Dodgers Lose Game to Expos, Not Padres

Had he been looking for one Saturday night, le gerant des Dodgers could have found an excuse for being miserable.

For one thing, a cold had left Tom Lasorda’s head feeling like an overripe grape on its way to the compressor.

For another, his team had just been squashed by the Montreal Expos, 5-2, before a crowd of 24,372 at Olympic Stadium.

But when reporters arrived at the Dodger manager’s office after the game, there was no tripwire of tension to cross. The buffet line wasn’t as long as usual, but at least Lasorda chewed while he devoured his salad.

And when he came up for air, it was with a smile, not a sputter--even though his act of faith on behalf of Rick Honeycutt in the top of the fifth backfired in the bottom of the fifth, when Honeycutt yielded a three-run home run to Tim Wallach.

That proved to be the game-breaker as the Dodgers managed just four hits in eight innings off Bryn Smith, who won his 15th game against just four losses while ending Montreal’s five-game losing streak.

With the Expos leading, 2-1, in the fifth after Steve Sax’s run-scoring single through the box, Lasorda chose to let Honeycutt bat for himself against Smith, who had set down the first dozen Dodgers in order before issuing a rare (for him) walk to Pedro Guerrero to open the inning.

Another walk, to Mike Scioscia, had preceded Sax’s single, the Dodgers’ first hit.

Honeycutt, on the other hand, although allowing just one ball out of the infield--Hubie Brooks’ RBI single in the first innings--had pitched a rather fretful four innings, with Expo base-runners at every turn.

“The weird thing,” Honeycutt said, “is that every time I pitch here, things like that seem to happen.

“I don’t pitch that bad . . . but they have guys all over the place.”

Lasorda said he didn’t think of sending up a pinch-hitter for Honeycutt in that situation. “The guy’s only one run behind in the fifth,” Lasorda said.

Honeycutt remained a run behind when he grounded out to second baseman Vance Law to end the top half of the inning. By the end of the bottom half, he was four down owing to Wallach’s home run with Andre Dawson (double) and Hubie Brooks (walk) on base. It was Wallach’s 12th homer of the season--and his first RBIs since Aug. 12.

“In that situation,” Honeycutt said, “I’ve got to make a better pitch than I did to Wallach.”

In Lasorda’s situation, the manager has been known to be a tad sensitive when questioned about his strategy. As it turned out, the Dodgers had just one other scoring opportunity against Smith, when singles by Mariano Duncan and Enos Cabell put runners on first and third with no outs in the sixth. The Dodgers got in a run, all right, but killed a rally in the process when Smith converted Ken Landreaux’s comebacker into a double play and got Guerrero to look at a called third strike.

“If I’d have known he (Honeycutt) was going to give up the three runs, I’d have hit for him,” Lasorda said.

But Lasorda didn’t even deliver that standard (for him) line with his usual sarcastic flair. When someone asked him about the good-natured way he was dealing with defeat, he said: “Who said I’m in high spirits? Do I look like I’m in high spirits?”

Then he conceded that some good cheer had arrived in the form of news from New York: The San Diego Padres, winners of five in a row, had gone down to defeat to the Mets, 5-1, and thus remained 6 1/2 games behind the Dodgers in the National League West.

“I think Tommy’s probably watching it (the scoreboard) a lot more than we do,” Cabell said.

“He probably would have been cussing us out if the Padres’ score had been the other way around.”

The Padres had won 12 of their last 16 games but still had lost a half-game in the standings to the Dodgers.

“That’s what’s kind of tough, when you keep winning that many games,” Cabell said of San Diego. “Sooner or later, you’re going to go in a slump again.

“Right now, they’re putting on their afterburners to catch us. If it’s not close going into the last month, then we might be all right. That’s when you play the jungle game in your own division.

“And they have got to come and get us.”

Dodger Notes Bobby Castillo, who brought a 6.32 earned-run average into the game, worked 2 hitless innings in relief of Rick Honeycutt. “This is the way I’m supposed to throw the ball,” said Castillo, who struck out four. “Tonight I got all my pitches over. I felt comfortable out there.” . . . Surfacing out of the Dodger bullpen for the first time since Aug. 2 was rookie Dennis Powell, who worked a 1-2-3 eighth, striking out one. “I can deal with it,” Powell said of his prolonged idle period. “When I’m not pitching, I’m working on getting on top of my curveball.” . . . Third baseman Enos Cabell was charged with an error in the first inning when he barehanded Tim Raines’ infield hit and heaved the ball like a grenade on one bounce into the Montreal dugout. “I grabbed it, and the ball rolled into the palm of my hand,” Cabell said. “I tried to push it over. I should have eaten it.” . . . In 181 innings this season, Expo pitcher Bryn Smith has walked just 26 batters while striking out 107 for a strikeout-to-walks ratio of better than 4 to 1. Smith’s average of just 1.24 walks per nine-inning game leads the league. “I pitched like Pete Rose played,” said the palmball-throwing Smith, who departed after eight innings of doing battle. . . . Jeff Reardon pitched the ninth and record his club-record 32d save, which is three more saves than the entire Dodger bullpen. . . . Tim Raines, apparently undeterred by all the recent publicity concerning his drug use in 1982, is 11 for 15 in his last four games, with six hits in two games against the Dodgers. . . . That other Dodger-killer, Hubie Brooks had two hits Saturday and is batting .364 (12 for 33) against the Dodgers, with nine RBIs . . . Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda gave Mike Marshall the night off, starting Terry Whitfield in right field instead. Marshall is hitting just .083 against the Expos this season, with two hits in 24 at-bats. “For some reason, I don’t hit very well against these guys,” said Marshall, who went hitless in four trips Friday, striking out twice. Against Saturday’s starter, Bryn Smith, Marshall has one hit in eight trips lifetime, and last season he charged the Expos pitcher after being hit by a pitch. “That has nothing to do with it,” Marshall said. . . . Raines, who had not attempted a stolen base against the Dodgers this season, was successful in his first attempt, stealing second base in the third inning. He has been successful in 40 of 41 attempted steals of second. . . . Pat Screnar, the Dodgers’ physical therapist, said pitcher Alejandro Pena will throw batting practice again next Thursday of Friday, then will pitch a simulated game three days later. If all goes well, Screnar said, Pena should be ready to pitch in a game, most likely in the instructional league. . . . Rich Rodas, who is rehabilitating from rotator cuff surgery, made two appearances for Albuquerque, but the decision now has been made for the left-handed pitcher not to work again until the instructional league begins next month. . . . Lasorda to Pedro Guerrero: “You couldn’t hit me when I was pitching.” Guerrero: “I could hit anybody.” Lasorda: “You’d have to hit me while on your back.” Guerrero: “Give me a pitcher who throws with both hands, and I’ll hit both pitches.”