Dodgers Need Magic

DENVER —  It was a night of monumental achievement for the Dodgers, a night that will go down in the team’s record books.

It was a night when home runs soared through the thin Denver air like rockets off a launching pad, a night Raul Mondesi would call his greatest as a Dodger, a night when Mike Piazza made yet another unprecedented dent in yet another ballpark, a night Eric Young would always cherish.

Yet it was not a night for celebration.

There was no joy in the Dodger clubhouse Friday night despite the team’s 10-4 victory over the Colorado Rockies in front of a Coors Field crowd of 48,016.

There was only silence as they stared at a television set, watching the San Francisco beating the San Diego Padres, 17-4, to assure themselves of at least a tie for the National League West title.

Another Giant victory or Dodger defeat in either of the teams’ remaining two games will eliminate the Dodgers from postseason play.

The Dodgers smacked six home runs Friday to tie a Coors Field record.

They were hit by:

* Mondesi. He slugged two to give him 30. With 32 stolen bases already to his credit, Mondesi becomes the first Dodger--Brooklyn or Los Angeles--to become a 30-30 man in those categories.

“This is one of the best times I’ve had as a Dodger,” Mondesi said.

His 30th home run, added to the 30-plus totals of Piazza, Eric Karros and Todd Zeile, make this Dodger club the second to have a quartet of 30-homer players, equaling the feat of the 1977 Dodgers.

That achievement has also been accomplished three other times, by the Rockies each of the last three years.

Mondesi raised his arms in joy as he circled the bases, bringing boos from the crowd.

He didn’t care.

He had waited too long for this moment, had spoken to his family every day back in the Dominican Republic as the days and his chances dwindled.

He even tried swinging for home runs. But that only frustrated him more.

“My family told me, ‘Relax, be patient,’ ” Mondesi said.

The only day that could compare to this one, he said, was the day in 1988 when the Dodgers signed him as a 17-year-old.

When he was finished talked to reporters, Mondesi planned to go call his mother, Martina, and his wife, Ada, and other family members and friends.

“And when I come [after the season],” Mondesi said, “they have promised me that they will all wait for me at the airport.”

* Piazza. Less than a week after he hit a ball 478 feet at Dodger Stadium, a ball that became the first to make it to the parking lot in left field, Piazza outdid himself, hitting a 496-foot shot over the fans in left-center field for his 38th home run. The ball was last seen bouncing toward a concession stand. Piazza also drove in three runs, giving him 120 RBIs.

* Eric Young. Young had previously hit only seven home runs in 613 at-bats this season. But he smashed one 401 feet to left Friday night.

That wasn’t even the sweetest part. The sweetest part was the standing ovation the Coors Field crowd gave to Young, who spent 4 1/2 seasons here before being traded to the Dodgers in August.

“It was outstanding,” Young said of the ovation. “A lot of people still feel like this is home for me.

* Greg Gagne. Mired in a horrible slump in which he went 0 for 22 at one point, Gagne accepted a bat from teammate Wayne Kirby and used it to hit a ball over the center-field fence.

* Karros. His 31st home run, a three-run shot to left field in the first inning, was his second homer in as many games and his third in four games after he had gone 75 at-bats without hitting one.

The Rockies’ Larry Walker also joined in the fun with his 49th home run.

The victory went to Ismael Valdes, who improved to 10-11 and lowered his earned-run average to 2.65. Colorado’s Jamey Wright, who beat the Dodgers a week ago at Dodger Stadium, got blasted for five runs on 10 hits in five innings to fall to 8-12.

But when it was all over, when all the numbers had been added up and all the damage to Coors Field assessed, Karros looked around the Dodger clubhouse at his teammates watching helplessly as the Giants put on a hitting show of their own at 3Com Park.

“I’m sure if you asked the guys,” he said, “they’d trade it all in for a shot at the postseason.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

THE WEST / Stretch Drive

STANDINGS

*--*

TEAM W L GB GIANTS 89 71 -- DODGERS 87 73 2

*--*

MAGIC NUMBER

GIANTS: 1

30-Plus

Raul Mondesi’s two home runs Friday night against Colorado gave him 30 for the season, making him the first Dodger with 30 homers and 30 stolen bases, and giving the Dodgers four players with 30 homers. It is the second time they have accomplished the feat, the first coming in 1977. The Rockies have turned the trick the last three seasons:

1997

Mike Piazza: 38

Todd Zeile: 31

Eric Karros: 31

Raul Mondesi: 30

1977

Steve Garvey: 33

Reggie Smith: 32

Ron Cey: 30

Dusty Baker: 30