Castro Is Injured but Hurts Giants

Second baseman Juan Castro, who made the Dodger roster because of his glove, won a game with his bat.

Castro, with a team-low .128 batting average, drove in two runs with a two-out, second-inning triple as the Dodgers ended a two-game losing streak with a 5-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday night before 30,357 Dodger Stadium.

Castro drove in Todd Zeile and Todd Hollandsworth--matching his season RBI total--when he lined a shot down the right-field line. Giant right fielder Glenallen Hill seemed to misplay the ball, allowing Castro to advance to third.

Castro suffered a sprained right knee and bruised left leg when he slid into third. He left the game and is day to day.

“I wanted to stay in the game, but when I tried to run I couldn’t feel anything,” said Castro, playing for Wilton Guerrero while the rookie sits out his eight-game suspension for using a corked bat.

Dodger catcher Mike Piazza hit a 454-foot, two-out home run in the first inning and singled in a run in the seventh inning.

Piazza, drilled a 2-and-1 pitch from Giant starter Keith Foulke (0-1) halfway into the left-field bleachers for his 137th home run to move into a tie for sixth place with Mike Marshall on the Los Angeles Dodger list.

Left fielder Todd Hollandsworth had two hits in four at-bats and scored a run as the Dodgers (28-28) picked up a game on the Giants (32-24) and second-place Colorado Rockies (31-26). The Dodgers trail the Giants by four games and the Rockies by a half-game.

“We were coming home to play the division leaders,” Dodger Manager Bill Russell said. “We were hoping to get it started tonight and we were able to do that.”

Dodger starter Ramon Martinez (5-3) recorded nine strikeout to match his season best, and gave up only a one-out home run to catcher Rick Wilkins in the third inning.

Martinez struck out third baseman Bill Mueller and Hill three times each before he was replaced by Mark Guthrie.

“I got a four-run lead and I had to take advantage of it because I don’t get that very often,” Martinez said.

Russell said Martinez is the Dodgers’ stopper. “He’s our go-to guy,” Russell said. “When we need a win he’ll get it for you.”

Right fielder Raul Mondesi, who didn’t play in Tuesday’s 4-3, 10-inning loss at Houston after injuring himself on a headfirst slide in Monday’s 2-0 loss at Houston, had one hit in three at-bats.

With the Dodgers in their worst slump of the season, Russell moved Mondesi into the second spot in the batting order behind Brett Butler.

Russell thinks that pitchers won’t be able to pitch around Mondesi because he’s batting in front of Piazza.

“He wants to play and he can tolerate pain,” Russell said of Mondesi, who started the Dodgers’ first 54 games. “The [pinky finger he injured against Houston] is in a very important spot because it’s on your bottom hand of the bat, and that’s where all your strength comes from.”

The season isn’t half over, but Dusty Baker might be the top candidate for manager of the year.

The Giants, who finished last in the NL West for the last two seasons, have been in first place for the last 24 days.

“People were saying we were going to finish last,” Baker said. “If I let them control how I think of me, I’d be a lunatic. I know I’m getting better. It’s knowing what I can do.

“But it’s not me, it’s the players. I’m not going to take credit for this. I’m not playing. I’m just the director of this orchestra.”