MONTREAL -- Shawn Green chose offense over defense after excelling at both.
Green homered after making a spectacular catch and Odalis Perez pitched into the seventh as the Los Angeles Dodgers held on for a 4-3 win over the Montreal Expos on Sunday.
Green, who sat for the first time this season Saturday, made a diving, run-saving catch to end the fifth before hitting his fifth homer - his first since May 5 - to tie the game in the sixth.
"Hitting the homer," Green said when asked which play he drew more pleasure from. "It's been a long time coming but the catch, definitely it was nice to help out Odalis."
The Olympic Stadium crowd of 14,488 - the second-largest through 12 games in Montreal this season - cheered Los Angeles closer and Montreal native Eric Gagne when he entered with two outs in the eighth.
"It feels good to go out there," Gagne said. "Everybody is proud of the athletes in Quebec and Canada. When I stepped on the mound it felt great."
The cheers were quickly muted as Gagne got the last four outs to protect a one-run lead and remain perfect in 12 save opportunities this season.
"He was received exactly the way I thought he would be," Dodgers manager Jim Tracy said. "This is one of their fellow countrymen and the people in Canada receive their people extremely well and give them the credit they deserve. ... Once they did that and responded to him, they went right back to supporting their club."
Dodgers left fielder Brian Jordan missed the game because of a bruised right hand. Jordan, who will have X-rays Monday when the team returns home, was struck on the hand by a David Roberts foul while standing behind the batting cage.
"He was just resting his arm on the bar of the cage and the first swing David took after bunting, he hit a ball and it hit the net but the net is flimsy and it hit him in the hand," Tracy said.
Green hit his fifth homer off Livan Hernandez (3-2) with two outs in the sixth to tie it at 1 after diving headfirst to make a run-saving catch on Hernandez's shallow fly to right to end the fifth.
"He made a great defensive play," Expos right fielder Brad Wilkerson said. "Even with the pitcher up you don't expect him to make that catch - it's so shallow. And then he came back and battled that next at-bat and that was the momentum shifter, but we had a chance to battle back and that's all you can ask."
Daryle Ward hit an RBI single later in the fifth inning and the Dodgers added two more runs in the seventh to go up 4-1.
Perez (2-2) held Montreal to three hits - including Wil Cordero's RBI single in the fourth - through the first six innings before Los Angeles ran into trouble in the seventh.
The Expos, who had four-run comebacks in the seventh in each of the first two games of the series, fell short in its latest attempt, scoring two to draw to within 4-3 before reliever Guillermo Mota struck out pinch hitter Jeff Liefer with a runner on first to end the inning.
Gagne was given a warm ovation when he entered with two out in the eighth and a runner on first to face Cordero. Jose Macias stole second before Gagne got Cordero to ground to shortstop.
Gagne finished with a perfect ninth.
After Green's homer, Mike Kinkade walked and stole second before Ward, who was inserted into the lineup in place of Brian Jordan just before the game, hit an RBI single to give the Dodgers a 2-1 lead.
Los Angeles added two more runs in the seventh to chase Hernandez. Alex Cora and Cesar Izturis singled and Perez sacrificed to advance the runners to second and third.
Left-hander Joey Eischen relieved and, with the infield in, got Roberts to hit a grounder to Vidro's left. Roberts got an RBI as Cora scored when Vidro threw home up the third-base line and off catcher Michael Barrett's glove for an error, allowing Izturis to score an unearned run.
"I kind of rushed it a little bit," Vidro said. "I was sideways and I had to turn and make a throw to try to get the guy at the plate. It was up the line. It was a bad throw - what can I say?"
Hernandez allowed six hits and four runs - three earned - in six-plus innings.
Notes: Montreal OF Vladimir Guerrero and 3B Fernando Tatis did not play. "They had the flu," manager Frank Robinson said. "I hope they don't infect anybody else." ... Halle Berry took in the game and did an enthusiastic job of throwing out the first ball. Berry, who is in town filming, jumped and clapped after delivering a strike to Expos catcher Brian Schneider. ... With time called, Hernandez went to the dugout to change his belt - leaving the game ball in his glove, which he placed on the field as he crossed the first base line - after Cora's single in the seventh. ... The Expos randomly distributed 5,000 Pedro Martinez bobbleheads in the second of six such promotions this season.
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