come

right back again."

Los Angeles scored five runs in the sixth, tagging relievers

Tyler Walker and Jason Christiansen for five consecutive hits

capped by Valentin's homer. The Dodgers got three more in the

seventh on Saenz's two-run double and Valentin's triple, which

bounced crazily off the brick wall in right field.

Valentin actually expected to see the bunt sign before his

homer, but was allowed to swing away. Jason Christiansen's fastball

eventually landed in the tunnel leading to the players' parking lot

down the left-field line.

Saenz, subbing for Hee Seop Choi at first base, went 3-for-4

with a walk.

"We have a number of professional players on this club, a

number of guys that understand what a 162-game season means,"

manager Jim Tracy said. "The important thing for us to do is to

keep our heads above water and keep ourselves close, knowing we've

got a pretty good team on the disabled list right now."

Maybe the Dodgers won't have as much trouble scoring runs as

everybody expects this season -- and maybe the Giants' bullpen isn't

quite as solid as they expected.

Mike Matheny hit a two-run homer in the ninth for the Giants,

who floundered while manager Felipe Alou served a one-game

suspension. Moises Alou, his son and right fielder, also left in

the fifth inning with tightness in his right calf.

The Dodgers' reconfigured lineup had little trouble getting to

Kirk Rueter, who struggled through five innings for the loss, and

the Giants' bullpen.

"I felt ready, but before I knew it, I was backing up the

bases," said Walker, who allowed four straight hits without

getting an out. "I don't know what happened."

Jason Repko, playing left field and hitting second in his major

league debut with the Dodgers, got a sixth-inning double for his

first hit. Repko, whose family was watching in the stands, would

have got his first RBI as well, but Cesar Izturis missed third base

on his way to the plate.

Odalis Perez pitched five solid innings for the victory,

allowing six hits and three walks. He's 3-0 with a 1.57 ERA in his

last four starts at SBC Park.

After presenting a pitching award to Jason Schmidt before the

game, Felipe Alou left to serve his suspension for an incident late

last season in which former reliever Dustin Hermanson hit Jeff Kent

with a pitch.

Bench coach Ron Wotus managed the Giants in Alou's absence --

just as Tracy did a few times in Montreal, when he was Alou's bench

coach. Alou hadn't decided whether to watch the game from general

manager Brian Sabean's box, or simply head across King Street to

his apartment just beyond the left-field stands.

"Tell him I said to go across the street, in case he feels

compelled to say something," Tracy said before the game. "Because

when he does, it's pretty darn good."

Wotus' chance to run the club didn't go smoothly: Rueter, who

rarely complains, thought he should have pitched another inning.

But Wotus was encouraged by the Giants' three-run ninth against

reliever Yhency Brazoban.

"It was nice to see the guys come back and rough up their

closer a little," Wotus said. "He wasn't able to finish the game.

Hopefully it affects him tomorrow night as well."Game notes
Eric Gagne was ejected in the fifth for arguing balls and

strikes from the dugout. The punch line? Gagne is on the 15-day

disabled list with a sprained elbow. ... Giants 2B Ray Durham was a

last-minute scratch from the lineup because of a mild groin strain

and his poor career record against Perez. ... RHP Steve Schmoll

made his major league debut for the Dodgers in the eighth.