How many times did we see this last year?

Late innings of the ballgame.

Tying or go-ahead run in scoring position.

Two outs.

And who comes up to be the hero? Mark Sweeney.

If not him, Angel Berroa, Luis Maza, Danny Ardoin or any other of the countless dead-weights on the Dodger bench.

Imagine if a couple of those weak grounders had gotten through the infield — if a couple of those lazy fly balls had dropped in for base hits. How many more wins would the Dodgers have had? How much would their confidence have improved that when they got down late in games, all was not lost?

I theorized last October that if the Dodgers kept the starting lineup, rotation and bullpen virtually the same and focused on improving solely the bench, that improvement alone could be worth an extra 7-8 wins per year. Here we sit on April 25 and that number is already at two.

Look at who came up big last night.

Backup catcher Brad Ausmus had two key hits including the ninth-inning game-winner, but also scored the tying run when pinch-hitter Mark Loretta singled him in a frame prior.

Against those same Rockies at home last week, Loretta also singled in the game-winner in the seventh inning of a game the Dodgers trailed 3-0 up until their four-run outburst in that frame.

Further back, recall 2004, the most successful Dodger regular season in recent memory (93-69). Aside from Adrian Beltre’s breakout year and the late-season heroics of Steve Finley, remember who rode the pine in that season. Olmedo Saenz (.279, 8 homeruns), Jose Hernandez (.289, 13 homers), Jason Grabowski (.220, but still did pop seven), Robin Ventura (.243, 5 homers). Much better than the glory days of Mike Edwards, Wilkin Ruan, Daryle Ward and Bryan Myrow (the list goes on and on).

In other news, the Dodgers currently have the major leagues’ fourth lowest ERA, and the second lowest in the National League. Told ya so.

Okay, Dodger fans — show of hands — who thinks the offense will be a problem this year?

Nobody? That’s what I thought.

Show of hands — how about the pitching?

Whoa, whoa! Really? You all think the pitching is going to be a problem? Why is that?

Is it because our Opening Day starter in Hiroki Kuroda had a sub-.500 record last season? Ah, but how quickly one forgets the lack of offense that plagued him and the Dodgers the entire season. ‘Roki still amassed an ERA of 3.73 on the season and proved to be a warrior in the postseason.

What about the presumed staff ace in Chad Billingsley? You’re probably still worried about the leg injury. I don’t blame you. But he looked more than solid in the exhibition game against Milwaukee. Besides, he claims to be 100-percent. He is still young, so its not as if he will be declining from his 3.14 ERA last season. All Billingsley needs to work on is being economical with his pitches and the question will not be if he can win, but if he is beatable at all.

Kershaw — “He’s got a bad case of the yips,” said a few contemporaries of mine. Yeah? The numbers last year really showed his ineffectiveness, didn’t they? He may not have the pinpoint control of Greg Maddux, but that’s not necessarily the formula for success — well, not the ONLY formula. Vin Scully said it best. Kershaw is “effectively wild.” Think Rick Vaughn from the “Major League” series. You know the 96 mph fastball is coming at you, but where? It could be right over the plate or it could be coming literally right at you. Throw in the Zito-esque curveball and young Clayton is quite a force on the mound.

Upset about the Randy Wolf experiment? Realize he is a fourth starter, not your staff ace. I would gladly take 12 wins and an ERA around four from my fourth starter and that’s exactly what Wolf will bring.

James McDonald — who? One of the few bright spots in the NLCS for the Dodgers (up there with Manny Ramirez and the infamous Shane Victorino incident), McDonald breezed through his postseason relief appearances without giving up a single run. Not that he will become the next Orel Hershiser (the scoreless streak), but a Rookie of the Year wouldn’t be out of the question for the fomer minor league pitcher of the year.