Dodgers Hit Behind Reuss, Defeat Braves

Batting .204 going in, the Dodgers registered season highs for hits in a game (13) and in an inning (four in the third) as they defeated the Atlanta Braves, 7-4, Sunday at Dodger Stadium.

Jerry Reuss, possibly being showcased, gained the win.

Tom Niedenfuer, potentially shell-shocked, got the save.

A Dodger Stadium crowd of 46,221 included New York Yankee scout and former manager Bob Lemon, sustaining rumors that the Yankees, attempting to move an unhappy Ed Whitson, remain interested in Reuss, who was returning to the rotation after two appearances out of the bullpen.

Informed of Lemon’s presence after gaining his first win since Sept. 28, Reuss said:

“Maybe he didn’t have anything better to do. It was a nice day to watch a game. He lives in the area.

“I hope he enjoyed himself. I hope he drove home safely. But I’m not all that concerned as to why he was here.”

Reuss pitched seven innings, scattering eight singles and a double. He forced the Braves to ground into two double plays and was toughest in the sixth, yielding only one run after Atlanta loaded the bases with one out.

Reuss then got Ted Simmons on an RBI grounder to short and Andres Thomas on a pop-up. One of two runs Atlanta had scored in the third was unearned, the result of a wild throw by Steve Sax, the 32nd Dodger error in 20 games.

“We needed that,” Manager Tom Lasorda said of a seven-inning stint that was Reuss’ longest since last summer. “Jerry needed it, the team needed it and the bullpen desperately needed it.”

Lasorda insisted he knew nothing about the trade rumors or a showcase start for Reuss.

“There are always rumors,” he said, “but you can’t believe everything that’s in the papers.”

Neither was this a start born of desperation, Reuss being the only option, Lasorda said.

“Jerry’s performance in his two relief outings convinced us that he had recovered from his spring (elbow) injury, that he had his stuff back and was throwing up to his capability,” Lasorda said.

“We didn’t know about Dennis Powell’s problem until yesterday.

“We had decided Jerry deserved another start on Friday.”

Powell, who made the two starts that Reuss didn’t, has an inflammation and swelling in his elbow. He will be X-rayed today.

Reuss said it was only a matter of time until he had worked out his problems and returned to the rotation. He said his only problem Sunday was a loss of location in the late innings. He called it a boost to his morale.

“I was back doing what I should be doing,” he said. “I was back starting and winning.

“I obviously feel better than I did a week ago, though I don’t know if I’ll start again. I haven’t been told. You’ll have to ask Tommy.”

Reuss will start again, but the lingering question is for whom? Of the trade rumors, Reuss said he only knows what he hears from the media. There is no hot line between his home and the front office.

“I don’t start the rumors,” he said. “My concern is with doing my job.

“Anytime I have to answer questions that don’t pertain to my job, it can become a distraction and complication.

“I mean, it’s interesting to think about the possibilities, but I have to try and block them out. I have a contract with the Dodgers. My job is to pitch and win. That’s all I’m thinking about.

“I can’t predict what my frame of mind will be if and when I’m traded.”

Niedenfuer, meanwhile, had been dealt a succession of psychological blows, the latest a three-run homer by the light-hitting Omar Moreno Saturday night.

Carrying a 4.22 earned-run average as he was summoned to protect a 5-3 lead in the eighth, his first pitch was hammered into the left-field pavilion by Rafael Ramirez.

Niedenfuer then retired six of the next seven batters to gain his second save, the Dodgers’ only saves.

“The best thing about being a relief pitcher is that you don’t have to wait five days if you screwed up the night before,” Niedenfuer said. “You can go right back and redeem yourself.”

The possibility of redemption seemed in doubt when Ramirez homered.

“I’m a high, fastball pitcher,” Niedenfuer said. “I get a lot of strikeouts and fly ball outs.

“Sometimes the fly balls go a little too far, but they’re usually an indication I’m pitching the way I should be.”

Left-hander Zane Smith had pitched a two-hit shutout against the Dodgers in Atlanta on April 19.

This time he faced a lineup that included seven batters hitting .230 or less but yielded eight hits and five runs in three innings.

Enos Cabell, 3 for 26 at the time, drove in his first run with a single in the first. A Sax single, the first of his three, made it 2-0 in the second. It was 2-2 in the third when Bill Russell singled in two runs, stole second and aggressively scored on an infield hit by Dave Anderson.

A pinch-hit homer by Ken Landreaux off Duane Ward and another RBI single by Anderson provided breathing room for Niedenfuer in the eighth.

The Dodgers are 5-1 in day games and 2-12 at night. Daylight savings may provide an early inning elixir, but the next six games are scheduled for under the lights.

Dodger Notes

The Dodgers split the four games with Atlanta, stealing eight bases in the last three, including two by Mariano Duncan in the first inning Sunday and another by Bill Russell in the third, when he later scored from second on the infield hit. Russell’s eighth-inning hesitancy Saturday night had cost the Dodgers a key run and prompted a Tom Lasorda tirade after the game. Lasorda said he lectured the Dodgers on the need for intensity and aggressiveness again Sunday. “You mean you couldn’t hear him from the press box?” Russell asked. . . . Steve Sax went from .320 to .345. The club batting average went from .204 to .213. Eleven of the Dodger hits were singles, but it may be a start. Said Lasorda before the game: “I’m trying to lose 20 pounds in a day and they’re trying to come out of the slump in a day. You have to do it a pound or two at a time, a hit or two at a time.” . . . Atlanta third baseman Ken Oberkfell left the game with a swollen thumb and forefinger when hit on the right hand by a Duncan throw as he slid into second, breaking up a double play in the fifth. Precautionary X-rays may be taken today, a Brave spokesperson said. . . . Will the Dodgers put Bill Madlock, who has been sidelined with a strained left quadriceps muscle, on the disabled list? Lasorda said a decision is imminent. “I can’t make a move,” he said. “I need that other infielder.”