DODGERS NOTEBOOK: IZTURIS HAS BEEN FIRST-RATE AT NO. 2.

Byline: Rich Hammond Staff Writer

A year ago, it would have been legitimate to ask if Cesar Izturis deserved any spot in the Dodgers' lineup. Now he's in one of the most important spots and having major success.

Izturis' second-inning home run extended his hitting streak to a career-high 13 games, and his efforts while hitting No. 2 in the order have been a major factor in the Dodgers' improved offense.

Coming off a 2003 season in which he mostly hit out of the eighth hole and had awful numbers (.251 average, .282 on-base percentage), Izturis inherited the No. 2 spot this spring and has looked like a changed man, with improved confidence and patience that have something to do with where he's hitting.

``I feel different this year,'' Izturis said. ``I'm getting better swings and seeing better pitches, and hitting No. 2 helps a lot. They don't want to walk me and put me on base, with those guys behind me.

``I feel more confident at the plate. Before I get to the plate I have a plan now, but before I didn't have much of a plan. Now I'm thinking about what's going on and what the situation is.''

Izturis' 2-for-5 effort Sunday left him with a .294 average, and hitting coach Tim Wallach said the improvement stems from Izturis not getting out in front of pitches.

``He's not afraid of getting beat by the fastball in any count,'' Wallach said.

``Now he's hitting pitches the other way and not chasing them.''

--Running free: Dave Roberts stole his 13th base of the season in the fourth inning and hasn't been thrown out once.

Roberts said it's the first time he can remember such a good start, at any level.

``I'm trying to pick my spots and I want to be aggressive,'' Roberts said. ``I have a lot of confidence right now and I want to feel like I can steal on anybody.''

--Good riddance: The Dodgers won't see the San Francisco Giants, or more importantly, Barry Bonds, again until June 21.

Bonds didn't homer in his three games at Dodger Stadium, but manager Jim Tracy rejected the idea that Bonds has any type of weak zone, or that pitching him inside provided much help.

``The margin for error in there is so miniscule that if you miss, and he can get the bat head to the ball, the ballpark is not going to hold a long fly ball that he hits,'' Tracy said. ``He's going to hit it out.''

``If you miss and it doesn't go where you want, it's going to go a long way in the other direction.''

--No regrets: Jeff Weaver took the mound in the eighth inning Friday night having already thrown 110 pitches with the Dodgers trailing 3-1. Weaver gave up two runs, which ended up being the difference as the Giants won 5-3, but Tracy had no regrets about leaving Weaver in.

``If I would have seen a deterioration of stuff as the game went along, I'm sure the decision would have been different,'' Tracy said.

``But Weaver was stair-stepping and just getting better and better as the game went on.''

Kazuhisa Ishii threw 128 pitches in Sunday's shutout.

--Minor move: The Dodgers traded minor-league pitcher Rick White to the Cleveland Indians for minor-league outfielder Trey Dyson.

White joined the Indians' major-league roster.

Rich Hammond, [phone]

rich.hammond(at)dailynews.com