He Comes to Hundley’s Defense

Bullpen coach Rick Dempsey was known as tough guy during his 24-year major league career.

The former catcher showed he’s still a good guy to have around Sunday during a wild sixth-inning, bench-clearing brawl in a 14-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners.

Dempsey took on several Mariners, leading to his ejection. Dempsey took exception with what several Dodgers claimed were “cheap shots” by Seattle pitcher Damaso Marte.

Dempsey charged Marte after the left-hander hit catcher Todd Hundley while Hundley was being restrained.

“Marte went after Todd and hit him while three guys were holding him,” Dempsey said. “It was a cheap shot, no doubt about it. I wasn’t trying to escalate it [the brawl], but somebody had to slow him [Marte] down and no one on his team was doing it.”

Dempsey slammed into Marte, who seemed stunned that the 49-year-old coach got into the mix.

“One of their coaches was on my back,” Marte said of Dempsey, who lost his jersey during the fight. “I wasn’t going to take that.”

Several players praised Dempsey for defending Hundley.

“Let’s just say we ran into each other,” Dempsey said. “Let’s just put it that way.”

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Outfielder Trenidad Hubbard was forced to catch during the final three innings because Hundley was ejected and rookie catcher Angel Pena suffered a strained left forearm during the melee.

Hubbard said he previously worked behind the plate while with the Houston Astro organization sometime earlier in the decade.

“When Davey [Johnson] told me, I was like Austin Powers, ‘Yeah Baby,’ ” said Hubbard, who started in left field and went two for five with a career-high five runs batted in.

“I haven’t had that stuff [catching gear] on in a long time, but it felt good. I felt comfortable, but I think I’ll turn it back over to Hot Rod [Hundley] and Angel after the [All-Star] break.”

Hubbard is batting .447 with nine RBIs in his last 18 games.

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Shortstop Jose Vizcaino replaced Hubbard in left in the seventh.

“I didn’t like it out there. . . . it was way too boring,” Vizcaino said. “Davey told me it was going to be me or Sheff [Gary Sheffield], and Sheff told me to go out and try it. I used Sheff’s glove, but it was way too big. I had to go get another one.”

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Infielder Tripp Cromer, who underwent a second round of tests last week to determine the cause of his irregular heartbeat, said Sunday that team physicians were unable to detect the irregularity again.

“They think it might be just something that comes and goes,” Cromer said. “They’re still thinking about giving me medication for it, but we still have to wait and see.”

Cromer is eligible to come off the disabled list July 20, but he is uncertain about the timetable for his return.