Abreu shows punch in pinch

PHOENIX —  Nomar Garciaparra’s first game at third base for the Dodgers will be remembered for the heroics of the player he displaced.

Tony Abreu finished what his successor had started, on the field and in the batter’s box, when he delivered a game-winning, pinch-hit homer in the 10th inning Tuesday night at Chase Field to lift the Dodgers to a 6-5 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Abreu, whose two-out solo homer to left-center field off reliever Doug Slaten was the first of his major league career, stayed in the game at third in the bottom of the inning after batting for Jonathan Broxton. Takashi Saito retired the Diamondbacks in order for his 21st save.

Abreu got the home run ball outside the clubhouse after exchanging it for an autographed ball and a Ramon Martinez-model bat because he was unable to spare any of his own.

“It makes me very happy,” Abreu, who pledged to make the ball a cherished souvenir in his home, said through an interpreter. “They see that I’m prepared for anything that I need to do.”

The Dodgers moved back into first place in the National League West, half a game ahead of the Diamondbacks, long after Garciaparra had showed up at the ballpark Tuesday afternoon for some additional work fielding ground balls at third base.

The converted first baseman might have been better served spending a couple of extra hours in the batting cage.

Garciaparra didn’t have a ball hit his way, but he did have several opportunities at the plate with the potential go-ahead run on base, and he made the least of them.

With Luis Gonzalez on first base, Garciaparra flied out to end the fifth inning.

With Russell Martin on second base and Gonzalez on first, Garciaparra grounded out to end the seventh inning.

With the bases loaded, Garciaparra struck out swinging to end the ninth.

He went 0 for 5 to drop his average to .270, the lowest it’s been since May 10.

“He’s struggling right now,” Manager Grady Little said. “He’s having a tough time, but he will get through it.”

Garciaparra moved across the infield three days ahead of schedule to create an opening at first base for James Loney.

Smart move. Loney homered, drove in three runs and finished a triple short of hitting for the cycle. The rookie hit a two-run homer in the second inning, a run-scoring double in the fourth and a single in the eighth.

“When you get the opportunity, you want to show them what you can do,” said Loney, who is hitting .471 in 12 games with three homers and 12 runs batted in. “I plan to be in there every day.”

The Dodgers initially had planned to let Garciaparra take grounders at third during batting practice for four days before starting him there Friday when the Dodgers open a series against San Diego at Dodger Stadium.

But after Garciaparra fielded balls at his new position Monday and then again Tuesday, the infielder and his manager agreed to accelerate the move.

“Whether I’m out there in four days or whether I’m out there right now, the comfort level wouldn’t have been any different,” Garciaparra said.

Said Little, who committed to sticking with the arrangement for at least a few weeks: “He feels comfortable, I feel comfortable, so we’re ready to tackle it.”

Little also dropped Garciaparra from third to sixth in the batting order in an attempt to relieve some pressure from a player hitting only .222 this month.

Not all of the Dodgers’ third basemen are pressing.

“It was a great day for me,” Abreu said. “It brings me a lot of joy.”

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ben.bolch@latimes.com