SHEFFIELD HIT GIVES DODGERS WIN BROWN HAS ANOTHER STRONG START, LEAVES WITH BACK PAIN DODGERS 3, SAN DIEGO 1.

Byline: Rich Hammond  Staff Writer

The thought of a dominant Kevin Brown on the mound to start a nine-game homestand against three of the National League's weakest teams had to bring a smile to the Dodgers' faces Friday night.

Brown came through with his third consecutive strong performance since returning from a strained Achilles tendon and the Dodgers broke through in the sixth against a surprisingly strong Brian Tollberg to take a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the eighth on a cold and rainy night at Dodger Stadium.

Brown (2-1) survived an unlikely pitchers' duel with Tollberg that lasted into the middle innings and left the game with one out in the top of the seventh after sitting through a 24-minute rain delay in the bottom of the sixth. Brown was pulled in favor of Gregg Olson after he walked Santiago Perez and hit Damian Jackson with a pitch.

The Dodgers ace left the game complaining of stiffness in his back.

Olson struck out Wiki Gonzalez and pinch-hitter Dave Magaden grounded out to first to end the threat.

The Dodgers' offense had just one hit through four innings, but Tollberg finally fell apart in the sixth and did not record an out. Tom Goodwin led off with a walk, his first of the season, and Mark Grudzielanek extended his hitting streak to eight games with a single to left field.

Gary Sheffield then singled to left-center to score Goodwin and Shawn Green drove home Grudzielanek and chased Tollberg from the game with a sharp single to left field for a 2-1 Dodgers lead.

Brian Lawrence replaced Tollberg and got two outs before he loaded the bases with a walk to Chad Kreuter. By that time, heavy rain was coming down and home-plate umpire Ed Rapuano stopped play.

But Mother Nature apparently has a good sense of humor, because as soon as the grounds crew covered the infield with a tarp, the rain stopped. After the game resumed, Lawrence got Alex Cora to fly out to left to end the inning.

Tollberg struggled in the sixth inning, but his performance earlier in the game was impressive. Tollberg had two prior solid starts, but little suggested he would be able to shut down the Dodgers for a big part of the game. His stuff was far from overpowering, but Tollberg, a right-hander, kept the Dodgers off balance and Green's second-inning double was the only mark against him in the first four innings.

The Dodgers' lack of power was somewhat understandable, since Eric Karros missed the game with flu-like symptoms and catcher Paul LoDuca is out with a strained hamstring.

For part of the game, it seemed as though the Padres' first-inning run would hold up. Brown allowed an infield single to Rickey Henderson to lead off the game and was forced at second base on a fielder's choice groundout by Tony Gwynn.

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Photo:

(color) Friday's game between the Dodgers and Padres was delayed several times because of rain at Dodger Stadium.

Kevork Djansezian/Associated Press