Marshall Finds New Fence to His Liking as Dodgers Win, 4-3

The planners who designed closer fences for the Astrodome thought they were doing the Astros a favor. But, once again here Thursday, good intentions took a beating.

What might have looked ideal on the blueprints became a disaster in reality. The Dodgers, who didn’t hit a homer here last season, took a wrecking ball to the Astrodome’s scaled-down dimensions for the second straight game.

Mike Marshall’s two-run homer in the eighth inning just cleared the wall in right field, giving the Dodgers a 4-3 win in front of 5,793 fans, the smallest crowd ever to see the Dodgers in the Astrodome.

Marshall, who had hit at least one home run in every other National League park, completed the circuit with his game-winner off Houston reliever Bill Dawley.

“That’s about all I’ve got that way,” Marshall said of his opposite-field blast. “I didn’t know, until they moved in the fences, if I could get it out of here.”

Houston right fielder Terry Puhl argued that Marshall’s ball would have been a home run last season, too, but no matter.

The Astros, whose total of 79 homers was second-fewest in the league last season, appear to have succeeded in making things easier for opposing sluggers, while maintaining the status quo for themselves. Houston hit zero home runs in three games here, the Dodgers three. Pedro Guerrero and Ken Landreaux collected one apiece Wednesday night.

“That’s three key home runs,” said pitcher Orel Hershiser, who left after four innings trailing, 3-0. “We didn’t get any of that last year.

“If a starting pitcher left a game three runs down last year, he might as well have taken the El (train) home.”

Last year, with the Dodger bullpen a shambles, a three-run deficit might have doubled by the sixth inning, which is when the Dodgers began their comeback. But Thursday, relief pitcher Carlos Diaz faced the minimum of nine batters in three innings, striking out the side in the sixth and gaining credit for his first win since last April 26.

“I think I threw more strikes today than I did all of last year,” said Diaz, whose 5.49 earned-run average got him shipped out to Albuquerque last season and left him uncertain as to where he would pitch this spring.

“I have a lot to prove to (the Dodgers),” he said. “I had a bad year last year, and it’s going to take more than one, two or three games to prove it to them.”

Although it may take the Dodgers longer to decide about Diaz, it took only three games for them to determine that rookie second baseman Mariano Duncan bears close watching, assuming the eye can move that fast. Duncan, blown away by Nolan Ryan in his big-league debut Tuesday, has reached base five times since, and Thursday contributed one run, and possibly two, with his speed.

Duncan, whose fourth-inning bunt was the Dodgers’ first hit off Astro starter Bob Knepper, singled to lead off the sixth, then caught Houston left fielder Jose Cruz by surprise by dashing to third on Marshall’s single to left. Cruz threw to the wrong base, second, while Duncan arrived at third with a head-first slide.

Marshall then displayed some heady running on Guerrero’s ground ball to second, avoiding a tag and possible double play by stopping midway. Astro second baseman Bill Doran threw Guerrero out at first, and Marshall eventually was out in a rundown, but Duncan had scored long before.

Doran said if he had it to do over, he would immediately throw to second in an effort to turn the double play. “But there are no Take Two’s,” Doran said. “You can’t run it over again.”

In the eighth, Duncan drew a two-out walk and scored from first on Landreaux’s bloop double to right, even though the rookie had come almost to a complete stop at third.

“But to me, he accelerates faster than anybody on this club,” said third-base coach Joe Amalfitano, who bolted down the line with Duncan on his way to the plate. “His first step, he’s at full acceleration. There aren’t too many guys who can do that.”

Had Duncan stopped at third, it is quite possible that Dawley would have walked Marshall to load the bases.

“That just shows you what speed can do,” Marshall said. “It really shakes them up.”

Reliever Ken Howell, shaky himself the night before, pitched the last two innings and got the save, although he had to get Enos Cabell to bounce out with the tying and winning runs on base to end the game.

Just in case, Lasorda had Tom Niedenfuer and Steve Howe warming up, Niedenfuer for the third straight day, Howe for the second.

“I hope I don’t make a habit out of this, but you never know with Mussolini,” Howe said. “When Mussolini says, ‘Go to war!’ you go to war.”

Unlike Mussolini, you may win a few, too.

Dodger Notes Mike Marshall had struck out five times in the series, twice against Bob Knepper, before his sixth-inning single and game-winning home run. “I’m learning,” he said. “If I had struck out my first two times in the past, I probably would have put my head down and said my day was over. But you never know when you’re going to get in a situation where you can get a hit to win a game, as I learned today.” Marshall is still suffering the after-effects of the stomach virus that bothered him in spring training. He weighs 210 pounds, 10 pounds below his normal playing weight. . . . Ken Howell, on the difference between his outings Thursday and the previous night: “I was hitting my spots today, making the pitches I wanted to. I slowed down completely. I was rushing too much. Maybe it was first-game jitters, but I was totally relaxed today.” . . . Steve Howe, who was throwing in the bullpen, on whether Dr. Frank Jobe approved of Howe’s pitching two days in a row: “He probably freaked out.” Howe said he would not pitch today: “I guarantee you that.” Howell, who pitched two innings in two straight games, also is not likely to be used, leaving Tom Niedenfuer as the only short man. . . . Bill Russell on Mariano Duncan: “It’s too early, but he looks good. He’s a little rough, but shoot, he started off with (Nolan) Ryan. A lot of guys, that would have taken the fight right out of them, but he battled back. He’s a very daring ballplayer. He lacks a little experience, but he fits in very well.” . . . Al Campanis, on whether Duncan will be returned to Albuquerque: “We’ll have to wait and see.” Campanis said that Duncan was the third-fastest player in the organization, behind only Jose Gonzalez and Mike Ramsey. . . . Manager Tom Lasorda credited third-base coach Joe Amalfitano for sending Duncan home on Ken Landreaux’s eighth-inning double. . . . Candy Maldonado playing in left field in place of Al Oliver, who was given the day off, threw out Dickie Thon attempting to stretch a single into a double in the fifth.