It’s Still 0 for ‘87--Giants Top Dodgers in 11 Innings, 5-4

Nostalgia may not be what it used to be, but perhaps the Dodgers figured that flooding Dodger Stadium with past stars and memories on the ballpark’s 25th anniversary would make fans remember happier times.

The Dodgers harked back to old times Friday night, all right, but much of it included some of the more dubious achievements in their recent history. There were four errors by the infield--including two throwing errors by second baseman Steve Sax--and a lack of offensive production for most of the night.

Fortunately for the Dodgers and their 41,338 fans, they decided to relive some fond memories with a dramatic ninth-inning comeback to tie the San Francisco Giants, 4-4, and send the game into extra innings.

But by the the end of a long night, the Giants had pulled out a 5-4 win in 11 innings on pinch-hitter Harry Spilman’s two-out single off pitcher Tim Leary, scoring Jose Uribe from second base.

The Dodgers tried to gain another come-from-behind tie but couldn’t quite do it. So, they are still winless for 1987, their 0-5 record equaling the club’s worst start in Los Angeles history.

And keeping in sync with their recent history, it was another one-run defeat. Three of the Dodgers’ five losses have been by one run. The Dodgers threatened in the bottom of the 11th as Mariano Duncan doubled to open the inning but was left stranded.

It was just like old times in the ninth when Mickey Hatcher, a former Dodger reacquired earlier in the day after pitcher Jerry Reuss was released, came up to pinch-hit with the bases loaded and two out. He hit a grounder to third base that Giant Chris Brown could not handle cleanly. While pinch-runner Reggie Williams scored from third, Alex Trevino beat Brown to the bag.

The Dodgers had a chance to win with Sax up and the bases still loaded, but Sax struck out against pitcher Scott Garrelts.

The Dodgers’ inspired ninth-inning rally did not carry over into the 10th, even though they had the bases loaded and none out. Garrelts then proceeded to strike out the next three batters, one of whom was Fernando Valenzuela, sent up to bat because Lasorda had run out of regular pinch-hitters.

Mike Ramsey began the rally with a leadoff walk. Then, Mike Marshall, who had been 0 for 4, singled to left, Ramsey taking third. The Giants walked Pedro Guerrero intentionally, and the move worked when Franklin Stubbs struck out.

Then, Valenzuela and Trevino also struck out.

Sax’s second throwing error of the night, this one igniting the Giants’ three-run seventh inning, was considerably more costly than his first error in the third, which did not result in a run. Alejandro Pena, trailing, 1-0, at the time, would have gotten out of the inning without giving up a run, but the error enabled Chris Speier to score. Pena was so rattled after the error that he stormed off the mound and threw his hat. That might have been the best throw by anyone in the infield that inning.

Pitching Coach Ron Perranoski came out to try to settle down Pena, but on his next pitch, Will Clark drilled a two-run home run to right field.

Obviously, Manager Tom Lasorda was not happy about the Dodgers’ defense letting in the three Giant runs in the seventh.

“We gave them those three runs, that was for sure,” Lasorda said. “Then (in the 10th inning), we had the bases loaded and nobody out and a big hitter up there (Stubbs). He has to put the ball in play. The infield was in. The outfield in. And they wind up getting out of it.”

Lasorda said he was not concerned about the one-night resumption of Sax’s throwing problems.

“He hasn’t done that in a long time,” Lasorda said. “I’m sure he’ll be all right.”

Reliever Ken Howell got the Dodgers out of the seventh, then the Dodgers staged a comeback in the bottom of the inning off starter Kelly Downs, who had an easy time through six.

Mike Scioscia doubled in Guerrero, who opened the inning with a check-swing single. Stubbs, who had walked after Guerrero’s hit, then scored when reliever Jeff Robinson, who replaced Downs, threw a wild pitch.

Scioscia, in turn, scored on pinch-hitter Ken Landreaux’s grounder to second.

The Dodger defense helped the Giants with more scoring opportunities, as Stubbs had one error, Sax two and Duncan one.

The lack of support spoiled a solid first outing by Pena, who has, at least temporarily, won the fifth starting spot in the rotation. Pena worked 6 innings, giving up 8 hits and 1 walk. Three of the four runs he gave up were unearned.

Matt Young’s relief pitching also could be pointed out as a bright spot, for those looking for one. Young, who had two dismal outings in Houston, pitched 2 scoreless innings of relief, giving up 2 hits.

It is not accurate to say that Pena breezed along in the early going, because he is not exactly the fastest worker among Dodger pitchers.

But he did have a relatively easy time of it, even though he had to pitch out of minor jams in the first and third innings and gave up the one run in the fourth.

Then came the disastrous seventh inning, in which the Dodgers unraveled. Pena was partly responsible, giving up a leadoff double to Speier. One out later, Speier went to third on Downs’ ground-out.

Then, Sax struck again. On Eddie Milner’s potential inning-ending grounder, Sax’s throw bounced a foot in front of Stubbs, who could not handle it. Milner scored.

Pena, obviously shaken, gave up the two-run home run to Clark on the next pitch. That made it, 4-0, Giants, and that was it for Pena, who pitched well despite what the scoreboard read.

Candy Maldonado, who seemingly thrives on playing well against his old team, opened the fourth inning, Pena’s other lapse, with a single and went to third on Brown’s single to center, Marshall’s throw from right arriving only a fraction too late to make the put-out. One out later, Speier singled to right, scoring Maldonado.

But Pena avoided a big Giant inning, retiring Uribe on a bunt attempt and striking out Downs.

Dodger Notes

Friday morning, Bill Madlock, the Dodgers’ veteran third baseman, underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder that showed a small tear in the rim of the socket. Dr. Frank Jobe, the Dodger physician, trimmed the tear and told team officials that Madlock should be able to begin throwing again in two weeks. “My estimate is that it will be three weeks before he might be able to play,” Jobe said. “Everything went smoothly. We took out a little piece of cartilage that had turned in toward the joint. You couldn’t see that on the X-rays.” Jobe said he checked Madlock’s rotator cuff during the arthroscope procedure and saw no irregularities. . . . Mickey Hatcher, the newest Dodger, hit .287 and had 32 RBIs in 115 games with Minnesota last season. . . . Mike Marshall, who was hit in the hip by a pitch Thursday and left that game early, said he felt fine Friday. He was back in the lineup. . . . Reggie Williams, just recalled from Albuquerque, said he was 10 minutes away from being the leadoff batter Thursday night for the Dukes when he was called back to the dugout and told to report to Los Angeles.