LA 9, Arizona 1

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Playing before their new boss for the first time, the Los Angeles Dodgers put on quite a show.

Eric Young hit a two-out, two-run double as the Dodgers snapped a 1-1 tie with a five-run fourth inning, and Chan Ho Park pitched six strong innings in a 9-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday.

"I just wanted to hit the ball hard somewhere," said Young, who raised his average to .240 by going 2-for-5. "It's nice to put some runs on the board. We know we have a good offense here. It's nice to get back on track."

Rupert Murdoch, whose Fox Group purchased the Dodgers last month after 48 years of O'Malley family ownership, was among the sellout crowd of 52,424, watching the home opener from the owner's box behind home plate on Dodger Stadium's press level.

The Dodgers, who hit just .172 and scored only 10 runs during a 1-4 season-opening road trip, had 13 hits off five pitchers and sent the expansion Diamondbacks to their sixth loss in seven games.

Todd Hollandsworth, trying to bounce back from a poor season after winning NL Rookie of the Year honors in 1996, had two hits including his first homer, and drove in three runs.

"Things kind of fell our way, we got the offense clicking," he said. "The road trip didn't go the way we wanted it to go. It was like starting over again today."

That being the case, it was a good start for the Dodgers, but not catcher Mike Piazza, who said last week he was "confused and disappointed" about contract negotiations. Piazza, who went 1-for-4, was booed during pregame introductions and again after striking out in the third.

"That happens in the game," Dodgers manager Bill Russell said. "I've been booed many times. A lot of good players have been booed."

Piazza's agent reportedly turned down a six-year contract extension offer worth about $80 million. Piazza is earning $8 million this year, the final season in a $15 million, two-year contract.

"Unfortunately, it's part of the game," Piazza said of the booing. "It's one of those things. You don't like it, but you have to go on and play. I don't think it's a distraction for the rest of the team. You've got a job to do, that's the bottom line."

Park (1-0) scattered seven hits in six innings, and allowed an unearned run. He struck out five and walked one before Jim Bruske relieved.

The Dodgers said Park came out of the game as a precaution due to lower back stiffness, but the right-hander said after the game he didn't expect to miss a start.

"It was a little special for me because of the home opening game," Park said. "I was really happy we won today. (Arizona) is a new team, but I know a lot of their hitters."

Hollandsworth hit an RBI single off Willie Blair (0-2) to trigger the big fourth. After Young's double, Jose Vizcaino hit a run-scoring single and Todd Zeile added an RBI double to make it 6-1.

Blair allowed eight hits and six runs in 3 2/3 innings.

"I just didn't make the pitches when I needed to," he said. "But you have to give them credit. They took advantage of the mistakes. Stats early in the season mean nothing, basically. They've got a pretty good lineup."

Hollandsworth and Thomas Howard hit consecutive homers off Barry Manuel in the fifth to complete the scoring.

Arizona, playing its first road game, took a 1-0 lead in the second on a sacrifice fly by former Dodger Karim Garcia. Los Angeles tied the game in the third on Vizcaino's sacrifice fly.

"We had a shot there with the bases loaded (in the third)," Diamondbacks manager Buck Showalter said. "When you get an opportunity like that early in the game, you've got to do it."

Park retired Brent Brede on a fly to center to end the threat. The Diamondbacks got just three hits after that.

Notes: The Dodgers have sold out all 37 home openers at Dodger Stadium, going 20-17. ... Dodgers outfielder Raul Mondesi received his 1997 NL Gold Glove award before the game. Former Dodgers first baseman Steve Garvey made the presentation. Mondesi is the team's first two-time winner since Garvey won four straight, from 1974-77. ... Carl Erskine, the winning pitcher in the Dodgers first game in Los Angeles 40 years ago, threw out the ceremonial first pitch. ... The Diamondbacks activated infielder Andy Stankiewicz from the 15-day disabled list and sent infielder Edwin Diaz to Tucson of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League. Stankiewicz played second base and went 1-for-4.

ARIZONA (1) AT LOS ANGELES (9) - FINAL

             
ARIZONA                ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
D White cf              4  0  1  0   0  3   2  .250
J Bell ss               4  0  1  0   0  1   2  .292
T Lee 1b                4  0  1  0   0  0   1  .250
M Williams 3b           4  0  1  0   0  0   3  .321
Fabregas c              3  1  1  0   1  1   1  .188
Brede lf                4  0  0  0   0  3   4  .100
K Garcia rf             3  0  1  1   0  0   0  .087
Stankiewicz 2b          4  0  1  0   0  0   1  .250
Blair p                 1  0  0  0   0  0   1  .333
 Manuel p               0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 Sodowsky p             0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 a-Chris Jones ph       1  0  1  0   0  0   0  .375
 Olson p                0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 R Springer p           0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000

Totals                 32  1  8  1   1  8  15

a-singled for Sodowsky in the 7th.

