Strawberry Can’t Go Homer Again : Dodgers: He hits one out against Viola, but grounds out against Franco with two runners on to end 6-5 loss to Mets.

NEW YORK —  The Big Apple gave the razzberry to Strawberry. And Strawberry nearly gave it back.

Returning to Shea Stadium in a visiting uniform for the first time, New York’s prodigal son broke a long power drought with a two-run home run, then came to the plate with two on and two out in the ninth, only to ground into the last out of a 6-5 loss to the Mets.

His former teammates may have won the first salvo, but Strawberry appeared to feed on the emotion of the Shea Stadium crowd of 47,744, looking more confident at the plate and hitting the ball better than he has since the Dodgers began this road trip 10 days ago.

In the locker room, an upbeat Strawberry turned to a teammate and said emphatically, “We’re gonna bust ‘em tomorrow.”

Teammate Brett Butler said, “He got some cheers. Darryl came through, he got it started. That’s what our team’s about.”

The Mets had taken a quick 3-0 lead in the first inning helped by the Dodgers’ shoddy defense--featuring errors by Juan Samuel and Kal Daniels that inning and a third by Mike Scioscia later--and built it to 5-0 in the third as Tim Belcher (3-3) battled his control, giving up a home run to Howard Johnson and five walks in 3 2/3 innings.

Met left-hander Frank Viola was cruising with a 6-0 three-hitter with two out in the sixth when Samuel singled, bringing Strawberry to the plate.

In his previous at-bat, Strawberry had driven center fielder Vince Coleman to the track. This time, he jumped on Viola’s first pitch, driving it over the 396-foot sign in left-center. Three pitches later Eddie Murray homered and the Dodgers were back in the game, 6-3. Viola (4-1), fighting a stomach virus, never returned after getting out of the inning.

“It was just another homer to put us back in the ballgame,” Strawberry said of his first long ball in 47 at-bats and only his second of the season.

Later, he admitted it was a more meaningful. “It could be the turning point of my season--coming here, being aggressive,” he said.

“I was getting more comfortable and confident. Coming here put an extra kick in me. When I was up at the plate, the crowd was really into it. The homer got us on the right track, got us going. It’s only one game . . . (but) hopefully it’ll be the turning point for me to be more aggressive and more selective of pitches.”

Nearly double the normal Shea media complement was on hand to chronicle Strawberry’s every move. At an afternoon news conference, he dutifully answered the same questions he had answered all weekend.

When he took the field for warm-ups, a swarm of cameramen and sound technicians followed. When he stepped in the batting cage, he was surrounded by camera crews. His return to the dugout was similarly noted.

The fans continued the love-hate relationship that brewed during his eight seasons here. He was booed when he came out for pregame warm-ups. When a chant of “Dar-ryl” began in the first inning he grinned and signaled for more.

But fans around the visitors’ dugout cheered and one even tossed a gift. Banners around Shea ran the gamut from “Strawberry Field: Rotten & Forgotten” and “Strawberry’s Out of Season in NYC” to “Strawberry Fan Club.”

When he homered, he received a standing ovation. When he was on deck in the eighth, he was the target of strawberries thrown from the stands, and his walk that inning on four pitches against reliever Pete Schourek was greeted with lusty boos.

Strawberry said the ovation he got after the home run “was very gratifying. I got the reaction the way I thought it would be. A lot of people said a lot of nice things--I heard more nice than bad things.”

The large crowd had thinned by the ninth, when Met stopper John Franco took the mound. But Franco’s seventh save wasn’t routine. Leadoff hitter Jeff Hamilton reached second on rookie Chris Donnels’ throwing error, took third on a groundout, and with two out another former Met hero, Gary Carter, emerged from the dugout and received a warm reception.

He responded by doubling in Hamilton--worth another ovation--and scored when Butler and Samuel singled, setting the stage for Strawberry.

He swung at Franco’s first pitch, grounding out weakly to Donnels. “I knew Johnny had to get the ball over the plate, and he did, but he ran it back in on me at the last second,” Strawberry said with a small smile. “He made a good pitch. He knows how to throw in those situations. That’s why he’s their stopper. There’ll be another day.”

Strawberry’s Return First Inning: With two out and none on, flied to center on 1-and-1 pitch. Fourth Inning: With one out and none on, flied to right-center field warning track on 1-and-2pitch. Sixth Inning: With one on, hit two-out homer to left-center field on first pitch. Eighth Inning: With none on, drew one-out walk on four pitches. Ninth Inning: With two out and two on, grounded to third base on first pitch to end game.