Hershiser Gets First Shutout of ’86 : Dodgers Defeat Padres, 10-0, to Move Out of the Cellar

The Dodgers crushed the Padres, 10-0, Monday night in the opener of a showdown series that hardly anybody is showing up to see.

A crowd of 9,054 at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium saw Orel Hershiser pitch his first shutout since blanking the Montreal Expos, 4-0, on Sept. 3, 1985.

In losing their fourth straight, the Padres made three errors, and starter and loser rookie Ray Hayward (0-2) threw three wild pitches.

The Dodgers, meanwhile, put on an impressive display of power and pitching in breaking a four-game losing streak.

Hitting against five Padre pitchers, the Dodgers had 15 hits and scored single runs in each of the first three innings, a run in the sixth, three in the seventh, two in the eighth and one in the ninth.

Pedro Guerrero hit his third home run in three games, a blast to right-center field; Mike Scioscia hit his fifth homer of the season, and Jose Gonzalez hit his second, this one over the center-field fence.

Steve Sax, facing an uphill climb in his attempt to win the National League batting title, was 2 for 2 (a single and a triple), with three walks. Sax picked up two points to place him at .328, nine points behind Tim Raines of Montreal, The Expos were idle Monday.

Padre right fielder Tony Gwynn, who rested Monday, is barely ahead of Sax, .32850 to .32845.

The beneficiary of the Dodgers’ onslaught was Hershiser, who allowed eight hits, did not walk a batter and struck out four. Hershiser (14-13) had lost five of his last six decisions and six of eight before Monday.

“Let’s face it,” Hershiser said, “this game didn’t mean a whole lot. But it’s times like these when you can work on things. I was encouraged that I could get people out with my changeup. Maybe I can take it and learn something for next year.”

Next year seemed to be dominating a lot of conversations among players on these teams. But what about the final week of the season?

Is there really a big difference between finishing fifth or last?

“It’s a terrible onus to finish in last,” said Padre Manager Steve Boros, who has never played, coached or managed on a last-place major league club. “You do not want to finish last. Trust me on that.”

Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda bristled at the question.

“When teams I manage don’t finish first,” Lasorda said, “I’m not satisfied at all. If we finished fifth, it would be embarrassing to me.”