Marshall Gets Even; Dodgers Blank Expos

Mike Marshall, who has been beaned by Jeff Reardon, hit by Bryn Smith and had his uniform creased on several other occasions by Montreal pitchers, suspects that the Expos are waging psychological warfare on him.

“It seems like ever since I’ve been here, they’ve gone out of their way to pitch to me with guys on base,” Marshall said.

“I don’t know if they think they’ve got me scared or intimidated, or because they’ve knocked me down or thrown at me that they can get me out at will. But they seem to go a little bit out of their way to get to me.

“The only answer I have is to drive in some runs.”

It took an assist from the Dodger Stadium lights, but Marshall replied just that way Friday night. After Expo starter Bill Gullickson intentionally walked Greg Brock to load the bases for Marshall, the Dodger RBI leader cleared them with a first-inning liner that Montreal right-fielder Jim Wohlford lost in the glare.

Marshall was credited with a three-run double, Mike Scioscia followed with an RBI single and the Dodgers made that lead stand up for a 4-0 win over the Expos before a crowd of 34,154.

The Dodgers closed out May on the fly, stealing five bases against Expo catcher Mike Fitzgerald, a native of Lakewood who must have felt like the flagman at the Long Beach Grand Prix.

Steve Sax and R.J. Reynolds set the tenor for the evening by pulling off a double steal in the first inning. Reynolds had three hits and, in the second, stole another base.

The Dodgers also played errorless ball in support of Rick Honeycutt, who had lost four of his last five starts but checked the Expos on three hits through six innings. Tom Niedenfuer worked the last three innings for his fourth save, with Marshall grabbing Tim Wallach’s looper on the run and throwing to first to double off Andre Dawson to end the game.

Asked if Dawson had underestimated his speed, Marshall said: “Maybe after watching me try to steal third.”

Marshall and catcher Mike Scioscia, threats only to themselves on the basepaths, were the only Dodger runners caught in seven attempts by Fitzgerald.

“We had a little fun tonight,” Marshall said. “For us, getting a lead early is rare, so this was a good night to play a little more aggressively.”

Marshall, who went 0 for Montreal last week, when the Dodgers lost two out of three to the Expos, was still thinking about how Montreal had pitched around Pedro Guerrero twice to get to him as much as Friday’s intentional pass.

But Montreal Manager Bob Rodgers, new to the Expos this season, denied that his pitchers relish the thought of challenging Marshall. Walking the left-handed Brock, he said, was strictly a percentage move for the right-handed Gullickson. Besides, Marshall was batting .091 against him.

“That’s all,” Rodgers said. “What the hell, Marshall’s a good ballplayer.”

The Expos appeared to have guessed right, too, until Wohlford went to his knees in a blind attempt to catch Marshall’s drive.

“I didn’t see it,” he said. “I got a good jump on the ball, but it was hanging up in the lights and I didn’t see it.

“The ball bounced in front of me, got by me and the next thing I know they’ve got three runs.”

Which was more than enough for Honeycutt, not to mention more than usual. The Dodgers had scored 11 runs for him in his last five starts, and five of those came in one game.

“No doubt we’ve had some tough times,” said Honeycutt (3-5), who lowered his ERA to 2.22, 10th in the league. “A team goes through that--fielding slumps, hitting slumps, pitching slumps. All you can do is to continue to do your job.

“This was maybe as good as I’ve felt all year. And I had good plays behind me. KT (Ken Landreaux) made a helluva play, and I don’t think people know how tough a play it was when Bob Bailor turned a double play for me. That ball took a tough hop, and came up on me.”

In the second inning, Landreaux--who had made two errors earlier in the week--crashed into the center-field fence tracking down Wallach’s drive.

The Expos, on the other hand, made three errors, two on one play when Dawson dropped Greg Brock’s shallow fly in right and shortstop Hubie Brooks dropped the tag when Brock slid into second.

“That wasn’t a great game tonight,” said Rodgers, who didn’t get to see much of it after plate umpire Dave Pallone ejected him in the fourth inning.

For the Dodgers, however, it was about as good as it gets. They finished the month with a 12-14 record, 5 1/2 games behind the first-place Padres. Last season, they were 11-15 in May but were still in first place by a game.

Dodger Notes Expo starter Bill Gullickson left the game after batting in the third because of a pulled right groin muscle. . . . Mike Marshall has now hit in five games in a row (9 for 18, .500) after going 0 for 16. . . . Rookie Mariano Duncan hasn’t played in four games since making two errors Sunday in New York. Bob Bailor, who the Mets reportedly are interested in reacquiring, started at shortstop Friday. Were the Dodgers showcasing them? “They (the Dodgers) are just waiting to see about Darryl Strawberry’s injury,” Bailor said, tongue-in-cheek. Asked if he’d be open to going back to the Mets, Bailor said: “I’d go anywhere if I could play. I’d go to Bangladesh.” . . . Al Oliver took batting practice Friday, but trainer Bill Buhler said that on a scale of 10, Oliver’s injured hamstring left hamstring is about a “5 1/2 or 6.” Oliver is due to come off the disabled list on Sunday, but Buhler said he doesn’t think Oliver be ready until the following weekend, in Atlanta. . . . Alejandro Pena, who underwent surgery on his right shoulder early in spring training, threw off the mound this week, but Buhler said “there’s no way to put a date” on Pena’s return.