FOR DODGERS, EVERYTHING COMES TOGETHER : DODGERS 13 ANGELS 3.

Byline: Joe Haakenson Staff Writer

Eric Karros' name has popped up in trade rumors involving the Angels recently and he certainly didn't hurt his stock in the eyes of Angels general manager Bill Bavasi on Saturday afternoon.

Even though the Angels were excited about the return of Tim Salmon to the lineup, they watched with envy as Karros slammed two home runs and drove in five to lead the Dodgers to a 13-3 thumping of Anaheim before 39,808 at Edison Field.

Angel Pena hit a three-run homer and Raul Mondesi added a two-run blast in support of starter Chan Ho Park (6-7), who gave up two runs and five hits in 6-1/3 innings to earn the victory, only his second in his past eight starts.

Despite the win, the Dodgers remain nine games behind the Giants in the NL West. The Angels remain 7-1/2 games behind the Rangers in the AL West. The Angels, though, fell back into last place, one-half game behind the third-place Mariners.

Karros' three-run homer off a Steve Sparks' (4-6) knuckleball in the fourth inning turned a 4-1 game into 7-1 and paved the way for the Dodgers' fourth win in six games vs. the Angels this season, including two of three in Anaheim. The Dodgers have won five of six overall.

Karros, though, wasn't trying to impress anybody in the other dugout. If anything, he's giving Dodgers management good reason not to deal him.

``It would be one thing if I wasn't producing, but I'm making a contribution,'' said Karros, who is hitting .292 with 19 homers and 54 RBI. ``If you could get (Rafael) Palmeiro or (Jeff) Bagwell, I'd say sure, but I don't think they are available. Sure, it's frustrating, but it happens every year.''

If Karros were traded to the Angels, he would be the designated hitter. Saturday, they had Salmon in that spot. It was Salmon's first game since he sprained his left wrist May 3, and the long layoff was obvious.

Salmon went 0 for 5, including a strikeout and a double-play grounder that ended the game. However, he drove in the Angels' first run with a fielder's- choice grounder off Park in the third inning.

``As much as I wanted to step in there and win the game, it's not going to happen,'' Salmon said. ``My thought's there, my approach is there, but my timing's not. There's nothing I can do other than keep taking at-bats.

``My eyes see something, but my hands don't quite get there. But that's to be expected. The main thing is I'm in the lineup. Maybe that affects how pitchers will throw to somebody else. That's just the way it is until I get my swing going.''

Mondesi got his home run swing back for the first time since June 8. His second-inning homer off a slider from Sparks ended a homerless drought of 112 at-bats. It was his team-leading 20th of the season.

``I just didn't have a good feel for my knuckleball,'' said Sparks, who lasted only 3-2/3 innings and gave up seven runs and nine hits. ``It was ball one, ball two, then I had to throw other pitches to try to get back in the count.''

Maybe the best news of all for the Dodgers was the performance of Park, who had his best outing in two months. Park, who allowed 22 runs in 12-2/3 innings in his previous three starts, didn't retire the side in order in any inning but never was in serious trouble.

The closest the Angels got to revenge on Park for his kick of pitcher Tim Belcher in a fight on June 5 was Troy Glaus' liner up the middle in the fourth inning. Park stuck his right leg out, deflected the ball up in the air and caught it.

Park said last month's incident never entered his mind on Saturday.

``I didn't think about it at all,'' Park said. ``I went over to see Belcher on Friday and waited to apologize. It was important for me to do that and move on. After that, everything was good. All the problems from the past were gone.

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Photo

Photo: (Color) Raul Mondesi high-fives the Dodgers bat boy as he gets congratulated by teammate Gary Sheffield after his team-leading 20th home run.

Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer