Dodgers Win One by One; Lose Stubbs to an Injury

Maybe it would be best to simply park an ambulance at the Dodger dugout, thus saving Manager Tom Lasorda the trouble of watching his injured limp their way off the field.

This time it was left fielder Franklin Stubbs who joined the growing list of Dodger casualties and, by doing so, took some of the joy out of a 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates Sunday.

Stubbs, one of the few power threats (15 homers, 37 runs-batted-in) remaining on the Dodgers, strained his right hamstring while beating out a third-inning infield grounder. He will be re-examined today by team physician Dr. Frank Jobe. For the moment, Stubbs’ playing status is undetermined.

“Losing a guy like Stubbs is really tough,” Lasorda said. “He’s been doing a super job for us. We don’t know how long he’s going to be out. It’s a day-to-day situation right now.

“That’s what they told me when (shortstop Mariano) Duncan was out: ‘It’s a day-to-day situation.’ It’s already been about 17 days,” Lasorda said.

Lasorda is trying to manage a team that will begin tonight’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals without benefit of starting and reserve third basemen (Bill Madlock, Dave Anderson), shortstop (Duncan), first baseman (Greg Brock), catcher (Mike Scioscia), left fielders (Pedro Guerrero, Stubbs) and possibly his right fielder (Mike Marshall). Marshall missed Sunday’s game because of a stiff back and also resides in that mysterious land of day-to-day.

If Dodger injuries continue at their present pace, there may be no one left to play for the Albuquerque Dukes, the team’s Triple-A affiliate.

“Somebody’s got the evil eye on us,” Lasorda said. “When I go back into our training room, it looks like a disaster area. Guys ask me, ‘What about your players?’ I say, ‘They’re the patients of Jobe.’ ”

Lasorda laughed at his own pun. But earlier, the only one-liner he could produce came in the form of, “Oh no, not another one.”

That would be when Stubbs came to an unexpected stop shortly after crossing first base. Lasorda joined Dodger trainer Charlie Strasser in a mad sprint to Stubbs. Lasorda hasn’t moved that fast since his minor league days with the Schenectady Blue Jays.

Stubbs said that as he neared first base, he felt the muscles in the back of his leg tighten. “I couldn’t get loose today,” he said. He then limped to the Dodger training room for treatment and later returned to the dugout dressed in a T-shirt and shorts, all in time to see starter Rick Honeycutt win his fifth game in nine decisions and the Dodgers break a nine-game losing streak in one-run games.

Also included in the afternoon’s happenings were the appearances of Dodger relievers Tom Niedenfuer and Ken Howell. In games past, the sight of these two has occasionally sent chills down the backs of Dodger starters. No lead was safe, and all that.

But Sunday, in front of a Dodger Stadium audience of 27,563, Niedenfuer and Howell did as they are supposed to. Niedenfuer pitched two scoreless innings, followed by Howell, who earned his fifth save with a scoreless ninth inning that included two strikeouts.

“The whole day I was walking around like it was Opening Day,” Howell said. “We agreed down in the bullpen that we’d start out with a whole new attitude. I just hope it works for everybody.”

Said Niedenfuer: “From a team standpoint, we’ve got to get some consistency going. We’ve won one in a row, but it’s nothing to sing and dance about. We’ve got to prove we can do it day after day and we haven’t done that the first 81 games of the season so far.”

Still, no one was handing back Sunday’s victory, a win that featured a disputed balk call, a two-hit, two-run, two-stolen bases day from second baseman Steve Sax, one of the few healthy bodies remaining, and six strong innings from Honeycutt.

Before Stubbs left, he and Bill Russell, starting for the injured Marshall, had first-inning RBI singles that gave the Dodgers a 2-0 lead. Of course, that came before Lasorda said he was playing the game under protest, the result of balk called on Pirate starter Rich Sauveur.

Sauveur caught Stubbs trying to steal, but first baseman Mike Diaz’s throw to second scooted into left field, apparently allowing Stubbs to make his way to third. But a balk was called and Stubbs was sent back to second. Lasorda then filed his protest.

Later, at the beginning of the second inning, Lasorda withdrew the protest. “He made the right call,” Lasorda said of home plate umpire John McSherry’s decision.

Lasorda could afford such generosity. The Dodgers scored another run in the third when Sax singled, stole second and third, and scored on a ground-ball RBI by Reggie Williams.

The Pirates got even a run in the fourth (Bill Almon tripled home Rafael Belliard) and two more in the fifth when Belliard singled home U.L. Washington and reliever Jim Winn.

It could have been worse for Honeycutt. He stranded Almon at third after the no-out triple and worked out of another jam in the fifth.

The Dodgers got the winning run in the sixth when Ken Landreaux, who replaced Stubbs, singled, was sacrificed to second by Enos Cabell and took third on a wild pitch. Rookie Jeff Hamilton singled home Landreaux, his third major league RBI.

The victory left Lasorda searching for positive signs. He compared the Dodgers to the Queen Mary, reminding everyone who would listen that the proud ship was battered by storms and troubles on its maiden voyage from Great Britain to the United States. “And it still floated,” Lasorda said, happy with the analogy.

But this is a team with Titanic injury problems.

Dodger Notes

Right fielder Mike Marshall was absent from the Dodger starting lineup Sunday. Marshall, who has been bothered by a stiff back, was replaced by Bill Russell. Marshall said he wasn’t sure of his playing status for today’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals. . . . Rookie Jeff Hamilton continues to do well at third base. He made two fine plays Sunday, the first, a barehanded running catch and throw of a bunt by Jim Morrison and later, a nice stop of a sharply hit grounder down the line by Mike Brown. “He could be around for a long time,” Manager Tom Lasorda said. “He’s got one of the best throwing arms in baseball.” . . . Despite a 2.11 ERA, Rick Honeycutt’s name isn’t often mentioned for a position on the National League pitching staff. “It won’t be, because of so many no-decisions,” Honeycutt said. “No matter what I’ve done the last six weeks, I had a bad first month and pitched pretty well since then.” Honeycutt has made 16 starts, but has only nine decisions. He began the year with an 0-2 record and a 4.05 ERA.