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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Eric Karros deflected the credit after he set a Los Angeles home run record.
|  | | Eric Karros became the L.A. Dodgers' home run leader with 229. |
Karros hit his 229th career homer, and Chan Ho Park pitched a
five-hitter as the Dodgers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-1 on
Tuesday night.
"It's kind of secondary, compared to what Chan Ho did," Karros
said of his eighth-inning homer. "He threw a great ballgame, and
we just needed to get a win against Arizona. They've been beating
us up all year long. So that was the main thing."
Gary Sheffield hit a two-run homer, and Park (8-4) earned his
fifth complete game in 121 career starts and first of the season.
Park won his fourth straight start as the third-place Dodgers
climbed within three games of the NL West-leading Diamondbacks.
Arizona's loss was its first in five meetings this season with
the Dodgers.
"It's nice to get one under our belts," catcher Chad Kreuter
said. "We had some tough games over there and we had another one
here last night where we didn't come through in key situations. So
now we got this one out of the way and look forward to facing Randy
Johnson tomorrow."
Karros, who tied Ron Cey's record on Saturday, drove a 2-1 pitch
to left filed leading off the eighth against Matt Mantei. It was
his 18th homer of the season.
Oddly enough, Cey was in the ballpark. But like most of the
34,067 present, he wasn't around to see his record fall.
"I had a chance to talk to Ron before the game for about 15
minutes, and then he had to go because he had to do the limbo out
in the parking lot for some community affairs deal," Karros said.
"So, I guess that's what you get when you lead the organization in
home runs."
The ball was retrieved by 19-year-old Nelson Lopez, El Monte,
Calif., a student at Cal State Northridge. Lopez wanted to return
it personally to Karros, and got nothing more than a Dodgers road
jersey in return.
"I'm not too greedy, anyway," Lopez said with a grin.
Despite pitching the final 2 1/3 innings with a blister on his
middle finger, Park retired 14 of his final 15 batters after giving
up a solo home run to Damian Miller with one out in the fifth. Park
struck out four and walked one.
Park pitched out of trouble twice in the first three innings
with a runner in scoring position, after being staked to a 2-0 lead
in the first on a leadoff walk to F.P. Santangelo and Sheffield's
18th homer.
"Chan Ho's been throwing great this year," Kreuter said.
"We've been trying to cut down on the walks and being a little
more aggressive in the zone with all his pitches. And tonight we
did that. We made their guys put the ball in play early in the
count."
The Dodgers increased their lead to 4-1 in the fifth against
Mike Morgan (1-1), who came out of the bullpen to make his second
start of the season.
Morgan's last season with the Dodgers coincided with Karros'
late-season callup in '91.
"It just goes to show how he's persevered," Morgan said. "He
produced coming up through the system, he got the job and he took
advantage of it. He hits home runs, he drives in runs and he's out
there day in and day out."
Santangelo opened the fifth with a single and scored from first
on Mark Grudzielanek's double to right-center. Shawn Green followed
a walk to Sheffield with an apparent double-play grounder to third.
But second baseman Jay Bell's wide relay throw skipped past Travis
Lee, allowing Grudzielanek to score.
Sheffield added a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning.
Morgan allowed four runs and eight hits in 4 2/3 innings.
Game notes
Duke Snider holds the career Dodgers record with 389 home
runs. ... Greg Swindell relieved Morgan and retired all five
batters he faced, extending the Arizona bullpen's string of
consecutive outs to 30 -- three more than the equivalent of a
perfect game. The streak ended when Grudzielanek greeted Russ
Springer with a one-out single to center in the seventh. ... The
Dodgers traded reliever Alan Mills to Baltimore for Al Reyes,
recalled Orel Hershiser from Class A San Bernardino, and demoted
struggling rookie starter Eric Gagne to Triple-A Albuquerque.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Arizona Clubhouse
Los Angeles Clubhouse
RECAPS
Chi. White Sox 4
Cleveland 3
Detroit 16
Toronto 3
Boston 5
NY Yankees 3
Anaheim 5
Tampa Bay 3
Baltimore 3
Texas 2
Seattle 7
Kansas City 0
Oakland 6
Minnesota 5
St. Louis 8
San Diego 3
Pittsburgh 7
Atlanta 6
Philadelphia 4
Florida 3
Chicago Cubs 4
NY Mets 3
Montreal 9
Milwaukee 4
Houston 6
Colorado 3
Los Angeles 6
Arizona 1
San Francisco 3
Cincinnati 2
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