Dodgers Win, 7-4, as Matuszek Calls Shots--2 Homers

The words were spoken more in anger than prophecy, but Karen Matuszek had heard in advance from her irritated husband what would transpire at Dodger Stadium Wednesday.

Fair warning, however, was not given to the Houston Astros. Len Matuszek waited until the game to put the drop on the Astros with the first two-homer game of his career, punctuating the Dodgers’ 7-4 win before a crowd of 40,709.

Mike Marshall singled in two runs, his first RBIs since his name was removed from the disabled list Monday; Mariano Duncan compensated for three errors with a wondrous double play and a fringe-benefit home run, and Tom Niedenfuer saved Rick Honeycutt with 3 innings of relief work.

The win closed out the Dodgers’ 8-1 home stand and made the race in the National League West a bit closer. The Astros are four games ahead of San Francisco and 5 1/2 in front of the Dodgers with one-third of the season left.

The Astros, who will return home to play San Diego this weekend after a 3-3 trip, have a four-game rendezvous scheduled with the Dodgers in the Astrodome next week. But even after his team lost two of three here, Astro second baseman Bill Doran dismissed the notion that under a blanket of L.A. smog, Houston was beginning to feel some heat.

“That’s as far from the truth as anything I’ve heard lately,” Doran said. “There’s no reason to feel any pressure from them.

“We just finished a West Coast trip that’s usually very tough for us at .500. When you’re up, you can live with that. When you’re down, you can’t afford it.”

The Dodgers could scarcely afford to lose Wednesday, not after their 10-2 defeat by the Astros Tuesday night.

“This was the money game for the home stand, the difference between a good home stand and a so-so one,” Matuszek said. “And if it had been a so-so one, I think we really would have been hanging our heads.”

Matuszek’s head had been handed to him Tuesday night when he took a disputed third strike for the final out in the Astros’ blowout. That’s when he went home, blew off steam, then tipped off his wife to what was ahead.

“I may have been more upset about last night’s game than anybody else,” Matuszek said. “I said to my wife, ‘I might go out there and hit a couple out tomorrow.’

“I said the words more in anger than as a prediction. I was tired of having the bat taken out of my hands. I decided I’d get aggressive.”

So Matuszek went out and took a swing at the first thing he saw--Matt Keough’s first pitch to him in the second inning--and hit it over the 385-foot sign in right field.

Franklin Stubbs, who was aboard on a walk, scored ahead ofhim, and the Dodgers led, 2-0.

Then in the seventh, after the Astros had closed to 5-3, Matuszek didn’t even give Houston reliever Aurelio Lopez the once-over. He swung at the first pitch Lopez sent his way and deposited that one into the seats, too.

Two batters later, Duncan curled a drive just inside the foul pole, and it was 7-3.

Niedenfuer, who twice retired Denny Walling with runners on base after Walling had pounded the Dodgers with two home runs the night before, gave up a ninth-inning run but got Walling on a fly ball to end the game.

“Today was awesome,” said Matuszek, whose playing time figured to be cut considerably by a healthy Pedro Guerrero.

Instead, Guerrero was still in the wings while Matuszek was taking curtain calls.

“I can’t believe it happened,” Matuszek said. “That only proves how good things can go.”

Things had been proceeding less happily for Marshall, who tried playing with a bad back, finally went on the disabled list for two weeks, then came into Wednesday’s game hitless in the two games since he returned.

But Marshall, 0 for 15 since hitting a home run against the Chicago Cubs July 13, drove an 0-and-2 pitch from Keough to score two runs in the fifth. Bill Madlock had singled and taken third on a base hit by Stubbs, who hustled his way to second when Astro center fielder Billy Hatcher tried to get Madlock.

“I feel a lot better; I’m starting to come around,” said Marshall, whose return to good health is probably more important to the Dodgers at this stage than Guerrero’s recovery.

“I was hungry, both for the hit and driving in some runs.

“Right now, I’m really fresh and healthy, at the time of season when some players start to get tired. But I’m ready to go, and August and September are usually my best months.”

The race in the West, of course, will hinge in part on what those months hold for the Astros.

“I’m not the least bit concerned,” Doran said bravely. “What we have to do is keep playing the way we have been all year.

“If that’s not good enough, hell, then that’s not good enough. It’s a simple game.”

Dodger Notes The Dodgers, who did not face either Nolan Ryan or Mike Scott on this visit by the Astros, will see them both in Houston next week. Matt Keough, who walked six and gave up three hits and two runs in 3 innings, was the fifth pitcher used this season as a fifth starter by the Astros. Houston’s record in those games is 5-14, one reason the Astros are so ardently pursuing veteran right-hander Bob Forsch of the St. Louis Cardinals. A deal could be made in the next couple of days. . . . Bill Madlock stole his first base of the season in the sixth inning. “How many stolen bases you got, Sciosh?” Madlock asked Dodger catcher Mike Scioscia afterward. “Two,” Scioscia answered. “Two?” Madlock said, mortified. “I’ve got to catch him, or I’ll never live it down that Scioscia had more stolen bases.” . . . Dave Anderson, who had hoped to be off the disabled list next week, had the pin removed from the little finger on his right hand after X-rays showed that it had loosened. Anderson will have the finger in a splint for 10 days. . . . Dodger starter Rick Honeycutt got credit for his eighth win, although he had to bear another quick hook from Manager Tom Lasorda. Honeycutt was removed with a 5-2 lead in the sixth, one run in, and a runner on third. He gave up five hits and walked two.