Smith, Lopes Settle a Score With Dodgers

The Dodgers tried spinning the chamber of a loaded gun again Tuesday afternoon, only this time Lee Smith wasn’t firing blanks.

The Cub reliever, burned for a ninth-inning home run by Mike Scioscia the day before, when the Dodgers won, teased the Dodgers again Tuesday. Smith put the tying runs in scoring position with one out in the ninth.

But this time, there were no survivors as Smith blew away R.J. Reynolds and pinch-hitter Al Oliver on strikes to preserve the Cubs’ 4-2 win over the Dodgers in front of 23,331 fans in Wrigley Field.

“I was thinking about it (yesterday) a little bit,” Smith said. “But I guess I redeemed myself today.”

That’s not to say Oliver, still bothered by a pulled hamstring, didn’t go down without trying to take Smith with him. Oliver fouled off four pitches before missing a 2-and-2 slider to end the game.

“I enjoy those kind of lockups,” Oliver said, “for the competition. He gave his best shot, I gave mine, and he was the best today.

“If that pitch wasn’t out of the strike zone, I might have hit it. When a guy who throws that hard, like Smith or Nolan (Ryan), throws a breaking pitch in the dirt, that’s the pitch to make in that situation.”

In other situations that begged for a hit, the Dodgers--as has been their pattern on a trip that ended with three wins in seven games were unable to deliver. The Cubs tried to accommodate, giving Cy Young Award winner Rick Sutcliffe an extra day’s rest while starting Dick Ruthven, who came into the game with a lifetime record of 4-15 and an earned-run average of 5.00 in 27 games against the Dodgers.

And though the Dodgers collected 11 hits, the first time this season they’ve been in double figures in hits in back-to-back games (13 on Monday), they went 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position.

They grounded into three double plays, once when Mike Marshall hit a one-hopper to second on a 3-and-0 pitch with two on and no out in the fourth. The Cubs also turned another unusual double play in the second when Bob Dernier made a leaping catch of R.J. Reynolds’ drive to dead center and doubled off Terry Whitfield at first.

“That doesn’t bother me so much,” said a disconsolate Reynolds, who instead dwelled on his ninth-inning strikeout after coming one pitch away from a walk that would have loaded the bases.

“I just wish I had been able to put the ball in play.”

Reynolds might have benefited by a word from ex-Dodger Davey Lopes, who had two hits, a walk, a sacrifice fly and two RBIs. Lopes had taken a called third strike four straight times Monday when the Cubs lost, 5-4, in 10 innings.

“I was thinking about it all day, said Lopes, who turned 39 last Friday. “When I came to the ballpark, I was wondering if I was going to be in the lineup.

“But for some reason I felt very positive. I felt strong and confident. It helped when I got that first hit.”

Lopes smiled when asked if he dealt with such a bad game as Monday’s differently now than he did 10 years ago.

“I deal with a lot of things differently,” he said. “I accept things a little easier. You don’t have to like ‘em, but you have to accept them.

Lopes, acquired by the Cubs last September, has said he felt like an outsider when the Cubs won the division. But this season, he already has been valuable in a utility role that he has come to accept, as much as he accepts four-strikeout games.

“I’m at a stage of my career where it’s not going to bother me,” he said. “Nothing’s going to bother me. I’ll either do it or I don’t.

“I know I’m going to get a lot of playing time. And now, I appreciate a good utility player. When you’re an everyday player, you don’t appreciate it as much.”

The Cubs, who left a dozen men on base Monday, left another 10 on Tuesday, as they had Tom (The Flamingo) Brennan in constant trouble. With the wind blowing in, only one of their 11 hits was for extra bases, and that one, a third-inning double by Bob Dernier, came when left fielder Terry Whitfield fell down.

Brennan, at a stage of his career where he’s just trying to get by week-to-week, grew up in Chicago, but this was only the second time he’d ever been in Wrigley Field. A South Sider, Brennan grew up a White Sox fan.

“I was nervous,” he said. “There’s a lot of history here. They’ve got some real fine hitters and they proved it. I made too many mistakes.”

Dodger Notes First baseman Greg Brock took batting practice for the first time since receiving an injection in his right elbow Saturday, but left the cage before completing his swings. . . . Dodger Vice President Al Campanis said he’s been talking to five or six clubs regarding a trade. “But nothing is concrete,” he said. “Nothing is imminent.” Asked if he had any interest in Ken Griffey, whom the New York Yankees said they will attempt to trade, Campanis said: “I don’t see where he would fit in our scheme.” . . . The two innings pitched by Steve Howe Tuesday comprised his longest outing this season. . . . Mariano Duncan was removed in the eighth inning as a precautionary measure to protect his hamstring. Duncan had felt a twinge in the hamstring when he beat out a bunt in the first inning, but said he’d play tonight. . . . The Dodgers, who already have used 19 different lineups this season, used the same one two games in a row Wednesday, for the first time on this trip. . . . Jay Johnstone, who was Ron Cey’s teammate with the Cubs, sent Cey a picture of Spend A Buck, the Kentucky Derby winner, with Cey’s head pasted on. “Nice to see you again,” he wrote. Johnstone also taped a picture of a samurai wrestler being pushed by a crying child in Mike Scioscia’s cubicle. The caption: “Sosch: Way to block the plate.”