Honeycutt Pitches In as Dodgers Shut Out Braves on Three Hits

If the 36,741 fans at Dodger Stadium had only a vague notion who the winning pitcher was in the Dodgers’ 3-0 win over the Atlanta Braves Monday night, it was understandable.

For the better part of a month, Rick Honeycutt has stuck around only long enough to be recognized by the parking lot attendant on his way home. Honeycutt hadn’t lasted past the third inning in his last three starts, had been exiled to the bullpen, and had temporarily relinquished his spot in the starting rotation to a 21-year-old rookie, Dennis Powell.

But Monday night, Honeycutt (7-10) pitched as if he were ready to take out a long-term lease on the Dodger mound again. He shut out the fifth-place Braves on two singles through six innings and said he could have gone on all night if Manager Tom Lasorda hadn’t lifted him for a pinch-hitter.

There was no need for Honeycutt to go the distance, not with Tom Niedenfuer coming out of the bullpen to pitch the final three innings, allowing Rafael Ramirez’s two-out single in the ninth before striking out Dale Murphy to end the game.

“It’s nice to look at you and smile for a change,” said Honeycutt, whose facial muscles seem to be locked in a permanent grin.

At the moment, the Dodger pitching is leaving ‘em laughing while maintaining L.A.’s seven-game lead in the National League West. San Diego, which beat Cincinnati Monday night, moved ahead of the Reds--now eight back--into second place.

The Braves didn’t advance a runner past first base as the Dodgers’ streak of innings without allowing an earned run was extended to 34. The staff earned-run average is down to a league-leading 2.88 after the team’s 17th shutout, which also leads the league.

And now, it’s possible that the Dodgers may have a fifth starter they can rely on again. Bob Welch had won seven in a row, Fernando Valenzuela six, Orel Hershiser four, while Jerry Reuss reached double figures in wins with his shutout Sunday. Honeycutt had been the dead spot, as he freely admitted.

“It felt real tough not to be able to come in and do the job, especially when the team was playing so well,” said Honeycutt, who got the only runs he needed on Enos Cabell’s two-run, fifth-inning single off Atlanta ace Rick Mahler (16-10).

“Last year, I was asked how it was to feel the pressure of having to go out and pitch a perfect game, which you had to go out and do at that point in time.

“But this season, it’s a different story. We’re scoring runs and making the plays. All you had to do was go out and pitch a good game for a chance of winning. The bad thing is I was putting us behind early.”

This time, Honeycutt had his own cheerleader, complete with tambourine, in the Dodger dugout.

“I figured if I could get him past 2 innings,” said Jay Johnstone, who also presented Honeycutt with a pineapple, “we’d have a hell of a shot.”

And the Dodgers figure that with Honeycutt in form with a third of the season to go, they have a great shot at avoiding a losing streak that would tighten up the race.

“That’s the way we look at it,” catcher Mike Scioscia said. “We feel that we don’t have one or two stoppers. When Rick Honeycutt is throwing like that, we have five guys who can come in and do the job.”

Not to mention the bullpen. Niedenfuer lowered his ERA to 1.96, and his three strikeouts Monday gave him 71 in 73 innings. Murphy, the league’s leading home-run hitter with 30, went down on strikes twice against Niedenfuer and three times in the game.

“With the starters we have,” Niedenfuer said, “it would be tough for us to lose more than three games in a row.

“I think we’re all happy for Rick. He’s a great guy who had a good attitude when he was going bad. I’m glad things turned around.”

The Dodgers broke a scoreless tie in the fifth after two straight batters were hit by thrown balls. First, leadoff batter Scioscia was plunked in the helmet by Braves catcher Bruce Benedict on his toss back to Mahler.

That, of course, did not entitle Scioscia to first base; he got there when Mahler walked him. Mahler then hit the next batter, Steve Sax, who held up on his swing in time to get hit in the forearm.

Honeycutt sacrificed the runners over, and Scioscia was then erased at the plate trying to score on Mariano Duncan’s bouncer to first baseman Bob Horner. Sax took third on the play and, after Duncan stole second without drawing a throw, Cabell sliced a 2-and-1 pitch to right field, scoring both runners.

In the sixth, Scioscia’s RBI single, after base hits by Pedro Guerrero and Greg Brock, made it 3-0 and knocked out Mahler.

Dodger Notes

Dave Anderson is scheduled to come off the disabled list Wednesday. “I’ll be ready,” said Anderson, who has been bothered by a bad back off and on for the last three seasons. “I don’t know what the story will be. They haven’t said anything to me yet.” . . . Reliever Tom Niedenfuer said that he heard the news on the bullpen radio that ex-Dodger Steve Howe had won his first game with the Minnesota Twins. “That’s good,” Niedenfuer said. In his last 19 appearances, Niedenfuer has allowed just four runs in 41 innings, a 0.87 ERA. Niedenfuer said he is pitching better now than he did in 1983, when he had 8 wins, 11 saves, and a 1.90 ERA. “I think I’m better now because of the experience factor,” he said. “I know a lot more what I’m doing now than I did then.” . . . Rick Honeycutt said he corrected a couple of flaws in his delivery after watching himself pitch on film. “I’ve been trying to throw too hard, especially lately,” he said. “And I was turning my hip too fast. The way I was swinging my leg made me open up, and that made everything flat.” . . . Rick Mahler, on Enos Cabell’s fifth-inning single: “I knew he was looking for something to go the opposite way with. He’s a tough hitter in that situation. You have to make a good pitch in that situation, and I didn’t.” . . . Cabell is hitting .500 (10 for 20) in his last five games. “I keep reminding them of the ’79 Astros,” Cabell said, “how we had a 10-game lead and we lost. We were a young team and we didn’t have anyone to tell us what could happen.” . . . Monday’s win was the 750th of Tom Lasorda’s managerial career. Only Walter Alston (2,042) and Wilbert Robinson (1,375) had more wins with the Dodgers. . . . Dale Murphy (30) and Bob Horner (20) of the Braves have more home runs than any other combination of two players on another team this season. Their 50 home runs are four more than the Pittsburgh Pirates have hit this season. Murphy has two home runs and Horner one against the Dodgers this season. . . . Steve Bedrosian, scheduled to start for the Braves tonight against Orel Hershiser (12-3), is winless in his last eight decisions. Wednesday’s starter, Len Barker, has one win in the last year, and Thursday’s starter, Joe Johnson, is a rookie with a 1-0 record. . . . Before Monday night, the Dodgers’ record in games they led after six innings was 47-3. After seven, 52-2, eight, 56-1.