[0] DODGERS DRIVE IN FREEWAY STYLE : DODGERS 8 ANGELS 1.

Byline: Jim Barrero

It sure didn't look much different than any other year.

If Friday night, indeed, marked the end of the Freeway Series as we know it, the significance seemed to be lost as the Dodgers knocked off the Angels 8-1 in front of 28,405 at Edison Field.

The attendance was sparse, the crowd mostly subdued - many left early, as usual - and the atmosphere was relatively tame for an Angels-Dodgers game.

Even Angels manager Terry Collins, who was irritated earlier this spring when talking about the demise of the series, seemed resigned to what might happen in the future - although he'd prefer things to be different.

``I'm a traditionalist like everyone else and I think tradition in baseball is starting to fade,'' Collins said. ``Sure, we'd love to play the Dodgers two more times, but I don't begrudge them wanting to play the New York Yankees.

``If for some reason this turns out to be the last game . . Maybe the game at one time meant more, since we play during the season now. Those games in June are the ones that matter.''

The first inning of Friday's game appeared to have plenty of fireworks.

Eric Karros smacked a three-run homer off Angels right-hander Ken Hill and Todd Hundley singled to help start the four-run rally on his way to a 3-for-4 night with a walk.

Perhaps trying to make a statement regarding his new catcher's health, Dodgers manager Davey Johnson kept Hundley in the game into the eighth inning, his longest stint by three innings during what has been a slow-starting spring.

``Today was a really good test, but we'll see how he is tomorrow,'' Johnson said of Hundley. ``He passed it today with flying colors.''

Hundley, who also had an RBI and scored two runs, was equally pleased.

``The legs feel fresh and that was the main thing,'' Hundley said. ``The elbow's been fine. It was just getting the legs in shape. It's a `good tired' I feel.''

Offensively, the Angels responded in the bottom of the first inning - albeit without the same firepower the Dodgers displayed - getting a key contribution from an expected source.

Mo Vaughn, in his first Edison Field at-bat as an Angel, smacked a 2-1 pitch from Ismael Valdes for a towering 430-foot home run to center, his first of the spring.

``Boy, it was high enough,'' Collins said, noting the recent changes in field dimensions at Edison Field didn't matter on this drive. ``When he's swinging like that, he can hit them out of any part of any park.''

Vaughn's turned out to be one of the few blemishes for Valdes, who has had a strong spring for the Dodgers.

The right-hander pitched five innings Friday, allowing only two hits and striking out four. Valdes, now 4-0 this spring allowing only four earned runs in 24-2/3 innings, finished off his effort by retiring 13 consecutive Angels.

The Dodgers scored another run in the fifth and two more in the eighth.

Hundley's flair single to left with the infield in brought home Adrian Beltre, who had doubled, with the fifth run.

A Todd Hollandsworth tapper in front of the plate scored Tripp Cromer in the eighth and a single by Mark Grudzielanek brought in Trenidad Hubbard to make it 7-1.

Dodger left-hander Onan Masaoka, the team's top rookie this spring, struck out the side in the eighth, working his way out of a bases-loaded jam to quell one of the Angels' few threats.

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2 Photos

Photo: (1--Color) Angels shortstop Andy Sheets (on the ground) gets ready to toss to second baseman Randy Velarde in the Dodgers' 7-1 Freeway game win.

(2) Mark Grudzielanek (on the ground) singled in the Dodgers' 7-1 Freeway game win.

Chris Urso/Daily Bulletin