[0] KARROS KOS THE EXPOS SAY WHAT? L.A. SCORES 14 DODGERS 14, MONTREAL 6.

Byline: Brian Dohn Staff Writer

It was a freaky, crazy night that could be capped only by the most unexpected of all things, an offensive explosion and a Dodgers win.

Gary Sheffield sat out with flu-like symptoms and it didn't matter. Eric Karros had two homers and drove in four runs - in one inning - and switch-hitting Todd Hundley had three hits, including a three-run homer left-handed against a lefty.

Oh, and Davey Johnson had shoulder surgery in the morning and managed at night.

All in all, the Dodgers hit a season-high six homers and posted a 14-6 win against the Montreal Expos on Tuesday at Dodger Stadium had about every unexpected element conceivable. And they even made it possible to forget just how awful the past three weeks have been.

The Dodgers also had two runners thrown out at home in one inning, saw starter Ismael Valdes hit his first career homer but not hold a three-run lead after five innings and watched Hundley throw out his fourth would-be base stealer in two nights.

It was a baffling night leading up to the Dodgers' nine-run sixth inning, but their most productive inning since scoring nine runs in an inning April 24, 1998, against Chicago.

Karros homered to break a 5-5 tie to lead off the sixth against reliever Julio Santana. It was the 500th extra-base hit of Karros' career. Willie Davis and Steve Garvey are the only other two Los Angeles Dodgers to reach that mark.

Karros' three-run homer, which capped the inning, made him the first Dodger to hit two homers in an inning. It's been accomplished 21 times in the National League, the last coming when St. Louis' Fernando Tatis hit two grand slams off Dodgers right-hander Chan Ho Park last season. It also gave Karros 30 homers, the fifth time he's reached that mark in his career.

Jim Leyritz followed Karros' first homer of the inning with a walk and Adrian Beltre singled. Santana was replaced by lefty Scott Forster, and Hundley smashed a three-run homer, his 22nd of the season. It was also his second left-handed hit in two at-bats against a lefties on the evening.

Ironically, Hundley stopped batting right-handed in August last season because of frustration, and he did so against the Expos. He worked diligently at it during the offseason and hit three homers right-handed this season, but he slumped lately. Hundley entered the night batting .333 left-handed.

A late replacement for the ailing Sheffield, who was scratched from the lineup an hour before game time, Leyritz did his best impersonation of the MVP candidate.

Leyritz homered in his first at-bat, something Sheffield's done 40 times, and had an RBI single in the fourth. He also made a diving catch along the left-field line in the fifth, and slammed into the wall after catching Fernando Seguignol's bases-loaded liner in the sixth inning.

But it was more than just Leyritz's night.

Devon White homered in the third inning to give the Dodgers a 2-1 lead. Seguignol tied it in the fourth with a solo homer, but the Dodgers countered in the bottom of the inning to regain the lead, though it could have been a much bigger inning.

Shawn Green scored on Adrian Beltre's two-strike single to right, but Hundley, shunning the right-handed hitting in favor of batting left-handed against the lefty Moore, singled to center. But Leyritz was thrown out at the plate by Milton Bradley.

Alex Cora followed with a single to right field to score Beltre and give the Dodgers a 4-2, but Hundley was thrown out by Seguignol.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo: (1 -- color) Dodgers baserunner Jim Leyritz is tagged out at home by Brian Schneider of the Expos.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer

(2) ERIC KARROS

Karros on Tuesday became the first Dodger in franchise history to hit two home runs in one inning.