Perez making a play to return to Dodgers

Steve Guiremand

Tuesday, April 24, 2001 | 9:53 a.m.

Your move, Dodgers.

For the second straight game, it was vintage Carlos Perez on the mound for the Las Vegas 51s.

Perez, on an injury rehab assignment with the 51s until May 4 following shoulder surgery last September, pitched seven strong innings Monday night at Cashman Field, helping the 51s to a 5-4 victory over the Calgary Cannons.

Perez, who pitched six shutout innings against the Iowa Cubs in a 6-0 Las Vegas win on April 18, extended his scoreless inning streak to 12 2/3 before yielding a three-run homer to pinch-hitter Kevin Grijak in the bottom of the seventh.

It wasn't exactly a monster blast. Grijak's line drive was just inside the rightfield foul pole and barely cleared the fence 328 feet away.

That was the only major blemish on another solid outing for Perez, who was his old animated self at times on the mound, spinning and punching the sky after strikeouts. He allowed seven hits, walked one and struck out four.

"He made one bad pitch to Grijak that he was upset about," Las Vegas manager Rick Sofield said. "He obviously pitched well. The guy knows how to pitch.

"I saw a lot of the old Carlos Perez back with the personality on the mound, which we encouraged. It seems like he's on track (to return to the big leagues)."

Perez, who has a guaranteed $7.5 million contract this season with the Dodgers, will likely start one more time -- on Sunday -- for Las Vegas. The Dodgers must make a decision before May 5 to promote him to the big leagues, trade him or cut him loose.

"Obviously, he's putting pressure on a lot of people (in Los Angeles) and that is good stuff," Sofield said. "For Carlos, this is what you want a player to do, to put himself in a position to make things difficult. And the good news is he's healthy and happy. It's been a while since he's been healthy and happy."

One negative is that interim Dodgers GM Dave Wallace and senior vice president Tommy Lasorda, both of whom had made plans to attend Monday night's game, didn't show up. Another was that Perez's fastball, which hit the low 90s before the latest surgery, was clocked in the mid-80s for most of Monday's contest.

"I'm fine," Perez said after throwing 90 pitches. "I feel very good. My shoulder feels much better today than ever."

Perez said he felt like he was pitching as well now as before the surgery.

"The last two games I've been throwing my pitches the same way I did in the big leagues," he said. "I've been throwing my breaking ball behind in the count or in any situation."

The 30-year-old left-hander said he has no idea what his future with the Dodgers holds.

"I don't hear nothing. I'm still waiting. It's tough," he said. "I don't know what they're going to do. I wish I had my spot in the (Dodgers') rotation. I don't know if they feel comfortable with five right-handers in the rotation right now. I'd really like to be starting for the Dodgers or somewhere."

If things don't work out, Perez said that somewhere could very well be Montreal, where he made the All-Star team in 1995.

"If I'm a free agent, I'd like to go back to Montreal," he said. "Let's see how the season goes. The thing is I don't play right now for the money. I play because I like to play. ... I like the city (of Montreal). I like the fans. I pitched pretty good right there."