Valenzuela Wins a Battle of Left-Handers, 8-2 : Fernando Goes Distance for 11th Time, Gaining His 11th Win of the Season

Cardinal rookie Greg Mathews and Fernando Valenzuela are both left-handed.

Which one do you suppose owns the T-shirt that says: “Everybody is born right-handed. Only the greatest can overcome it.”

Hint: There have been no reported sightings of the T-shirt in Etchohuaquila.

Mathews, who grew up in Anaheim, gets credit for moxie, but failed to live up to his wardrobe Wednesday night, lasting just 3 innings in the Dodgers’ 8-2 win over the Cardinals before 38,246 in Dodger Stadium.

But Valenzuela did nothing to discredit Mathews’ message, shutting out the Cardinals on two hits until the ninth while striking out nine for his 11th win of the season, tying Sid Fernandez of the Mets and Shane Rawley of the Phillies in that category.

Fernandez and Rawley, incidentally, also are left-handers.

Valenzuela gave up two runs on three singles in the ninth, but held on for his league-leading 11th complete game, striking out Clint Hurdle to end it. He also erased any doubt about his All-Star status, as Cardinal Manager Whitey Herzog said afterward that he would definitely select Valenzuela to the National League team. That would be Valenzuela’s sixth straight season as an All-Star.

The Dodgers remain last in the West but sliced a game off the lead held jointly by the Giants and Astros. They now trail by seven games.

And they made a shambles of Mathews’ homecoming early, scoring four runs in the first, three on rookie Jeff Hamilton’s bases-clearing double over the head of left-fielder Vince Coleman, who was playing unusually shallow.

With one swing, Hamilton--who came into the game batting .158--doubled his RBI total since his recall June 27. He also singled in the third and had another double in the seventh, raising his average to .209.

“That first one made things a lot easier,” said Hamilton, who had struck out twice in each of the previous two games, earning him some extra time taking curveballs from Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda.

“He’s got a good curveball, too,” said Hamilton, like all good rookies should. “Probably swinging at all those curveballs from a left-hander helped.

“He (Mathews) threw me a curveball. I recognized it quick, waited and hit it. I’m surprised I hit it, the way things have been going.”

The ball bounced on the warning track but was still out of the reach of Coleman, who can run at warp speed but still couldn’t make up the head start he gave Hamilton by playing closer to the infield than the wall. He also may have the lost the ball momentarily in the lights, as his first impulse was to break in on the ball.

“I told Whitey (Herzog) before the game that whoever makes the first error, the other team wins,” said Enos Cabell, mindful that the first two games of this series were both decided by 1-0 scores, each time on an unearned run.

“We were lucky Coleman didn’t see Jeff’s ball, because that opened it up for us right away.”

The Dodgers, who had 14 hits, scored two more runs in the fourth to knock out Mathews and completed their humiliation of the Cardinals with two more runs in the eighth.

Cabell, batting cleanup even though he hasn’t hit a home run in 333 regular-season at-bats as a Dodger, also had three hits and three RBIs. The RBIs were Cabell’s first since Atlanta’s Dale Murphy carved a hole in his right shoulder with his spikes on June 25.

“I talked to Dr. (Frank) Jobe today, and he told me to put some heat on it,” Cabell said. “The shoulder had been stiffening up on me, especially when the weather’s been kind of cool.

“The heat kept it loose and I got some hits.”

So did Valenzuela, who extended his modest hitting streak to three games with a double and single. Every Dodger in the lineup had at least one hit except for Mariano Duncan, who walked twice.

“He’s a great athlete,” Cabell said of Valenzuela, “one of the best I’ve seen in a long time. He can do everything except run.”

Can’t run? Valenzuela did a double-take when told what Cabell had said.

“He needs glasses,” Valenzuela said. “He no see me two nights ago?”

Two nights ago, Valenzuela pinch-hit for Alejandro Pena, singled, and went from first to third on Steve Sax’s single, capped by a big slide into the bag.

In his last start, a 6-4 loss to the Pirates, Valenzuela had been wild, walking three batters in one inning.

“Tonight, I threw more strikes,” said Valenzuela, who walked one Cardinal Wednesday. “My fastball had good location . . . And I was more comfortable, pitching with a four-run lead.”

The Cardinals, who won a pennant here last October, won’t be back in 1986.

Until breaking through in the ninth, the Cardinals had scored just one unearned run in 26 innings against the Dodgers this week.

Their frustration became apparent in the seventh when catcher Mike Heath--who had argued a called third strike that ended the top of the inning--was ejected by plate umpire Bob Davidson for saying something after the first pitch of the bottom of the seventh.

“They knew they couldn’t come back after we scored the four runs on them,” Cabell said.

The Dodgers have four games left, against the Chicago Cubs, before the All-Star break.

“We’ll be lucky if we’re not more than seven games back,” Cabell said.

“Somebody could have drowned us by now.”

But for now, the Dodgers float on.

Dodger Notes Greg Brock, who underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee June 24, was activated for tonight’s game with the Chicago Cubs. Brock, who is batting .213 with 8 home runs and 24 RBIs, will be used solely as a pinch-hitter for a few days, Manager Tom Lasorda said. To make room for Brock on the roster, the Dodgers optioned shortstop Craig Shipley to Albuquerque. The Australian-born Shipley batted .111 in a dozen games with the Dodgers. . . . Steve Sax, who visited a foot specialist Wednesday, said he will require off-season surgery on his right heel, which has bothered him all season. Sax said an examination by Dr. William Wagner revealed a bone spur; previously, the injury had been described as a bruise. . . . Mike Marshall was scratched from the lineup when his back stiffened again. . . . Where Have They Gone Dept: Jay Johnstone dropped by the press box to drop off flyers advertising the opening of his new auto parts store in El Monte Saturday morning. Johnstone promises Lasorda will be there.