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GAME LOG
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Fan favorite Orel Hershiser, star of the 1988 World Series, made a triumphant return to Dodger Stadium on Friday.
|  | | Orel Hershiser was back in the sunshine -- and spotlight -- in Dodger Stadium. |
Hershiser, back with Los Angeles after a five-year absence,
pitched six strong innings as the Dodgers beat the Cincinnati Reds
8-1 in their home opener.
"It was a great day for Orel," Dodgers manager Davey Johnson said. "It was a thrill for me to watch him work. He kept a good hitting team at bay."
The 41-year-old right-hander, who pitched for Los Angeles from
1983-94 and ranks 10th on the franchise's career win list with 135,
scattered six hits before being relieved by Terry Adams to start
the seventh with the Dodgers leading 2-1.
Hershiser (1-0), who won the clinching Game 5 against Oakland in
the '88 World Series -- the Dodgers' last postseason win -- walked
two and struck out two as the Dodgers won their fifth straight.
"You want to get off to a fast start, especially after what
happened last year," said Hershiser, referring to the Dodgers'
disappointing 1999 season. "We probably couldn't have written a
better script.
"It was really like a playoff game for me, to pitch in front of
a sellout, opening day, the bunting up. I really wasn't that sharp
as a pitcher today. I was a battler, I made some big pitches when I
needed to."
The sellout crowd of 53,223 gave Hershiser such an ovation when
he was introduced while warming up in the bullpen before the game
that he did something he rarely does -- he acknowledged the fans at
that stage.
"It's a thrill, and it's a thrill to get it over with," he
said of the home opener. "We have a marathon ahead of us. Enough
has been made of me and me pitching the home opener. Now, it's on
to the rest of the season."
Gary Sheffield had three hits and drove in the first two Los
Angeles runs. His two-out homer off rookie Rob Bell (0-1) in the
first gave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead.
The Reds tied it on Aaron Boone's leadoff homer in the third,
but the Dodgers went ahead for good in the fourth with an unearned
run. Devon White reached base on an error by Bell, took second on
an infield out and scored on a two-out single by Sheffield.
The Reds loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh before
Adams fanned Ken Griffey Jr., and the Dodgers broke the game open
in their half of the inning, scoring six runs off Scott Sullivan
and Dennys Reyes. The big hits were two-out, two-run doubles by
Shawn Green and Eric Karros.
"I swung at a pitch that was up and out of the zone," Griffey
said. "The guy made a good pitch to me. Those things happen."
The Dodgers have outscored the opposition 37-23 while winning
their last five games.
"We're scoring a lot of runs and we're pitching well," said
Sheffield, hitting .429 with three homers and nine RBI. "We know
the kind of ballclub we're capable of being. We can win a one-run
game, or we can explode. That's something great teams have."
Bell, making his second big-league start, allowed four hits and
two runs in 5 1/3 innings while walking one and striking out six.
"I'm happy about the way I threw against Chicago in my first
start, and I'm not really disappointed about the way I threw
today," he said.
The game was the first at Dodger Stadium since a $50 million
renovation that was completed just this week. Among the additions
are 33 luxury suites, more than 500 new prime location seats behind
home plate, and a new warning track.
The Dodgers, the final NL team to play a home game, are 24-19 in
Los Angeles home openers, and 21-18 since Dodger Stadium opened in
1962.
Game notes
Duke Snider, who spent most of his Hall of Fame career with
the Dodgers, threw out the ceremonial first pitch, and Carole King
sang the National Anthem. ... It rained briefly twice in the final
hour before the game started, but the sun popped out before the
first pitch. It also rained lightly a couple of times during the
game, but never heavy enough to cause a delay. ... Playing despite
a sprained right ankle that remains visibly swollen, Sheffield has
hit safely in all 10 games this season. He also hit safely in his
final six games last year. ... Pokey Reese, hit just above the left
elbow Monday by a Rolando Arrojo pitch in Colorado, returned to the
Cincinnati lineup, and went 4-for-4 with a walk. ... Rookie
right-hander Eric Gagne, currently playing for Triple-A
Albuquerque, is the Dodgers' probable starter Saturday. GM Kevin
Malone announced after the game that LHP Onan Masaoka had been sent
to Albuquerque.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Cincinnati Clubhouse
Los Angeles Clubhouse
RECAPS
Texas 7
Cleveland 2
Oakland 13
Boston 6
Chi. White Sox 9
Anaheim 4
Detroit 10
Tampa Bay 5
NY Yankees 7
Kansas City 5
Seattle 11
Toronto 9
Minnesota 10
Baltimore 9
Florida 9
Chicago Cubs 4
Los Angeles 8
Cincinnati 1
Atlanta 6
Milwaukee 3
Montreal 4
Philadelphia 0
NY Mets 8
Pittsburgh 5
Colorado 6
St. Louis 2
Houston 10
San Diego 4
Arizona 3
San Francisco 1
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