Brock’s Grand Slam Sparks 9-1 Win and 2 1/2-Game Lead

A year ago at this time, Greg Brock was in Albuquerque, no longer in the shadow of a legend, Steve Garvey, but eclipsed by a rookie three years younger than him, Franklin Stubbs. The future was not now for Brock; it was all but gone, or so the wise guys said.

Yet, when it came time for curtain calls Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium, who should come out of the Dodger dugout but Brock, tipping his helmet to a crowd of 34,051 after his sixth-inning grand slam and five RBIs sent the Dodgers to a 9-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Dodgers trailed, 1-0, until Brock’s bases-loaded home run off Pirate reliever Al Holland. He also singled in the Dodgers’ five-run eighth inning, which came shortly after the news that the San Diego Padres had lost to the Chicago Cubs for the third straight night.

Bob Welch went the distance for his fourth straight win and pushed the first-place Dodgers 2 1/2 games ahead of the Padres in the NL West, their biggest lead this season.

While Garvey was here, he was called out of the Dodger dugout so many times he probably tipped his pillow in his sleep. For Brock, however, this was a novel experience. When fans called his name in the past, it was seldom with love in their hearts, and the dugout was a place to take shelter.

Asked if he recalled the last time he’d been summoned to take a bow, Brock said: “I think it was in Albuquerque in 1982.”

But even after he’d been sent back to the Triple-A Dukes last season, Brock said he still clung to the belief that things had to get better.

“Obviously, there are always times when you hit your lowest point that you wonder,” he said, “but even then I tried to tell myself there’s no way I’m going to quit. Until they give me the pink slip, I’m not going to quit.

“So many people have turned it around in this game.”

For more evidence of that, Brock need look no further than the other end of the Dodger clubhouse, where Welch was talking about his remarkable recovery from elbow trouble that had threatened to make a wash of his 1985 season.

In his last four starts, three of which have been complete games, Welch has allowed just four earned runs. He is 5-1 with a 1.97 ERA after missing most of the first 2 1/2 months with a sprained ligament in his right elbow.

Welch allowed just five hits, with Bill Madlock’s home run accounting for the only Pittsburgh run.

Welch said the turnaround in Brock’s fortunes came as no surprise to him.

“I’ve seen my own self where I’ve been ridiculous and seven months later I’ve turned it around,” Welch said. “Greg had new challenges, and he met them. I’m very happy for him. You can see him; he even looks confident, and it rubs off.”

Brock’s slam was the second of his career. The first came on May 18, 1983, when he connected off Bill Gullickson of the Expos in Montreal.

Brock’s home run was his 15th of the season and first since July 12, when he hit two against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. In his last 20 games, he has batted .375 (30 for 80) and has driven in 18 runs. Since July 5, Brock is 10 for 19 with runners in scoring position.

Fourteen of his 41 RBIs this season have come in three games: He had a five-RBI game against the Mets in New York and drove in four in the two-homer game against the Cubs.

Madlock, who came into the game batting .385 in his career against Welch, had given the Pirates a 1-0 lead in the top of the sixth with his fifth home run of the season, over the 385-foot sign in left-center.

Welch had control trouble early, walking leadoff man Marvell Wynne and Madlock in the first. Jason Thompson then followed with a single to left, but catcher Mike Scioscia--in his first test since being knocked unconscious by Jack Clark on Sunday--stood his ground against Wynne. He tagged the Pirate runner in the back after having his knees taken out from under him by Wynne’s slide.

“The guy (Scioscia) is unbelievable,” Welch said. “That play damn near turned the game around in the early stages.

“You could see from his face the next day (after the collision with Clark) that he couldn’t wait to come back.”

Scioscia said Guerrero made a perfect throw on the play, and Wynne ran into the tag. “It didn’t even enter my mind, really,” he said when asked if visions of Clark rearranging his face had appeared.

Pirate starter Don Robinson was working on a two-hit shutout until Mariano Duncan walked on a full count to start the sixth.

Ken Landreaux, who had five hits in two games against the Pirates, followed with a hit-and-run single to right that sent Duncan to third. When Robinson nearly hit Guerrero with a 3-and-2 pitch to load the bases, Pittsburgh Manager Chuck Tanner went to his bullpen, summoning the left-handed Holland, the one-time ace of the Phillies’ bullpen, now just a mere mortal with the Pirates.

Brock, in eight previous plate appearances against Holland, had just one hit, a single. But he lined a 1-and-0 fastball into the seats between the Pirate bullpen and the right-field foul pole.

“That’s the hardest ball I’ve ever hit off him,” Brock said.

In the eighth, after walks to Landreaux and Guerrero, Brock lined a single to center off reliever Jim Winn for his fifth RBI.

“It’s helped this year,” Brock said, “that we’ve come back on the winning track.”

It certainly may have put an end to his shuttle flights to Albuquerque.

Dodger Notes

Rick Honeycutt, who has a 6-9 record, no complete games in 17 starts and hasn’t made it past the third inning in his last two starts, has been taken out of the starting rotation and sent to the bullpen. Honeycutt’s place in the rotation has been taken by rookie left-hander Dennis Powell, who will make his first big-league start Sunday against the Chicago Cubs and Rick Sutcliffe, last year’s Cy Young Award winner. Since coming to the Dodgers in August, 1983, Honeycutt has spent at least part of the last three seasons in the Dodger bullpen. “We want him to correct some flaws, get his release point back again, and hope that he’ll regain his confidence,” Manager Tom Lasorda said of the decision to put Honeycutt in the bullpen, a decision Lasorda said he made after consulting with pitching coach Ron Perranoski. Honeycutt, a sinkerball pitcher, had trouble with his release point last season; he was dropping his arm, which kept his sinker from sinking. It wasn’t until after the fact that Honeycutt acknowledged that the arthritic condition in his left shoulder was responsible for his mechanical problems. And despite off-season surgery, the suspicion lingers that Honeycutt’s shoulder still isn’t quite right. Lasorda admitted as much. “I always felt there was (a problem),” Lasorda said. “I asked the guy, and he said there wasn’t, and that’s the only way I’m going to find out. It’s better to put him in the bullpen, make a couple of appearances, and get straightened out. I don’t know if he welcomed it (the switch), but I think he realizes it’s the best thing.” . . . Lasorda said he could not switch to a four-man rotation. “I don’t want to take a chance on hurting Bobby (Welch),” he said. . . . Third baseman Dave Anderson was back in the starting lineup after missing three games. He said his back was OK. . . . Relief pitcher Tom Niedenfuer auditioned for a TV commercial for a national hamburger chain. “I have to steal a base,” Niedenfuer said. “They told me to look surprised. I told them, ‘I don’t even have to act to do that.’ ” . . . Pedro Guerrero passed out T-shirts to teammates that bore his smiling face and the fact that he was a major league record-holder for hitting 15 home runs in June.