Dodgers All Thump in Dramatic Victory

The Dodger heartbeat that Manager Jim Tracy described as “faint” Wednesday night grew a little more robust Thursday night, thanks to the resuscitative efforts of Marquis Grissom and Brian Jordan and the adrenaline rush of another pulsating, come-from-behind victory.

Grissom and Jordan, who keyed a ninth-inning, come-from-behind win over Colorado Wednesday, knocked in the game-tying and winning runs in the eighth inning Thursday, as the Dodgers kept their slim playoff hopes alive with a stunning 6-5 victory over the San Diego Padres before 29,613 in Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers have won four of their last five games--each victory coming in their final at-bat--to move within 2 1/2 games of idle San Francisco in the National League wild-card race with three games to go. The Giants’ magic number for clinching a playoff berth remains two.

San Francisco opens a three-game series tonight against Houston and would have to travel to Atlanta for a makeup game Monday if that result would have a bearing on the wild-card race.

“We believe in miracles right now--we hope Houston sweeps San Francisco, and it comes down to that Atlanta game,” Jordan said. “This team has a lot of heart.... We’re going to fight to the end.”

The end seemed near with two out in the bottom of the eighth, no one on base and the Dodgers trailing, 5-4, Thursday night. Then, like a lightning bolt, Grissom lined the first pitch from reliever Brian Lawrence over the wall in left-center for his 17th homer of the season and a 5-5 tie.

Paul Lo Duca singled to right and Shawn Green greeted left-hander Mike Holtz with a ground-rule double to left-center, his first extra-base hit in 13 games. San Diego Manager Bruce Bochy summoned right-hander Brandon Villafuerte and, with first base open, opted to pitch to Jordan, one of the major leagues’ hottest hitters.

After fouling off four two-strike pitches, Jordan grounded an infield single to the shortstop hole, scoring Lo Duca with the go-ahead run and giving Jordan an NL-leading 27 runs batted in this month.

The Padres put two on with two out in the top of the ninth, but Eric Gagne struck out Deivi Cruz on a full-count pitch for his 52nd save.

“That was awesome--with all these two-out rallies, you never know what’s going to happen,” Jordan said. “I just wish we could win by a large margin so we can relax a bit. We’re gonna have a heart attack soon.”

Dodger hearts probably skipped a beat in the bottom of the sixth when pitcher Hideo Nomo, a career .134 hitter who may have the ugliest swing in the big leagues, an easy out who had three hits in 62 at-bats for an .048 average this season, stepped to the plate with the score tied, 3-3, and two out.

Padre right-hander Jake Peavy grooved a 1-and-0 fastball, Nomo took a mighty cut and, as jaws dropped throughout Dodger Stadium, the ball jumped off his bat and soared into the left-field bullpen for the second home run of Nomo’s career.

The stoic Nomo, who last homered on April 28, 1998, against Milwaukee’s Jose Mercedes, didn’t even crack a grin as he rounded the bases, and he looked almost embarrassed when he was summoned out of the dugout for a curtain call.

“It was kind of an accident,” Nomo said.

“After Nomo hit that home run,” Jordan said, “we thought anything is possible.”

That euphoria wore off moments later, though, when Gene Kingsale led off the seventh with a walk and took third on Nomo’s wild pickoff attempt at first. Ramon Vazquez doubled to left-center for a 4-4 tie.

Tracy pulled Nomo in favor of left-hander Jesse Orosco, and Mark Kotsay bunted Vazquez to third. With the infield in, Ryan Klesko smashed a liner that nicked the glove of leaping second baseman Mark Grudzielanek and went into right field for an RBI single and a 5-4 lead.

But Grissom’s eighth-inning homer took Nomo off the hook and kept intact the right-hander’s string of 15 starts without a loss. Nomo, 14-1 with a 3.24 earned-run average in his last 26 starts, gave up five runs and six hits in six innings and struck out nine.

Nomo put the Dodgers in a 2-0 hole when he gave up Kotsay’s homer in the first and Vazquez’ RBI fielder’s choice in the second. The Dodgers rallied for three runs in the fourth when Lo Duca walked, Jordan singled, Eric Karros hit an RBI single, Adrian Beltre reached on a run-scoring error and Grudzielanek, after fouling off five two-strike pitches, hit an RBI double to left-center.

The Padres tied it, 3-3, when Sean Burroughs doubled with two outs in the sixth and scored on Brian Buchanan’s single, the Dodgers went ahead on Nomo’s homer, and San Diego rallied in the seventh, putting the Dodgers in a familiar, but not-so-uncomfortable position--behind late in the game.

“We’re at the point now where we’re kind of used to this,” Green said. “In some ways, we’re numb to the thought of having pressure, because we’ve had it for about a month straight.”

They’d love to have it for three more days.

Or more.