BATTING: S - Blair. SF - K Garcia. RBI - K Garcia (2). Runners
left in scoring position, 2 out - Brede 2, D White 1. GIDP - 
J Bell.  Team LOB - 7.

LOS ANGELES            ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
E Young 2b              5  1  2  2   0  0   0  .240
Vizcaino ss             4  1  1  2   0  0   1  .143
Piazza c                4  0  1  0   0  1   1  .200
Zeile 3b                4  0  2  1   0  0   1  .174
Mondesi rf              4  1  1  0   0  0   3  .250
Konerko 1b              3  2  2  0   0  0   0  .238
Hollandsworth lf-cf     4  2  2  3   0  1   2  .267
T Hubbard cf            1  0  0  0   0  0   2  .182
 a-Howard ph-cf         3  1  1  1   0  0   0  .154
 Guthrie p              0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 An Osuna p             0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
C Park p                3  1  1  0   0  2   2  .200
 J Bruske p             0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 Luke lf                1  0  0  0   0  0   0  .333

Totals                 36  9 13  9   0  4  12

a-grounded to first for T Hubbard in the 4th.

BATTING: 2B - C Park (1, Blair); Mondesi (1, Blair); E Young (2,
Blair); Zeile (1, Manuel). HR - Hollandsworth (1, 5th inning off
Manuel 1 on, 0 out); Howard (2, 5th inning off Manuel 0 on, 0 out). 
SF - Vizcaino. RBI - Vizcaino 2 (2), Hollandsworth 3 (3), E Young 2 (4), 
Zeile (4), Howard (3). 2-out RBI - E Young 2, Vizcaino, Zeile. Runners 
left in scoring position, 2 out - T Hubbard 1, Zeile 1, Mondesi 2.  
Team LOB - 5.

BASERUNNING: SB - E Young (4, 2nd base off Blair/Fabregas). 

FIELDING: E - T Hubbard (1, catch). DP: 1 (Vizcaino-E Young-Konerko). 

--------------------------------------------------
    Arizona        - 010 000 000  --  1
    Los Angeles    - 001 530 00X  --  9

--------------------------------------------------

ARIZONA                      ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
Blair (L, 0-2)                3 2/3   8   6   6   0   3   0   9.28
Manuel                        1 1/3   5   3   3   0   1   2   8.10
Sodowsky                      1       0   0   0   0   0   0  23.14
Olson                         1       0   0   0   0   0   0   6.00
R Springer                    1       0   0   0   0   0   0   0.00

LOS ANGELES                  ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
C Park (W, 1-0)               6       7   1   0   1   5   0   1.69
J Bruske                      1       1   0   0   0   1   0   4.91
Guthrie                       1       0   0   0   0   1   0   0.00
An Osuna                      1       0   0   0   0   1   0   4.50

HBP - Konerko (by Blair).  Pitches-strikes: C Park 80-58; 
J Bruske 8-5; Guthrie 10-7; An Osuna 14-8; Blair 79-53; Manuel
29-21; Sodowsky 11-6; Olson 9-5; R Springer 12-9.  Ground
balls-fly balls: C Park 5-8; J Bruske 2-0; Guthrie 2-0; An Osuna
1-1; Blair 1-7; Manuel 0-3; Sodowsky 1-2; Olson 0-3; R Springer
1-2.  Batters faced: C Park 26; J Bruske 3; Guthrie 3; An Osuna 3; 
Blair 20; Manuel 9; Sodowsky 3; Olson 3; R Springer 3. 

UMPIRES: HP--Wally Bell. 1B--Jerry Meals. 2B--Terry Tata.
3B--Larry Vanover.
T--2:48.  Att--52,424.   Weather: 68 degrees, partly cloudy.  
Wind: 14 mph, right to left.


Arizona Starting Lineups -- Devon White CF, Jay Bell SS, Travis 
Lee 1B, Matt Williams 3B, Jorge Fabregas C, Brent Brede LF, 
Karim Garcia RF, Andy Stankiewicz 2B, Willie Blair RHP.

Los Angeles Starting Lineups -- Eric Young 2B, Jose Vizcaino SS, 
Mike Piazza C, Todd Zeile 3B, Raul Mondesi RF, Paul Konerko 1B, 
Todd Hollandsworth L, Trenidad Hubbard CF, Chan Ho Park RHP.

Umpires -- Bell (HP), Meals (1B), Tata (2B), Vanover (3B).

Gametime Weather: 68 degrees, Partly Cloudy, wind right to left 
at 14 mph.