Green, Nomo Lead Win

Boos rained down on Shawn Green the last time he played at Dodger Stadium. Something about his one-for-19 performance during a seven-game home stand.

On Monday, after a power-packed, record-setting six-game trip, Green was greeted by a standing ovation when he came to the plate for the first time against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Green did not do much in his first three at-bats, but his seventh-inning home run into the right-field pavilion helped lift the Dodgers to a 5-3 victory before 32,491 at Dodger Stadium.

“One week can make a difference, I guess,” said Green, who raised his batting average from .231 to .282 and increased his homer total from three to 13 in seven days.

Green is not the only Dodger to see his fortunes change.

Kevin Brown, who threw well against the Brewers in Milwaukee last Tuesday, was put on the 15-day disabled list Monday, a day after discomfort in his surgically repaired right elbow caused him to leave in the first inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Brown, who was also on the disabled list in April, will undergo an MRI test today.

Asked if he was frustrated by having a setback less than a month after his first stint on the disabled list, Brown said, “I’m sure that’s one word you could use.”

Great was the adjective Dodger Manager Jim Tracy used to describe Hideo Nomo’s performance against the Brewers on Monday, though it was a more accurate reflection of the result rather than the execution.

Nomo (5-5), who pitched six scoreless innings in a 1-0 victory over the Brewers last Wednesday, gave up two runs and seven hits in seven innings. He struck out eight, but walked seven, including at least one in every inning except the sixth.

Nomo’s ability to pitch out of jams, however, allowed Tracy to refrain from making an early call to a bullpen that was taxed during the Dodgers’ 10-9, 10-inning loss on Sunday.

“He’s been around long enough to know the circumstances our bullpen was under,” Tracy said.

Nomo gave up a run-scoring single to Jeffrey Hammonds in the fifth inning and allowed a run in the seventh when Alex Sanchez scored from third base on a double-play ground ball hit by Hammonds.

“I just wanted to contribute the most that I could by pitching long innings today,” Nomo said through an interpreter.

The Dodgers supplied Nomo with a cushion by scoring three runs in the fourth inning against Brewer starter Ben Sheets (3-5), who pitched well in the loss to Nomo last week.

Eric Karros led off with a double and moved to third on Brian Jordan’s deep fly ball to center field. After Sheets intentionally walked Adrian Beltre to set up a double play, Alex Cora hit a one-hop ground ball that handcuffed third baseman Tyler Houston for a run-scoring single.

Nomo advanced the runners with a sacrifice and Beltre and Cora scored on a double to left by Cesar Izturis.

The Dodgers led, 3-2, when Green stepped in for his fourth at-bat with one out in the seventh. Green had struck out, hit a fly ball to center and grounded to second against Sheets.

But standing on the mound was reliever Jose Cabrera, the same pitcher who gave up three consecutive home runs to the Dodgers in the ninth Thursday. One of those homers was hit by Green, the exclamation point on his record-setting four-homer, six-hit, 19-total-base performance in a 16-3 victory.

Green didn’t wait to see what strategy Cabrera might employ Monday.

He hit the first pitch he saw from him for his 13th homer.

“I was overanxious my first three at-bats,” Green said. “I wanted to try and get a pitch down because I was swinging at a lot of pitches up. I got one down and was able to get it out.”

After Paul Quantrill pitched a scoreless eighth for the Dodgers, the Brewers pulled to within two runs when Eric Young led off the ninth with a single against Eric Gagne, moved to third on a double by Richie Sexson and scored on a Geoff Jenkins’ ground ball to short. Gagne then struck out Houston to earn his league-leading 17th save.

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*--* Green Monster Shawn Green has dominated Milwaukee Brewer pitching this season. A look: vs. Milwaukee Other Teams Games 4 45 At-bats 19 169 Runs 9 23 Hits 10 43 Doubles 1 10 Triples 1 0 Home Runs 7 6 Runs Batted In 11 28 Average 526 254 Slugging Percentage 1.789 420

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