Shaw Regaining His Form

Jeff Shaw breathed a sigh of relief after closing out the Dodgers’ 6-3 victory Sunday over the visiting St. Louis Cardinals.

The recently reinstated closer, who was battling a tired right (pitching) shoulder and given some time off by Manager Davey Johnson, picked up his first save since May 19.

“It’s been a while,” said Shaw, who leads the Dodgers with 12 saves. “It’s back to that old feeling again.”

Shaw worked a perfect ninth inning in notching the save, getting J.D. Drew to ground out before striking out Craig Paquette and Eli Marrero.

Johnson said Shaw is getting his pop back on his fastball.

He was never put on the disabled list, but Shaw went to work with shoulder-strengthening exercises during his time off. He seemingly answered questions about his confidence with his performance Sunday.

“It’s as strong as it felt before,” he said. “It’s back to normal.”

*

With setup man Mike Fetters’ scoreless eighth inning preceding Shaw’s perfect ninth Sunday, the Dodger bullpen lowered its earned-run average to 0.95 in its last six appearances--two earned runs in 19 innings.

*

The day off Monday allowed Johnson to shuffle his pitching rotation entering this week’s six-game trip to Houston and St. Louis.

Carlos Perez, scheduled to pitch today, will be bumped back a day to Wednesday, allowing Kevin Brown to pitch on four days’ rest.

And Orel Hershiser, who Johnson says is experiencing lower back stiffness and was scheduled to go Wednesday, has been pushed back to Friday’s series opener against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium.

*

When Eric Karros homered in the second inning Sunday, the all-time L.A. Dodger home run king reached 20 homers in 64 games, the quickest he has reached the mark.

His previous best was 86 games, accomplished in 1996 and in 1997.

ON DECK

* Opponent--Houston Astros, three games.

* Site--Enron Field, Houston.

* Tonight--5.

* TV--Channel 5 today, Fox Sports Net 2 Wednesday and Thursday.

* Radio--KXTA (1150), KWKW (1330).

* Records--Dodgers 36-31, Astros 25-43.

* Record vs. Astros--4-2.

TONIGHT

DODGERS’ KEVIN BROWN

(6-2, 2.18 ERA)

vs.

ASTROS’ CHRIS HOLT

(3-7, 5.16 ERA)

* Update--In eight starts against the Astros, Brown has a 1.45 ERA and a 3-2 record. He will be looking to pitch his fourth consecutive complete game in the Dodgers’ first trip to Enron Field, a haven for home runs. Holt, who lost to the Dodgers, 5-2, in a June 8 makeup game, is 1-3 with a 3.52 ERA in six career appearances against the Dodgers. The Astros, who have won the NL Central Division title the last three seasons, have the worst record in the major leagues.

* Wednesday, 5 p.m.--Carlos Perez (4-3, 5.28 ERA) vs. Octavio Dotel (1-4, 5.21 ERA).

* Thursday, 5 p.m.--Darren Dreifort (4-5, 4.84 ERA) vs. Scott Elarton (4-3, 7.97 ERA).