Dodgers Lose, 1-0, to Padres and Dravecky : Hershiser’s String of Good Fortune Is Brought to an End

Orel Hershiser, unbeatable before he became a millionaire, had an incredible string of good fortune come to an end Tuesday night before 31,915 at Dodger Stadium.

Hershiser had won 11 in a row. He had won 11 without a loss at home last season, a record. He had won $1 million in arbitration over the winter.

Tuesday, Hershiser lost, 1-0, to Dave Dravecky and the San Diego Padres, his first loss anywhere since July 7, 1985 and his first here since Sept. 9, 1984.

“If I played enough I knew it was going to happen,” Hershiser said. “But it didn’t have to happen the first night.”

Padre left-hander Dravecky, who had been on the losing end of two near no-hitters by Hershiser, pitched a three-hitter to beat him, retiring 15 in a row at one point before Mariano Duncan’s one-out single in the ninth.

“I was thinking about that (last season’s two losses),” said Padre catcher Terry Kennedy, whose third-inning single brought home the only run.

“Hershiser’s so good. Shoot, what’s he got to be ashamed of? He pitched well tonight, but Dave was about due.”

For the second straight night, the Padres had more singles than your average Club Med, collecting nine for a two-game total of 19.

They stranded 11 baserunners, too, including seven in the first three innings.

“Well, we’ll get 500 hits and 19 runs at this pace,” said Steve Garvey, who stranded five runners after going hitless in four trips.

Lifetime, he is 1 for 20 (.050) against Hershiser and has struck out seven times.

“I got a hit?” Garvey asked.

Fittingly, the game’s only run was scored on an infield hit, Kennedy’s broken-bat bounder into the hole at short scoring Kevin McReynolds.

“A compound fracture,” Kennedy said of his splintered bat. “It went down with honor. But I’ll take what I can against that guy.”

McReynolds, who had three hits, had singled, stolen second and taken third on Garvey’s fly ball.

“I don’t think that was a typical Hershiser sinker,” said McReynolds, who has five hits in his first two games since the Padres unloaded Dick Williams, or Mr. Macho as McReynolds had called him.

“And he was hanging his curve ball, at least to me.”

The only thing Dravecky was hanging were zeroes on the home half of the scoreboard. The Dodgers had just four baserunners, two in the second inning.

Reggie Williams blooped a single over Garvey’s head to start the inning, then was promptly picked off. Mike Scioscia walked and was sacrificed to second, the only Dodger to advance that far.

Bill Madlock singled in the fourth, Duncan in the ninth, and that was it, giving the Dodgers a total of eight hits in their first two games without Pedro Guerrero.

“I think you’ll find out that against left-handers we’ll miss Pete more than against right-handers,” Madlock said. “You’re going to see a few lineups in there before we’re through.”

Tuesday’s lineup had Bill Russell (46 home runs in 17 seasons) playing left field and batting in the No. 5 spot.

After blocking pinch-runner Marvell Wynne at the plate in the top of the eighth, Scioscia gave the Padres another jolt in the bottom of the eighth by sending a long fly toward the fence in right.

“I thought it was out,” Kennedy said. “I looked down and I didn’t want to look.

“But I couldn’t tell because it was so loud at the plate. I said, ‘Oh, shoot,’ it was so loud.”

But it was just another loud out, as the ball died before the track, Tony Gwynn making the catch.

After a 19-3 season like 1985, Hershiser recognized expectations might be unrealistic.

“If I lose six games, I can just see the headlines: ‘Hershiser Doubles His Losses,’ ” he had said before the game. “Even though I’m 20 and 6. Thanks a lot.”

Afterward, he accepted his lot calmly.

“The best balls they hit were outs,” he said. “That ball Gwynn hit with the bases loaded, the one-hopper to (Steve) Sax was the best ball they hit all night.

“It was overdue. A few of them were hit with Sporting Newses.

Hershiser beat Dravecky twice within a span of six days last April.

“He’s a good pitcher,” Hershiser said. “I’m lucky he won’t be able to get me twice in a row.”

The Dodgers travel to San Diego next Monday, but Hershiser is scheduled to pitch Sunday against the Giants.

“It had to happen sometime,” Hershiser said. “But I won’t get real frustrated over a tough loss like this. That could steamroll.

“You can go out and pitch very well, go out and pitch the best you can do, and still lose. Wins and losses don’t come from just pitching well.”

Dodger Notes

There’s some question whether Jerry Reuss will make his scheduled start here Friday night against the Giants. Reuss, who was knocked around for five runs and eight hits by the Angels last Sunday, had his left elbow examined by Dr. Frank Jobe on Tuesday. X-rays were negative, and after throwing in the bullpen before the game, Reuss said he felt much better. “I don’t know what it could have been,” Reuss said. “I felt fine today, like I’ve never been away. I wish I understood it. Maybe it was just a bad outing, plain and simple.” There has been speculation that Reuss, who had a 6.04 earned-run average and gave up 38 hits in 25 innings during spring training, might be replaced by Dennis Powell in the rotation. “I just want to start pitching consistently and put to rest all the BS, once and for all,” Reuss said. “I’m tired of getting my brains beaten in and getting humiliated. I’ve reached my point. I’ll be damned if I take a pounding every time I go out there. If that’s the case, then I don’t belong up here.” Manager Tom Lasorda said he’d have to see how Reuss feels before deciding on Friday’s pitcher. Powell “probably” would go if Reuss doesn’t, Lasorda said. . . . Steve Sax, who is playing on a sore right heel, also was X-rayed by Jobe Tuesday. According to trainer Bill Buhler, X-rays did not show a bone spur in Sax’s heel. “Just a bruise,” Buhler said. “He suffered the original injury a couple of years ago when he jumped on the bag.” Sax, who had a cortisone shot during the winter and another last Wednesday, did not receive a third one Tuesday, saying he preferred to wait as long as he could. Buhler said the diagnosis could change. “Down the line something could change,” he said. . . . Lasorda decided to sit Ken Landreaux against left-hander Dave Dravecky after all, playing Reggie Williams in center and Bill Russell in left. “No comment,” said Landreaux, who had gone 0 for 4 in the opener. Lasorda: “The manager of a major league team is entitled to the same privileges as a woman. A woman has the right to change her mind. That’s a privilege we bestowed on them. I think a manager should have the same privilege.”. . . Steve Garvey stopped by Lasorda’s office before the game to give him an autographed copy of his book. The inscription: “Thanks for the memories, past, present and future.” Lasorda glanced at the last paragraph of the book, in which Garvey expresses an interest in public service. “Sounds like Garv’s starting his campaign already,” Lasorda said. . . . The Padres weren’t the only ones who made mistakes on Opening Day. Mike Marshall did not single and score the Dodgers’ first run Monday as reported here; he walked. And Bip Roberts did not ground into two double plays and strike out once. He struck out twice and grounded into one double play.