Foster’s 2 Homers Too Much

In one afternoon, New York Met George Foster became the answer to a trivia question the Dodgers would have preferred not to see solved.

But the sight of two Foster homers, four runs batted in and, with it, an 8-4 Dodger loss to the Mets Sunday at Dodger Stadium, is difficult to hide. So is a game that featured the Dodgers’ 51st and 52nd errors of the season and would have included No. 53 had there not been a postgame scoring change of an earlier fielding play by third baseman Bill Madlock.

The Dodgers now have committed two or more errors in 15 of their 38 games. Their record when they bumble and stumble repeatedly is 4-11, which shouldn’t surprise anyone. At this pace, the Dodgers are well on their way to exceeding last season’s National League-leading 166 errors.

And for those interested in clip-and-save items involving Foster, he now becomes the all-time opposing home run leader (23) at Dodger Stadium. Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Ernie Banks may have hit more homers against the Dodgers, but no one has done it more here. Foster now has 39 homers against the Dodgers. The Atlanta Braves have had to watch Foster do this sort of thing 46 times.

“I usually have a lot of family at the games (at Dodger Stadium) and I want to do well,” said Foster, who went to high school in Lawndale and left about 24 passes for family and friends Sunday.

This is all well and good for Foster, but Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda would prefer he take his home-run swing elsewhere.

“I’ve seen a lot of them,” Lasorda said. “He’s hit a lot of home runs. He hit 51 (actually 52) one year. He’s been a hell of a player, a hell of a hitter over the years. He must enjoy the home cooking if this is where he’s from.”

Foster hit his two home runs, his third and fourth of the season, off starter Jerry Reuss. Reuss (2-2) lasted just three innings, allowed seven hits and five of the Mets’ eight runs. In the first inning, he gave up four consecutive hits, including a Gary Carter RBI single and Foster’s three-run homer to left-center, two more hits in the second and Foster’s homer in the third.

“Jerry happened to make a couple of mistakes and they just happened to hit them,” catcher Mike Scioscia said.

Reuss almost was spared the loss as the Dodgers mounted a spirited rally in the bottom of the third, scoring four runs of their own and chasing Met starter Bruce Berenyi. Pinch-hitter Cesar Cedeno, batting for Reuss, contributed an RBI, as did Ken Landreaux, Madlock and Mike Marshall. But Scioscia grounded to short with two men on to end the inning.

That was that. The Dodgers would have five more base runners during the final six innings, but only one would reach second as relievers Randy Niemann, who earned the victory, and Roger McDowell kept the Mets from losing three straight.

Reuss now is 0-2 with one no-decision in his last three starts. He hasn’t won a game since a 7-4 victory against the Braves April 27.

Meanwhile, the little-known Niemann won his first game since 1982, when he was pitching for the Pittsburgh Pirates. On Sunday, Niemann pitched 3 innings and allowed just two hits while striking out three. At one point, he had retired 11 of 12 Dodger batters. When Enos Cabell singled in the seventh, Niemann was replaced by McDowell.

“I’m surprised that Neumann (sic) stopped us,” Lasorda said. “I thought we’d pick up a couple there.”

Said Niemann, when told of Lasorda’s remarks: “I don’t expect him to know much about me. I haven’t pitched against the Dodgers that much.”

To be on the safe side, the Mets scored three more runs in the seventh inning, which ruined an otherwise notable relief performance by Balvino Galvez. Galvez had sidestepped trouble since his arrival in the fourth inning. He flirted with 3-0 counts and fat pitches, but always found a way to escape. A pickoff move in the fifth and a strong throw by right fielder Marshall to get Tim Teufel at the plate in the sixth helped.

But, in the seventh, Galvez allowed a one-out double by Keith Hernandez. He walked Carter, prompting a visit to the mound by Lasorda. “He wasn’t out of gas; he just wasn’t getting the ball over,” Lasorda said. “I was trying to get him through that inning.”

No such luck. Galvez walked Foster to load the bases. Galvez was replaced by Ed Vande Berg, who got Ray Knight to pop to first baseman Greg Brock for the second out. But Teufel hit a two-run line drive single to center, a ball that landed in front of Landreaux, scoring Hernandez and Carter. “Believe me, I was talking to get it down,” Teufel said. “I haven’t been hitting.”

Foster went to third as Landreaux bobbled the ball (he was charged with an error, his fifth) and later scored on a fielding error by Dave Anderson, who had replaced an ill Mariano Duncan at shortstop in the sixth. Niemann grounded to second to end the inning.

“If we would have held them, we would have got them,” Lasorda said.

Maybe and then, only if Foster had missed the team bus to Dodger Stadium.

Dodger Attendance

Sunday’s Attendance 44,426 1986 Attendance (21 dates) 859,129 1985 Attendance (21 dates) 862,816 Decrease 3,687 1986 Average 40,911