Dodgers Add to Phillies’ Woes, 6-1

While Manager Tom Lasorda canvassed the sympathy vote for the Dodgers Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium, Orel Hershiser showed no pity for the Philadelphia Phillies, a team so desperate that they moved their All-World third baseman, Mike Schmidt, to the other side of the infield.

For all the good it did them, the Phillies might as well have left Schmidt home. Hershiser, taking the pressure off the much-maligned Dodger defense, struck out a season-high nine batters and limited the Phillies to four singles, one by Schmidt, in the 6-1 Dodger win in front of a crowd of 36,422.

“Are they going that bad?” asked Hershiser, after dropping the Phillies 11 games under .500 and 11 games behind the Mets in the National League East.

“I haven’t been following them closely. I knew when we were in Philadelphia (10 days ago) that they were having trouble scoring runs.”

The Phillies wouldn’t have had any trouble Wednesday had Hershiser, who ran his record to 5-0, not duplicated Jerry Reuss’ feat of fielding a ball and firing it into center field for an error. It was one of three errors committed by the Dodgers, running their season total to 59 in 45 games.

But for once, the damage was minimal. And the Phillies, no bargains themselves in the field, were not so lucky, with a passed ball by catcher Ozzie Virgil and a throwing error by right fielder Glenn Wilson helping the Dodgers to a 5-0 lead in the first two innings.

Steve Sax and R.J. Reynolds, the 1-2 hitters in the Dodger order, reached base three times apiece. Sax scored three times, stole third once and drove in a run. Reynolds scored once and had a two-run single that knocked Phillie starter Kevin Gross out of the game.

“I’m real happy,” said Sax, whose average had dropped to .224 during a 2-for-22 stretch in his last six games. “Maybe this is a good sign.”

Lasorda was looking for some sign of support for the Dodgers, who have attracted something less than reverence for the creative things they’ve found to do with a baseball this season.

“Now’s the time they need some encouragement,” Lasorda said. “They don’t need anybody criticizing them, kicking them when they’re down.

“They’re fighting themselves, they want to do the job so bad. The fans have got to say, ‘Here’s the time these guys need us.’ And they need me to put my arm around them.”

It didn’t hurt that Hershiser put a vise on the Phillies, who have been leaving men on base at a rate the Dodgers could appreciate. Before scoring 10 runs against the San Diego Padres on Monday, the Phillies had left 40 runners on base in their previous five games. In one game against the Padres, the Phillies put 20 men on base and scored just two runs.

Deciding they had to do something, the Phillies shifted Schmidt to first base and recalled third baseman Rick Schu from Portland, the exact thing they had decided not to do just two weeks ago.

“I just don’t see how it could happen now,” Phillie Manager John Felske said at the time. “I just don’t think it’s realistic to put another young player in there. We have enough players who are inexperienced.”

But Wednesday night, there was Schmidt, a nine-time Gold Glove winner at third, doing his best Keith Hernandez impression at first. Schmidt made it through the night unscathed, although he had to ice his knee after stretching to the limit to take a throw from shortstop Steve Jeltz in the second inning.

“I felt something a little weird in my knee,” Schmidt said. “My body’s never been in that position on a baseball field before.”

Did Schmidt consider the shift a panic move?

“I just work here,” he had said before the game. “I’m willing to do anything to help out the organization.

“I’m not sure how it’ll work out. You’ll see tonight, although I wouldn’t want you to judge it (the move) on tonight’s performance.

“Hopefully, Rick will relax and hit, and I hope Mike Schmidt will start hitting, too.”

Asked if he felt any empathy for the rookie Schu, Schmidt answered: “I haven’t had time to feel empathy for anyone else.”

Schu took a called third strike his first time up, when Hershiser struck out the side. Shortstop Bill Russell took a hit away from him in the fourth, and Schu lined to first baseman Greg Brock in the sixth. In his last at-bat, Hershiser hit him with a pitch.

Dodger Notes

In winning, Orel Hershiser lowed his earned-run average to 1.70, second lowest in the league to Fernando Valenzuela’s 1.68. Press-box visitor Wednesday night: Willie Mays. No, Mays wasn’t here to audition as the power-hitting outfielder Al Campanis is seeking, as one wag suggested. . . . Rick Schu, the man who replaced Mike Schmidt at third for the Phillies, attended Sacramento City College and played against Steve and Dave Sax. “It’s not like I’ve been sitting in Triple A for six years waiting to get my chance,” said Schu, 23, who was batting .280 with four home runs and 22 RBIs in his second season at triple-A Portland. “I haven’t been waiting in the wings too long. (But) I’m on the spot. The pressure’s on.” Schu was mentioned prominently last winter in trade talks between the Dodgers and Phillies. “I heard about it in spring training,” Schu said, “but the Phillies said they wouldn’t give me up.” . . . Bill Russell’s second-inning infield hit broke an 0-for-12 string. . . . Dave Anderson, as expected, will return Monday from Albuquerque, where he had been assigned for rehabilitation on May 17 . . . Derrel Thomas’ seventh-inning pinch single off Orel Hershiser was his first hit of the season in seven at-bats . . . Donald Fehr, executive director of the Major League Players Assn., will meet with the Dodgers here on June 4.