Dodgers Hitters Produce Enough to Give Fernando His 100th Victory

Fernando Valenzuela, who had spent more time as a pinch-hitter than a pitcher in the bizarre first week of the Dodger season, went back to what he does best Sunday afternoon.

Leaving the hitting to the other eight Dodger starters, who responded with a 7-run, 12-hit attack, Valenzuela pitched seven solid innings against the San Francisco Giants and assumed his 100th career win was assured when he turned over a 7-2 lead to the bullpen.

Valenzuela, no doubt, has made that assumption before, which probably is what prevented him from reaching that plateau sooner. Once again, the relievers made Valenzuela sweat it out in the clubhouse, with his left arm in ice and ear to the radio, before finally preserving a 7-5 win over the Giants before 48,771.

“That’s a hell of a way to get (100 wins),” said Ken Howell, one of the relievers who manufactured the drama out of what had been a routine game. “It would’ve been a lot better if Fernando had gone nine innings and got it over with.”

Unquestionably, that’s the way Manager Tom Lasorda would have liked it. But when Valenzuela said he was tired after seven innings, there was no other choice but to call on a bullpen that has been responsible for four of the Dodgers’ five losses in the young season.

Howell was Lasorda’s first choice. He faced three batters and gave up three singles and one run. Then, Tom Niedenfuer came in and, after striking out the first batter he faced, gave up two singles and two more runs that were charged to Howell.

By the time Lasorda brought in Matt Young, his only other short reliever, the crowd was getting unruly and the manager’s stomach dyspeptic. It certainly didn’t help either condition when Young’s 16.20 earned-run average was prominently flashed on the scoreboard while he was warming up.

But Young forced Will Clark to fly weakly to left and pinch-hitter Jeff Leonard to pop to second to end the inning. Young caused Valenzuela a little more anxiety in the ninth inning, giving up two singles, but he struck out the last two Giants to give the Dodgers their second straight win.

So, the afternoon of Valenzuela’s 100th career victory also produced the bullpen’s first save of 1987 after blowing two chances against the Houston Astros, who visit Dodger Stadium tonight for the first of three games.

Afterward, Lasorda credited his bullpen for making the afternoon exciting. After all, Valenzuela’s pitching often is consistent to the point of boredom.

“I’d have to say they did that,” Lasorda said of his relievers. “They certainly made it interesting. How would you be feeling, sitting there? The excitement was there, the tension was there. I would much rather have been bored like I was the entire first half of the game.” Although Howell and Niedenfuer did allow three runs in the eighth inning, they weren’t exactly knocked around. Howell gave up one infield hit and saw another line drive fall just in front of Mike Marshall, running after it in right-center. Niedenfuer gave up two singles that moved about as fast as a bowling ball but were hit in the proper spot.

Niedenfuer has suggested that voodoo has been involved in the bullpen’s downfall so far, but Young says it has just been a combination of bad luck and bad pitching--pick whichever order you like.

“I felt bad for both those guys,” Young said. “Kenny was just going in there to get some work in and then he looks up and both of us are throwing in the bullpen. Then, Buff (Niedenfuer) didn’t give up many hard hits and they score some runs. “Right now, we’re getting a lot of heat, and rightfully so. There’s not one of us who is a stopper. It’s a collective effort. I think it’ll be like that all year.”

Lasorda and the Dodger starters hope it isn’t like it was on Sunday all season.

Fortunately for Valenzuela, who gave up 2 runs and 8 hits and struck out 6, the Dodger offense scored all 6 runs and had 8 of its 12 hits off loser Mike LaCoss, who didn’t make it out of the fourth inning.

Among the Dodger offensive standouts:

--Rookie Mike Ramsey, who had three singles and scored three runs in his first three at-bats. Ramsey, whose only question mark on whether he should supplant Ken Landreaux in center field was hitting, now has a healthy .357 average.

Asked if he thought he would be hitting in the mid-.300s so soon in the major leagues, Ramsey laughed and said:

“You never have that idea, but I just try to do it. I’m still working hard, trying to prove myself. It’s going to take a whole year to do it. I never doubt myself. I think I can do anything.”

But could Ramsey, a converted pitcher, be the reliable short reliever the Dodgers needed on Sunday?

“No way, man,” he said. “I was through with that five years ago.”

--Pedro Guerrero, who hit his second solo home run in as many games and added two more runs batted in with a fourth-inning double.

Guerrero said he liked the way his sixth-inning shot to left field off reliever Mark Grant felt.

“As soon as I hit it, I knew it was going out. You can’t hit it any better than that.”

--Mike Marshall, hitting just. 227 in the first five games, went 3-for-4 and had 2 RBIs.

Lasorda said before the game that, in the absence of injured Bill Madlock, the usual third hitter in the order, he was going to move Guerrero into the third spot and put Marshall fourth in hopes of “getting Moose started.”

Both Marshall and Guerrero liked the move.

“Without a pure third hitter, like Madlock, all Tommy has done is push everybody up one,” Marshall said. “Three through six is pretty interchangeable in our order, except for Pete, who is either in the third or fourth spot.”

Said Guerrero: “With Marshall hitting behind me, I’ll see better pitches. And with Ramsey ahead of me, I’ll see more fastballs because they are worrying about him stealing bases. I hope (Marshall) feels comfortable hitting fourth, because I like hitting third.”

No matter the lineup, as long as the Dodger batters are producing and starters such as Valenzuela are throwing well, the Dodgers are in good shape.

The bullpen, however, has yet to prove itself.

Dodger Notes

Dodger reliever Matt Young says he likes a lot of work, and he might get it starting tonight when the Houston Astros, National League West leaders, come to town for three games. Young faced seven Giant batters Sunday, but said his arm will still be fresh for more work in one or more of the next three games. “It took some out of me pitching today with Houston coming tomorrow,” Young said. “Chances are, I’ll be in there a couple of times because they’ve got a lot of left-handed hitters.” . . . Since Fernando Valenzuela pitched Sunday, he will not go against the Astros. . . . Bill Russell, the Dodgers’ new infield coach, took ground balls at shortstop for the second straight day. “Just in case,” Russell says. The Dodgers can activate Russell on May 15, if they need him. . . . Ken Howell on the boos he and fellow reliever Tom Niedenfuer received Sunday: “I kind of wish the fans would sit back and get behind us instead of on us. It’s not like we’re getting racked up. They aren’t hitting balls off the walls against us. The balls just have eyes. I just wish they’d be with us on the plus side rather than the minus side.” . . . A New York Times survey of the salaries of major league teams on opening day showed that the Dodgers rank first among the 26 teams with an average salary of $579,785. The Chicago Cubs were second with a $576,273 average, and the New York Yankees were third at $562,758.