[0] DODGERS RALLY IN 8TH; VALDES DOES JOB, RADINSKY GETS WIN : DODGERS 5 MONTREAL 1.

Byline: Scott Wolf Daily News Staff Writer

It's tough to tell who was crueler to Dodgers pitcher Ismael Valdes on Friday night, the Montreal Expos or his teammates.

Valdes appears to be major-league baseball's poster child for tough-luck pitchers this year. He impressively shut down the Expos for 7-2/3 innings and allowed only one run during the Dodgers' 5-1 victory before 41,234 at Dodger Stadium.

Problem was, Valdes trailed 1-0 at the time of his departure, because Montreal pitchers Dustin Hermanson and Dave Veres had shut out the Dodgers through the same period.

As soon as Valdes was removed from the game, however, the Dodgers' offense naturally made a roaring reappearance.

L.A. scored five runs in the eighth inning, just in time to give reliever Scott Radinsky a well-undeserved victory for a grand total of -1/3 of an inning's work.

Valdes, meanwhile, had virtually nothing to show for yet another impressive performance, when he threw strikes on 74 of his 103 pitches and scattered seven hits.

``What can I say? I did my job. I felt good about it. We won the game,'' Valdes said. ``What else can I say? Same story. You can't say anything about it. You can't do anything about it.

``That's fine. There's going to be better times. There has to be better times.''

Even Montreal manager Felipe Alou was sympathetic to Valdes' plight, and especially the poor timing that deprived him of a victory for leaving the game an out too soon.

``That's a terrible rule. I hope before I die they change it,'' Alou said. ``That guy pitched so well. He really is one of the best pitchers in the league. I don't know why he doesn't win, but if I was him I wouldn't worry. He's tough.''

The Dodgers (18-14) almost seemed to wake up on cue, the way they started hitting moments after Valdes' departure.

Wilton Guerrero led off the eighth by doubling past his brother, Expos right fielder Vladimir Guerrero. He scored on Todd Hollandsworth's single. Mike Piazza and Eric Karros walked, then advanced a base on a passed ball that placed both in scoring position and eliminated the chance for a double play.

Raul Mondesi followed with a two-run single to give the Dodgers a 3-1 lead. Todd Zeile then added a two-run double to break the game open.

``We have a tendency on this team . . . we score a lot of runs late,'' Zeile said. ``I don't know if the offense is struggling or we take it for granted our pitching will keep us close.''

Since Valdes (1-4) has given up no more than one run in five of his past seven starts, he has not been the problem. Obviously, the Dodgers' offense has been somewhere between pathetic and anemic in those games.

How bad is it?

Well, the Expos scored 13 runs in one inning against the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday.

That's three more runs than Valdes has received the entire season. The Dodgers have scored 10 runs in Valdes' seven starts.

``It is tough. But the fact is he's done a good job keeping us in ballgames whether he gets the win or not,'' Zeile said.

If Valdes earned little satisfaction from the victory, Mondesi certainly got plenty.

He looked like the goat, after getting picked off third base in the seventh inning.

But Mondesi made up for that transgression when he hit the go-ahead, two-run single.

Mondesi also played a role in the Expos' only run.

The Expos' Mark Grudzielanek led off the game with a triple. It appeared Mondesi had a clear beat on the high fly ball, but it landed off the base of the wall.

Mike Lansing followed with a deep sacrifice fly and that was it for the scoring.

Until Valdes left the game, anyway.

``Sure I wanted the win, but the team won,'' Valdes said. ``I'll get mine. They'll come.''

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Photo

Photo: Dodgers catcher Mike Piazza inspects his injured right hand after taking a foul ball off it early in Friday's game.

David Sprague / Daily News