Piazza Again Tees Off Against Expo Pitchers

MONTREAL — Mike Piazza says he can hit a golf ball 330 yards.

“No way,” said clubhouse attendant Dave Dickinson, who has played with Piazza, “unless he hits the cart path.”

Of this there can be no dispute: Piazza can hit a baseball more than 400 feet.

Much more than 400 feet.

He blasted one 426 feet Thursday night on a straight line at Olympic Stadium in the ninth inning off Rick Dehart. And its trajectory would have carried it even farther had it not smashed into the back of the left-field bleachers.

In all, Piazza had four hits and drove in three runs to lead the Dodgers to a 9-4 victory over the Montreal Expos before 14,214, enabling the Dodgers to pick up a game on the NL West-leading San Francisco Giants, who lost to Chicago. The Dodgers, trailing the Giants by 1 1/2 games, now head to Cincinnati for a three-game series.

The Expos probably would have been happy to supply Piazza with a police escort just to make sure he left town.

He had come into this series off a 1-for-13 performance in a four-game series in Chicago. But one series is about as long as a Piazza slump lasts.

In his very first at-bat in this series, he sent a towering home run over the center-field wall 404 feet away, the ball nearly brushing the ceiling of the stadium, 180 feet above the field, on its way out.

But the man was just warming up.

In all, Piazza had nine hits in 14 at-bats in the series: five singles, a double and three home runs, including the game-winner in the series opener. He also had seven RBIs.

“He’s a big-time slugger,” said his manager, Bill Russell. “Even on his infield hits, the ball goes through so quickly. It comes off the bat so fast. The spin he puts on it is incredible. If it is a step to the left or the right of the infielders, it’s by them.”

Piazza normally treats his big offensive days with humility and a shrug of the shoulders.

“I know my job,” he said. “I’ve been expected to do it for the five years I’ve been here. I’ve got to drive in the runs.”

But even Piazza had to crack a smile at the mention of the home run he cracked Thursday night, his 25th of the season to tie Raul Mondesi for the team lead.

“It felt like the bat bent,” he said. “It felt pretty damn good.”

It certainly felt good to starter Hideo Nomo. Even though he picked up the victory Thursday night, giving him a team-high 11 along with eight defeats, it was the second consecutive game in which Nomo survived rather than excelled.

He beat the Chicago Cubs last Friday, 13-9, even though he gave up seven runs and 11 hits in 6 2/3 innings, yielding three home runs.

Nomo wasn’t much more effective Thursday. This time, although the Dodgers staked him to a 5-0 lead after two innings, Nomo was pulled after 5 2/3 innings, having given up three runs on eight hits.

What really concerned the Dodgers was the six walks he gave up.

“Mechanics,” Nomo said through an interpreter when asked what has gone wrong the last two outings.

“Hideo is not throwing the way he is accustomed to the last few starts,” Piazza conceded. “Fortunately, we have been able to get him some runs so he can ride it out. He’s just having trouble with his stuff. He has lost a little velocity on his fastball [although he did have nine strikeouts]. It’s not exploding like it was.”

And Nomo no longer is getting ahead in the count on the hitters like he was.

“You cannot make the pitches you want when you are behind,” Piazza said.

But thanks to Piazza, Eric Karros (three hits), and Brett Butler (two hits and two RBIs) and Mondesi (two RBIs), the Dodgers were able to keep the Expos behind all night.

They had their shots against Nomo and the three pitchers that followed him--Scott Radinsky, Antonio Osuna and Darren Hall--but Montreal was unable to get the clutch hit, stranding 14 runners.

Montreal starter Jim Bullinger (6-12) took the loss after giving up eight of the Dodgers’ 14 hits and five of their runs in the first four innings.

There wasn’t much solace for the Expos after losing two of the three games in the series and getting battered by Piazza.

But it could have been worse. At least they don’t have a cart path in baseball.