Fernando Puts on a Show for the King of ‘K’ : Valenzuela Strikes Out 14; Dodgers Beat Ryan, Astros

Faster than you can say Nolan Ryan, scorecards all over Dodger Stadium were filling up with “K’s” Saturday night.

But the world’s greatest strikeout artist--at least B.G. (Before Gooden)--wasn’t the one setting ‘em down at a dizzying pace before a sellout crowd of 48,313. That honor belonged to Fernando Valenzuela, who struck out 14 batters in the Dodgers’ 6-3 win over the Houston Astros.

Valenzuela, who fell one strikeout short of matching his career high while equaling this season’s league high set by Dwight Gooden of the Mets and Jose DeLeon of the Pirates, said this was his best game of the season.

Ryan, who struck out two before leaving in the sixth inning, trailing, 6-1, saw this game from an entirely different tilt.

“We looked like a high school team tonight,” Ryan said. “Playing like that, we can’t expect to win.”

That’s about the only way the Astros have played this season against the Dodgers, who have beaten Houston 6 straight and 9 out of 11.

Saturday, the Astros committed four errors in the first five innings--one a throwing misplay by Ryan that greased the Dodgers’ five-run fifth--and turned catchable fly balls and grounders into singles.

“The only time we’ve looked this bad is against the Dodgers,” Ryan said. “Every year, you run into one club that you don’t do well against, but we haven’t even made a decent showing.”

The Astros have a long history of playing poorly at Dodger Stadium. Their record here is 77-133.

After a game like this, did Ryan think that perhaps the Astros were jinxed here?

“All I think about after a game like this,” Ryan said, “is quitting.”

The Astros, blanked, 9-0, by Valenzuela a week ago, were almost as submissive Saturday. The first batter of the game, Bill Doran, set the tone by taking a called third strike. Doran struck out three times in all.

Valenzuela struck out the side in the fourth, when the Astros scored their first run on Enos Cabell’s broken-bat single, a stolen base and Jerry Mumphrey’s looping hit to right, and again in the seventh.

When he fanned pinch-hitter Jim Pankovits in the ninth, his final strikeout of the evening, it gave him 100 in 15 starts this season. Only Gooden (125) and Ryan (102) have more in the National League.

Gooden (10-3) and Ryan (8-4) have winning records. Valenzuela is merely a .500 pitcher (7-7), despite his league-leading eighth complete game and an earned-run average of 2.26.

“He was using all his pitches, setting batters up and keeping them off-balance with his screwball,” Houston Manager Bob Lillis said. “That’s what pitching is all about. He was a master pitcher tonight.”

Ryan, by his own admission, was something less.

“Worst stuff I had all year,” said Ryan, who increased his major league-record career strikeout total to 3,976. “I didn’t have control of any of my pitches. All three of ‘em were bad.”

His worst throw of the night was to first base, when he fielded Valenzuela’s sacrifice bunt following Dave Anderson’s single that opened the fifth. Ryan threw it past first baseman Cabell to the railing in right, sending Anderson to third and Valenzuela to second.

“I was going to go to second,” Ryan said, “but instead of taking my time, I rushed it and threw it away.”

Ryan’s next pitch was almost as bad as his throw. He bounced it into the dirt for a wild pitch that scored Anderson, breaking a 1-1 tie.

Steve Sax, back in the starting lineup after being benched for two games, broke an 0-for-11 slump with a single down the third-base line. Sax then stole second, and Ken Landreaux skidded a single through the right side for two more runs. That hit tripled Landreaux’s RBI total at home from one to three.

After an intentional walk to Pedro Guerrero, who had singled and scored the Dodgers’ first run, Greg Brock singled off Cabell’s glove for another run. Mike Scioscia’s single accounted for the final run of the inning, in which 10 Dodgers came to the plate.

“An ugly inning,” Lillis said.

It couldn’t have looked prettier to the Dodgers. Reynolds was the only Dodger regular without a hit Saturday, and everybody reached base at least once.

Valenzuela gave up two runs in the eighth but, after a visit from pitching coach Ron Perranoski, finished strong.

“My team scored six runs for me,” he said. “Good, you know? Maybe this was my best game this year, 14 strikeouts.”

With three shutouts already, there have been others, of course.

“He’s been very consistent,” Scioscia said. “I can’t really gauge how well he’s pitched just by his strikeouts. He’s pitched great games where he’s had just three or four strikeouts.

“But this was an outstanding game. It had to be right up there.”

For anyone, that is, but the Astros.

Dodger Notes

The Dodgers have a 10-4 record in games in which Pedro Guerrero has homered. . . . The Astros, who had the second-fewest home runs in the league last season (79), are well ahead of that pace with 41 in their first 65 games. They’ve already matched their ’84 total at home with 18. Only three teams have out-homered the Astros in head-to-head play, the Dodgers most decisively (12-0). . . . Astro shortstop Craig Reynolds missed his third straight game with back spasms. Dickie Thon, struggling to come back from a beaning, played in Reynolds’ place. Thon came into the game batting .169, more than 100 points less than Reynolds (.296). . . .Boxer Ray (Boom Boom) Mancini acted as Dodger batboy Saturday. Mancini was wearing one of Steve Sax’s uniforms. . . . Nolan Ryan has been unbeatable at the Astrodome (6-0, 2.04 ERA) this season. On the road, he came into the game with a 2-3 record and 5.06 ERA. . . . Today is Old-Timers’ day, during which members of the 1955 and ’59 teams will be honored. Ceremonies begin at 12:30 p.m., with the Dodger game scheduled to start at 2:05.