Dodgers Are Strong-Armed by Expos, 4-3

The Dodgers had no trouble clearing customs here Sunday night. Some strong-arm tactics by Andre Dawson and Tim Raines, who work for the Expos, not the immigration service, saw to that.

For the first time in the 17 years they’ve been coming to Canada, the Dodgers left empty-handed, losing their third straight game to the Expos, 4-3, before a crowd of 21,750 in Olympic Stadium.

Despite some errant outfield play by center fielder Reggie Williams, the Dodgers had a chance to smuggle a tying run home in the ninth, when Bill Madlock ripped a two-out single off Expo reliever Jeff Reardon with Steve Sax on second base. But the ball went directly to the charging Raines on one hop, and his throw from left field was just as direct, nailing Sax at the plate with ease, ending the game.

“One or two steps either way, and I don’t throw him out,” Raines said.

Raines, a blur on his feet, isn’t known for his arm.

“Average,” Sax said. “But from less than 200 feet out, he has a good one.”

From double the distance, right fielder Dawson has a great one, which he unlimbered with dire consequences for the Dodgers in the seventh inning, when they found a way to collect four straight hits without scoring a run.

“Can I believe it? No, I don’t believe it,” Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda said.

Ken Landreaux, pinch-hitting for Cesar Cedeno to start the seventh, lined a ball off Expo reliever Tim Burke against the right-field fence, just missing a home run by a couple of feet.

Landreaux may have been thinking home run as he headed toward first base because that’s about the margin by which he was thrown out at second by Dawson, who played the carom at the 375-foot sign and buried Landreaux with a strike to shortstop Al Newman.

“There’s only one guy in the National League who could have made that play, and he’s the guy who was out there,” Sax said.

There may not be another team in the league that has loaded the bases as often as the Dodgers did over the weekend and have nothing to show for it.

After Landreaux was gunned down, an infield hit by Dave Anderson, a pinch single by Terry Whitfield, his first hit of 1986, and Sax’s bloop single to right put three runners on against Burke.

Lasorda sent up Greg Brock to hit for Enos Cabell. Expo Manager Buck Rodgers countered with Jeff Reardon.

No contest. Brock popped out on the first pitch, just as he had the day before with runners on second and third in the eighth.

Two pitches later, Reardon was out of the inning as Madlock, who had singled in Dodger runs in each of his first two at-bats, popped out, too.

“I’ve seen that happen before,” Madlock said of the four-hit, no-run inning. “Right here (with the Dodgers).”

The Expos, who had never swept the Dodgers here and have a worse record against the Dodgers (75-127) than any other team in the National League, now have won eight straight and finally picked up a game on the Mets, who had won seven in a row until losing Sunday to the Reds. Montreal now trails New York by four games in the N.L. East.

“This is getting too exciting for me,” said Expo reliever Reardon, ace of a bullpen that is 5-0 with three saves during the winning streak, Montreal’s longest in four seasons.

“The ball comes, Sax slides, and the guy (Jim Quick, the home-plate umpire) just stands and stands there before giving his sign. Too exciting for me.”

The excitement was lost on the Dodgers, losers of six of their last seven games, five on this trip. They remained 5 1/2 games behind Houston in the N.L. West after the Astros lost to the Pirates.

“We’ve had our chances,” said losing pitcher Bob Welch, who was done in by the Expos’ three-run second and a misplayed bloop by Williams in the fifth.

“If we’d done one thing differently on the mound--one pitch, a walk--but when you’re going like this one thing tends to stand out.

“And you tend to get an attitude of ‘How the hell are we going to lose today?’ You just get that feeling. And today was a perfect example of that.”

Montreal loaded the bases on two singles and a walk in the second, and Expo catcher Mike Fitzgerald singled home two runs. A third scored when Raines beat out a check-swing grounder to Anderson at third.

“I made a hell of a pitch to Raines and he hits a little chucker to Anderson,” Welch said. “But he runs so well, he’s tough to get.”

Williams found the going tough in center. A drive by Tim Wallach went off his glove for a double in the third. Then, after Herm Winningham’s leadoff triple in the fifth, Williams broke back on Newman’s pop fly to shallow center. The ball fell in, and Winningham just beat Williams’ throw to the plate.

Williams, playing center for the first time here, said he had a little trouble picking up the ball, and also mentioned the wind.

“You could see the plastic paper blowing across the field all day,” he said.

“But I wouldn’t want to use that for an alibi.”

There were no alibis forthcoming from Lasorda, either. Glad to be leaving Canada, he was asked.

“Canada has nothing to do with it,” he answered.

He got no arguments at the border.

Dodger Notes The Dodgers struck out 12 times against Montreal starter Joe Hesketh (9) and reliever Jeff Reardon (3). Mike Marshall, back in the lineup for the first time in three games since being hit by a pitch above the left elbow, struck out three times. He singled to right in his last at-bat. . . . Dodger fans have lost a chance to see another round in the celebrated Fernando Valenzuela vs. Dwight Gooden matchups. Rick Honeycutt, scheduled to start Tuesday in St. Louis, reported some tightness in his left shoulder. He could have pitched, but with three off-days in the next eight, Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda juggled his rotation. Jerry Reuss will pitch Tuesday against the Cardinals, and Valenzuela, who was scheduled to face Gooden in the opener of the Mets-Dodgers series Friday in L.A., instead will pitch against the Cardinals Wednesday afternoon. Orel Hershiser will pitch against Gooden. “Nothing major,” Honeycutt said. “I could pitch my next start. I just didn’t bounce back from the 8 innings (May 1 against the Cubs) like I had hoped.” . . . Pitcher Alejandro Pena is scheduled to make his third start for Vero Beach tonight. Dodger Vice President Al Campanis plans to attend the game, and there’s an outside possibility that if Pena does well, the Dodgers will re-activate him, or perhaps option him to Albuquerque. . . . Lasorda, still steamed over Tim Raines’ first-to-home jaunt on a wild pickoff throw Saturday, held a team meeting before Sunday’s game. One long-time Lasorda observer said the manager achieved a new level of anger because of the casual way first baseman Greg Brock reacted on the play. . . . Dodger shortstop Mariano Duncan missed his third straight game with a strained left knee. . . . With his 400th stolen base Saturday, Raines of the Expos became the third youngest player in history to reach that total. Rickey Henderson of the Yankees was the youngest, at 24 years and 7 months; Ty Cobb was next at 26 years and 5 months; and Raines is 26 years, 8 months. Raines’ 15-game hitting streak is the longest of his career. . . . Montreal shortstop Hubie Brooks left the game in the top of the third inning with a sprained left thumb.