Dodger Hitters Take a Meeting, Enter Swinging : Brock, Scioscia, Landreaux Deliver the Blows in 7-3 Win

For a lineup that had six players--not including pitcher Bob Welch--who aren’t even hitting their weight, it could have been a gag.

Hey, did ya hear the one about the Dodgers holding a meeting of their hitters? They had perfect attendance: Nobody showed up. But Sunday afternoon, the Dodger swingers did gather in Manager Tom Lasorda’s office, where they proceeded to talk a good game.

They then went out on the field and played one, scoring four runs in the first inning, and ended their five-game losing streak with a 7-3 win over the Braves in front of 26,570 in Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

Greg Brock and Mike Scioscia hit home runs in the first off Brave starter Rick Mahler, the first home run of the season for both players.

Ken Landreaux went 4-for-4, including two doubles, scored two runs, drove in two and stole a base.

In all, the Dodgers had 10 hits, which they supplemented with eight walks by Atlanta pitchers. They also scored runs in consecutive innings for the first time this season.

A meeting of the minds?

“A meeting of the idiots,” Brock said with a grin. “All of us.

“And the General stood up and spoke with his bat.”

The General, in this case, is Landreaux, who is now hitting .325 but has been his usual erratic self afield. The origins of the nickname, which Landreaux acquired in spring training, are murky. Someone said there was a general of that name in the Revolutionary War.

Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda had another explanation.

“It refers to some of the things he learned in warfare at Arizona State University,” Lasorda said.

It hasn’t been war, but the season’s first two weeks have been rather hellish for the Dodger offense.

Consider the weight-average comparison, for example. From the high end of the scale, there’s Mike Marshall (220 pounds, .196 average), Scioscia (220, .211), Franklin Stubbs (215, .214), Brock (205, .200), Cabell (190, .105), and Mariano Duncan (175, .143).

Obviously, there was something to talk about Sunday, and it had nothing to do with a new diet.

“You might think it was a prayer session,” said Scioscia, whose low-flying liner cleared the right-field fence just two batters after Brock crushed an 0-and-2 delivery from Mahler, the ace of the Atlanta staff who lasted just five outs Sunday.

“Actually, it was a good session,” Scioscia said. “It kind of gave us a new perspective on what we’re trying to do.

“No one guy is going to carry this club, I don’t care who you are. I don’t think Pedro Guerrero carried us last year. He played a big part, but he wasn’t alone.

“We can’t expect Bill Madlock, Mike Marshall or Greg Brock to carry us. But I think it’s been in the back of everybody’s mind that Pedro, Madlock and Saxie have been out. Subconsciously, I think we tried to do everything and ended up doing nothing. We talked about that at the meeting.”

The Braves, meanwhile, had 10 hits, too, but Welch was unhittable when he had to be, striking out eight for his second win without a loss this season and eighth consecutive decision over the Braves.

“A tough game, very tough,” said Welch, who had pitched into the 10th without a decision in his last start, against the Padres.

“Even though we had scored some runs, it was close enough that if you walk a guy, boom, a home run and they’re back in it.

“I was a little sluggish in the beginning, but by the middle innings I thought I was throwing pretty good.”

On this dark afternoon--the stadium lights were turned on almost from the outset--the Braves misplaced a hit even when they hit. In the ninth, Dodger left-fielder Cesar Cedeno missed Andres Thomas’ liner, but the Braves’ rookie shortstop missed first base on his way to a double and was called out on an appeal.

“Wasn’t even close,” said Brock, who noticed Thomas’ misstep about the same time that Welch did. “The dirt is loose in front of the base and he slipped.”

If you are scoring, that’s no hit for Thomas, a “3” unassisted for first baseman Brock, and a capital break for the Dodgers,

“That was a nice one, especially when a guy hits a double,” Welch said.

The Dodgers seemed inclined to give back part of their four-run lead in the bottom of the first, when third baseman Cabell cut off Rafael Ramirez’s chopper, then tossed it like a grenade on one bounce over the Atlanta dugout.

Ramirez was credited with a single and took second on the error. Three singles later, the Braves had a couple of runs, and it was 4-2.

“I was going full speed,” Cabell said. “That’s rough when you’re 36. When you’re 26, you can stop on a dime. But I can’t get my arm up on that play.”

The Braves had at least one man on base in every inning but the eighth, yet scored just once more, on Thomas’ double and Rafael Ramirez’s single in the seventh.

Dale Murphy, whose bloop single drove in a run in the first, struck out on his next two at-bats and came away raving about Welch’s split-fingered fastball.

“He already has two quality pitches,” Murphy said. “Now that he has a third, it tends to mess you up.”

The Dodgers are hoping, of course, that they’ve straightened out their offense.

“I don’t know if today was a direct result of the meeting,” Scioscia said, “but I guarantee you in the long run it will help.”

What next, a meeting a day?

“Wonderful,” Welch said.

Dodger Notes Steve Sax (bruised heel) still isn’t close to returning to the starting lineup. “I tried today, but I can’t run,” Sax said. “I can jog.” . . . Jerry Reuss has not pitched in 10 days since he made his only start April 11. He threw on his own in the Dodger bullpen Sunday. “I’ve got to do it somehow,” Reuss said. “Tommy (Lasorda) in the last nine days has said hello to me three times. We’re communicating. But I’m trying to keep a good attitude, try to be humorous, to do the best I can in a bad situation. But there are a lot of people in a lot worse situations.” . . . Alejandro Pena, who threw briefly Friday for the first time since Vero Beach, plans to throw again today in San Francisco, pitching coach Ron Perranoski said. . . . Ken Landreaux’s single in the fourth was the 1,000th hit of his career. . . . Until the first inning Sunday, the Dodgers had not scored more than one run in an inning in five games on the road this season. . . . For what it’s worth, scouts from the Blue Jays, Tigers, Royals, Yankees and Astros all were in attendance here this weekend. But Dodger officials still maintain there are no trade talks ongoing. Dodger Vice President Al Campanis remained home this weekend but will rejoin the team tonight in San Francisco. . . . Mike Scioscia’s ninth-inning single off Brave reliever Paul Assenmacher was his first hit in 11 at-bats against a left-hander this season. . . . The two bases on balls for Dodger leadoff man Mariano Duncan Sunday gave him just 5 in 13 games. Duncan’s on-base average coming into the game was .182. . . . Franklin Stubbs, who struck out in the first inning Sunday, has 15 strikeouts in his last 26 at-bats. Mike Marshall, who struck out in the fifth, has 14 in 51 at-bats. . . . Braves’ right-fielder Claudell Washington suffered a pulled groin muscle while making a diving catch of Cesar Cedeno’s liner Saturday and did not play Sunday. Omar Moreno played center and Dale Murphy moved over to right.