Dodgers Win on Blowers Power

Fans booed him. Talk shows buried him. It got so bad for Dodger third baseman Mike Blowers that even the opposition felt sorry for him.

Instead of lashing out at the fans, retreating from the press, or disappearing, Blowers stood there and took the abuse night after night.

Never did he duck from a single interview, hide from his teammates or offer excuses.

Now, a month after enduring the most trying time of his career, Blowers finally is enjoying the good times, leading the Dodgers to an 8-1 rout over the Colorado Rockies on Friday night in front of a paid crowd of 43,415 at Dodger Stadium.

Blowers extended his hitting streak to a career-high 18 games and helped break the game open in the second inning with a three-run homer. His sixth homer gave the Dodgers a 3-1 lead, they added two more in the inning, and the Rockies never threatened.

“It looked like he was pressing, just trying too hard to get acclimated here,” Dodger interim Manager Bill Russell said. “But he never got down on himself. He kept coming out here early, and kept his confidence. He said it’s going to happen, it’s just a matter of time.

“Now’s that time.”

Blowers has been instrumental in the Dodgers’ success the last month. He is batting .327 with three homers and 17 RBIs since June 5, and the Dodgers have gone from a six-game deficit into first place in the National League West.

“I think we’re on the right track where we should be,” Blowers said. “We all thought and all expected a lot more out of ourselves, but now we’re finally starting to play the way we’re supposed to.

“We’ve had to deal with a lot of things, with Brett [Butler’s surgery] and Tommy [Lasorda’s heart attack], and a lot of guys getting off to slow starts, but we’re just now playing the way we’re capable of.

“It’s hard to complain too much when you’re in first place, but I think we all know we could do a lot better.”

Certainly, the Rockies can attest to the drastic improvement in the Dodger offense. They have scored 64 runs in the last seven games, batting .361 with 10 doubles, five triples and 18 homers.

The Rocky starting rotation has been rocked for 28 runs, 33 hits and 10 homers in 14 1/3 innings in their last five games against the Dodgers, a 16.96 earned-run average. The latest sacrificial lamb was Roger Bailey, who yielded nine hits and eight runs--seven earned--in 5 1/3 innings Friday.

The Dodgers had 12 hits, with everyone in the lineup but Dodger starter Hideo Nomo producing a hit or an RBI by the sixth inning. Nomo (9-7) had an 8-1 lead by the sixth, and cruised to his first victory since June 15, yielding only five hits and striking out nine in eight innings.

“It’s taken awhile for the offense to get to this point,” Russell said, “but now it’s coming around to what we hoped.”

Blowers has proved that the second half belongs to him. And while the natural assumption is that he won’t be able put up the power numbers he did last year in the cozy Kingdome when he hit a career-high 23 homers with 96 RBIs for the Seattle Mariners, look at his numbers:

Blowers batted .226 with six homers and 32 RBIs before the All-Star break last year, only to bat .281 with 17 homers and 64 RBIs after the break.

“I think I’m just feeling more comfortable now,” said Blowers, who hit in 26 of 28 games. “I’m getting to know how the pitchers in this league will pitch me, and it just seems like at this time of year, I always get going.

“I know one thing.

“I’m sleeping a whole lot better at night.”

Chad Fonville, batting .333 with nine runs and five RBIs in the last seven games since being inserted back in the lineup as the leadoff hitter, gave the Dodgers a 7-1 lead with his two-run triple in the sixth inning.

“He’s just making things go,” Russell said. “He’s electrifying things out there.”