Dodgers Win on Marshall’s Home Run : Lasorda’s Moves Pay Off in the Ninth After Braves Stage a Last-Ditch Rally

Terry Forster didn’t invite Mike Marshall to the filming of his music video “Fat Is In” Tuesday at Venice Beach.

But Marshall turned out to be a scene-stealer anyway Tuesday night. While Atlanta relief ace Bruce Sutter incongruously languished in the Braves’ bullpen, Marshall crushed a--pardon the expression--fat slider from Forster for a two-run home run in the eighth inning, giving the Dodgers a 2-1 win over the Braves before 38,924 in Dodger Stadium.

“I knew better,” Forster said. “I’m not going to give him anything good to hit. I threw him two sliders at the ankles. The third one was my mistake, and there’s no excuse for that.

“I should have been throwing for my little daughter’s Little League team. I probably would have lost that one, too.”

But this one wasn’t over until the inning after the fat man had pitched. The Dodgers’ fifth win in six games on this home stand and 18th in 25 games since the All-Star break was not assured until after a ninth inning that had so many tactical moves, it appeared that Bobby Fischer had come out of hiding in Pasadena.

Mention a pawn to Tom Lasorda, and he’d probably think you were trying to hock his watch. But he played like a grandmaster Tuesday night, checkmating the Braves by inserting Candy Maldonado and Steve Yeager into the lineup just in time for them to collaborate on a game-saving play.

Maldonado, who entered the game in the eighth inning as a pinch-hitter for fill-in first baseman Len Matuszek and wound up in left field, threw out Claudell Washington at the plate when Washington tried to score on Gerald Perry’s pinch-single just over the head of shortstop Mariano Duncan.

The lunging tag was applied by catcher Yeager, who had just come into the game as part of Lasorda’s favorite tactic, the double-switch. The other half of that switch, reliever Ken Howell, was then replaced by Tom Niedenfuer, who celebrated his 26th birthday by retiring pinch-hitter Terry Harper on a pop fly to shallow right and striking out pinch-hitter Brad Komminsk to end the game.

“That’s why it’s a game,” said Marshall, whose 14th home run of the season almost traveled halfway up the pavilion in left field.

“In the bottom of the eighth and top of the ninth, there were probably 30 different things that could have been done. But the managers only get one shot at it.”

And judging by the outcome, it appeared that Atlanta rookie Manager Eddie Haas, under attack all season with the fifth-place Braves 17 games behind the Dodgers, came up firing blanks when he chose to leave the left-handed Forster in to face the right-handed hitting Marshall with a runner on and the Braves trying to protect a 1-0 lead.

“He (Sutter) can’t do it every night,” Haas said. “It takes more than one guy in the bullpen.”

That may have come as news to Atlanta owner Ted Turner, who put together the $40-million-plus package to sign Sutter last winter.

Both Marshall and Forster pointed out that in their past encounters, Forster held the upper hand.

“I think the last hit I got off him was in a camp game in 1979, when he (Forster) was still with the Dodgers,” Marshall said.

Haas said he was aware of Forster’s edge over Marshall. “That just shows you how statistics can bleep you up,” Haas said.

Forster had relieved Gene Garber after Ken Landreaux--who reached base four times--grounded a broken-bat single to right and Pedro Guerrero had lined hard to center.

Forster retired pinch-hitter Maldonado, as Landreaux took second. With first base open and a left-handed hitter, Mike Scioscia, on deck, Marshall said he wasn’t completely taken aback that Sutter didn’t get the call.

“Not as much as everybody else thinks,” Marshall said, “although I definitely thought there was a chance (Sutter would pitch).

“Terry looked like he was throwing the ball well. And if he gets me or walks me, Scioscia’s up next. I really didn’t think about it that much.”

Marshall clapped his way around the bases. “I couldn’t believe it when I hit it,” he said. “I was pumped up. That’s about as happy as I get, about as much emotion as I show.”

Atlanta third-base coach Bobby Wine was equally disbelieving after Washington was cut down at the plate by Maldonado, whose throw was fielded by Yeager on the short hop.

“They both made perfect plays,” Wine said of Maldonado and Yeager after they made caution appear to be the wiser course, especially since there were no outs at the time.

“That’s what happens when you’re going good.

“If they’re going bad, Maldonado throws the ball into the seats.”

How good are the Dodgers going? They now lead the NL West by eight games over both Cincinnati and San Diego, and they now have gone 43 innings without allowing an earned run. The Braves’ run off Orel Hershiser in the third came as the result of throwing errors by Hershiser and second baseman Steve Sax.

“Tonight was a big night,” Marshall said. “Everybody did their job the way they’re supposed to.”

Dodger Notes

Greg Brock, who hurt his neck while running the bases in the sixth inning of Monday’s 3-0 win, was scratched from the lineup Tuesday. “When I rounded second something popped or something pulled in my neck,” Brock said. “This morning I practically had to carry my head out of bed. It’s a kink in my neck, only twice as bad as I’ve ever had.” Brock said he could turn his head only slightly, and not far enough to hit. He was examined by Dr. Frank Jobe, and his status is day-to-day. Brock, who already has missed 21 games with sprained elbows, has had his share of weird injuries this season. “I try to keep everybody else away from them,” he said. . . . Dave Anderson, who has been on the 21-day disabled list with a bad back, says he’s ready to play, but the Dodgers announced they’re sending him to Albuquerque on Saturday for 20 days of rehabilitation. The Dodgers would have had to make a place on their roster for Anderson, who has lost two positions this season due to problems with his back and at the plate: shortstop to Mariano Duncan, third base to Enos Cabell. . . . The Braves placed pitcher Pascual Perez on the 21-day disabled list and recalled pitcher Craig McMurtry from Richmond. . . . Ben Hwang and Jon Scott, the Dodger batboys who acted as clubhouse attendants for the Hollywood Stars celebrity game last Saturday, took exception to a published report that said Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the only celebrity that tipped them after the game. “Every single one of those celebrities thanked us and tipped us generously,” Hwang said. “All of us had fun.” . . . The dates haven’t been announced yet, but should the Dodgers make the playoffs and World Series, they’d be scheduled to play here Oct. 9 and 10, the first two games of the playoffs, and Oct. 16 and 17, if Games 6 or 7 should be necessary. World Series dates: Oct. 22, 23 and 24. . . . Pitching coach Ron Perranoski, after Alejandro Pena’s latest workout in which he threw in the 82-83 m.p.h. range, said the Dodgers were hopeful Pena would be able to pitch competitively this winter, either in the instructional league or in winter ball in the Caribbean. . . . Ken Landreaux played in his 1,000th game Tuesday night. . . . Manager Tom Lasorda, on Steve Howe’s win in Minnesota Monday night: “I’m so happy for him I can’t tell you.” . . . Correction: The combined shutout by Rick Honeycutt and Tom Niedenfuer Tuesday was the Dodgers’ 18th of the season, not 17th as reported.