Dodgers Given a Dunkin’ in New York

Pedro Guerrero’s defense of Mariano Duncan Sunday afternoon was better than the defense the rookie shortstop offered pitcher Rick Honeycutt in the Dodgers’ 2-1 loss to the New York Mets before 36,234 fans in Shea Stadium.

“Get away from him, leave him alone,” Guerrero shouted at reporters gathered around Duncan, who became the first player in the National League to reach double figures in errors when he mishandled the only two balls hit his way.

Duncan’s second error and 10th of the season, on Kelvin Chapman’s double-play ball in the third, led to two unearned runs, the 39th and 40th allowed by the Dodgers this season. Honeycutt compounded Duncan’s misplay by throwing four straight balls to rookie John Christensen with the bases loaded, thereby forcing in the deciding run. Christensen came into the game batting .105.

The loss ended a three-game Dodger winning streak, while the Mets, who managed just four hits, ended a four-game losing streak. The Dodgers had five hits, only one for extra bases, and that was a bizarre bunt double by Duncan.

Until Guerrero’s outburst, Duncan had patiently tried to answer the questions he could understand with his limited knowledge of English. But when Guerrero, who, like Duncan, is from San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic, and has all but adopted the rookie, spoke out, Duncan turned away.

“Too many questions about that game,” Duncan said. “I don’t feel good.”

Guerrero, who was given his first day off by Manager Tom Lasorda before grounding out as a pinch-hitter in the ninth, explained why he had interceded on Duncan’s behalf.

“I don’t want anybody to screw up his head,” Guerrero said. “I’ll try to talk to him. Mariano doesn’t understand English real good, and maybe you’ll write the wrong thing and won’t make him feel good.

“He just made a couple of errors. Leave him alone. Now, if I make five errors, you come and talk to me.”

At times, it is true, Duncan appears confused. He told one reporter, for example, that on each error the ball took a bad hop on him on the unpredictable Shea Stadium infield. But when another reporter approached and asked about tough hops, Duncan shook his head.

“Nobody’s trying to make an error,” he said.

And even though he’s made seven of his errors at short, compared to three at second, Duncan said it doesn’t matter which position he plays.

“I’ll play where Tom Lasorda puts me,” he said. “If he says short, I’ll play short, if he says second, I’ll play second. Both positions are easy to play.”

But it’s also easy to make mistakes, for which Dodger pitchers are currently paying.

“It makes it tough on a pitcher like me, who can’t strike out eight or 10 guys,” said Honeycutt (2-5), who now has lost four of his last five starts even though he has given up just nine earned runs in that time. “I have to rely on the four guys in the infield to do a good job.

“Mariano’s no doubt got to find a place to play. He’s exciting, he makes things happen. A bunt for a double doesn’t happen every day.

“But he may have been pressed into a situation he’s not quite ready for. He’s shown enough ability that they don’t want to send him down. He can play, but he’s still learning, and the situation is difficult here.”

Difficult but not impossible, according to shortstop Bill Russell.

“He has so much range, he can play anywhere, and as long as Sax is all right, he’ll do the job at short,” Russell said.

“It’s an adjustment period for him, and errors are part of the game. But he has the right temperament, he won’t let it bother him.”

The Dodger offense, meanwhile, reverted back to its previous state of inertia even though it had an ex-Dodger phenom, the slimmed-down Sid Fernandez, in a state of siege for the first five innings.

Fernandez has better control at the table--he dropped more than 30 pounds last winter--than he does at the plate. He went to a 3-and-0 count on three of the first four Dodger batters, walked five batters in all and had thrown 105 pitches before Met Manager Davey Johnson finally yanked him with a 2-and-0 count to Candy Maldonado and two on in the fifth.

Roger McDowell, a 24-year-old rookie who missed almost all of last season because of elbow surgery, shut down the Dodgers’ on one hit in the last 4 innings for his fifth win.

“A typical Sid Fernandez game,” said R.J. Reynolds, who played with Fernandez going back to their days in Class AA San Antonio.

“I knew him when he’d walk the bases loaded, then get out of it. He gets in trouble, then pitches out of trouble, and he gets away with it.”

Fernandez might not have on Sunday if Keith Hernandez hadn’t taken a hit away from Reynolds in the third with a spectacular backhanded stab of Reynolds’ liner, the kind of play that earned Hernandez his reputation as the best-fielding first baseman in the game.

“Without Keith Hernandez being Superman, it’s a hit,” Reynolds said. “But a man who goes after a ball like that deserves to get it.”

Dodger notes Bob Welch, pitching for Class A Vero Beach, went six scoreless innings Sunday against St. Petersburg. He allowed four hits and did not walk a batter. He threw 64 pitches, 43 of which were strikes. . . . John Christensen, a Met rookie from Cal State Fullerton who is being platooned in right field in the absence of the injured Darryl Strawberry, was credited with the game-winning RBI for his bases-loaded walk in the third. The day before, Christensen had been booed after striking out twice against Fernando Valenzuela. “I swung at a lot of bad pitches against Fernando,” Christensen said. “I decided today that I’d wait for my pitch. With the bases loaded, I kept thinking about yesterday. I’m sure he (Rick Honeycutt) was trying to come in to me; after all, I’m only hitting .100.” Said Honeycutt: “If he (Mariano Duncan) makes the play on (Kelvin) Chapman, the inning’s over with. But I don’t pitch to walk a guy with the bases loaded. I just didn’t have a real good release point.” . . . Steve Sax avoided a possibly serious injury when he slid awkwardly into third base in the sixth inning. Sax caught his right knee in the dirt when he tried to change direction in midslide, but said the only damage was a cut kneecap. “I’ve been taking sliding lessons from (Pedro) Guerrero,” said Sax, who had stolen second and kept going on catcher Gary Carter’s throwing error.” . . . Mike Marshall’s 0-for-16 slump ended when his wind-blown pop fly to first fell safely in fair territory. . . . The Dodger defense wasn’t all shoddy: Center fielder Candy Maldonado did a bellyflop to rob Rafael Santana in the fourth, and Sax made a diving stop to throw out Howard Johnson in the sixth. . . . Steve Howe worked three innings of one-hit shutout relief. . . . There were two American League players with more errors than Mariano Duncan going into Sunday’s action: Cleveland shortstop Julio Franco, who has 12, and, shockingly, Texas third baseman Buddy Bell. . . . Maldonado’s last hit was a single May 7 in Chicago. Since then, he has gone 0 for 21, 0 for 11 on this trip. His average has fallen from .240 to .169. . . . Mookie Wilson became the ninth base-runner in 11 attempts to be thrown out stealing by Steve Yeager this season. The Dodgers have stolen four bases to the Mets’ one so far in the series. Last season in 12 games between the teams, the Mets stole 15 bases, the Dodgers three. . . . Great moments in sports journalism, I: A picture in the New York Post showed Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda rubbing his throat during Friday’s game. The caption said that Lasorda appeared to be giving the Mets the “choke sign” after their two errors in the third inning. Not a chance. Great moments in sports journalism, II: On “CBS Sunday Morning,” reporter Robert Lipsyte asked Lasorda if he considered himself the “daddy” of the Dodgers. Lasorda answered in the affirmative. Lipsyte then asked Jo Lasorda if she considered herself the “mommy” of the Dodgers, since her husband was the daddy. Said Jo incredulously: “He said that?” No, she added, she wasn’t the Dodgers’ mommy.