‘Valezuela’ Spells a Dodger Victory : Guerrero’s Two Homers Highlight 5-3 Win Over Padres

After all these years, the Dodgers can’t even spell his name?

Fernando Valenzuela’s uniform jersey said VALEZUELA Friday night, but as far as Fernando is concerned, nothing else was missing from his repertoire.

He threw his first complete game of 1987, and, for once, the Dodgers gave him the unthinkable--a four-run first-inning lead.

So, he and his teammates coasted to a 5-3 victory over the San Diego Padres, though Manager Tom Lasorda swears he was sweating while everyone else was laughing.

“I sweat every one of them out, are you kidding me?” Lasorda said.

And speaking of missing links, there was Pedro Guerrero blasting not one, but two home runs Friday night. He hit one in the first inning with Steve Sax on first base, and he hit another in the third with nobody on. In the sixth, he stepped up again and hit another towering blow to left field.

It fell short of the fence by a few feet.

“I knew I missed it,” he said.

But the point is that when Guerrero is back hitting home runs, the Dodgers are back looking splendid. This was Guerrero’s first two-homer game since June 14, 1985, when he did it against the Houston Astros. June of 1985? That was the famous month, the month that Guerrero hit 15 home runs and looked like an MVP.

He doesn’t remember June 14, though.

“I don’t,” he said. “. . . But I’ll remember these two (Friday) for a while. Those (on June 14, 1985) were too long ago.”

Both homers here came off Padre starter Ed Whitson, who had been throwing better than any other Padre pitcher.

The first Guerrero homer was off a slider; the second off a fastball.

Bad pitches?

“Most of my home runs? I just hit them,” Guerrero said. “I just hit it. I don’t remember if good or bad pitches. I know I hit it out. Good pitches, bad pitches. . . . Who cares?”

Padre Manager Larry Bowa said Whitson threw mostly bad pitches. Not only did Guerrero hit a homer in the first inning, but so did Mike Scioscia and Franklin Stubbs. It was 4-0 after the first inning.

“It was nice,” Valenzuela said of his four-run lead. “But I never try to pitch differently (with a lead). I pitch exactly the same. I try anyway. But, yes, it was nice.”

Whitson (1-2) has given up 13 hits this year, and 8 have been homers. Whitson’s excuse? He says the baseballs are more lively this year.

“The ball is jumping a lot more,” he said. “In my 13 years, this is the most I’ve seen go out of the ballpark. The reason is the hot ball. I really think a lot of other pitchers think so.”

Valenzuela doesn’t.

He gave up one homer--a two-run shot to rookie catcher Benito Santiago--but that was it.

It was Valenzuela second victory of the season, but he was hardly untouchable.

Garry Templeton collected the first Padre hit in the third inning, and there were ensuing Padre rallies in the fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth innings.

The fourth: Tony Gwynn, who had five hits against the Dodgers Thursday, singled to right. Then, Carmelo Martinez singled to center. Right fielder Mike Marshall tried scooping up Martinez’s base hit, but he mishandled it. Gwynn ran all the way to third.

So the crowd of 34,731 was up stomping their feet when Steve Garvey came to the plate.

Garvey--who was 11 for 47 (.234) against Valenzuela before Friday night, popped out meekly to second baseman Steve Sax.

Garvey was booed.

By the end of the night, he was 11 for 51 against Valenzuela. Anyway, after getting Garvey, Valenzuela walked Kevin Mitchell, loading the bases. Santiago came up and ripped one up the middle, but shortstop Mariano Duncan dived to his left, stopped the ball and made a force play at second. One run scored instead of two.

Valenzuela nodded at Duncan and then retired Luis Salazar on a ground-out.

The fifth: Valenzuela walked Templeton, and then pinch-hitter Randy Ready doubled down the right-field line--Templeton chugging all the way to third base. But Valenzuela got rookie Joey Cora to pop out to the catcher, and then Gwynn grounded a ball toward third baseman Tracy Woodson.

Templeton took off for the plate, and Woodson threw him out by five yards. Martinez lined out to center field to end the inning.

The sixth: The first out was a loud one. Garvey ripped a line drive to left center, and center fielder Mike Ramsey made a long run and caught it while crashing into the fence. How big was that out? Mitchell, the next batter, stepped up and tripled down the right-field line. Valenzuela walked Santiago but immediately got Salazar to hit into an inning-ending double play.

“I thought that (Garvey’s) ball was gone,” Valenzuela said. “When I looked back, I thought home run for sure. Some catch, eh?”

The eighth: Mitchell singled with two outs, and then Santiago homered.

But in the all-important ninth, Valezuela --or whatever his name is--got the Padres out 1-2-3.

“Same old Fernando,” Bowa said.

Dodger Notes

The last time the Dodgers hit three homers in an inning was Aug. 31, 1980 in Los Angeles when Ron Cey, Rick Monday and Joe Ferguson each hit one in the second against Montreal. . . . Pitcher Rick Honeycutt, who has a pulled muscle in his right rib cage, will miss his turn in the starting rotation today. Brian Holton--1-0 with a 1.17 ERA--replaces him. “I’m day-to-day,” Honeycutt said. “We’re shooting for next Friday (for his next start). Hopefully, by Tuesday or Wednesday, I’ll be able to throw on the side.” . . . Manny Mota, the Dodger batting instructor, rejoined the team Friday after spending four days in the hospital. He had been hospitalized Monday with chest pains, but tests showed he was suffering from gastritis. “I’m happy to be back,” Mota said. “I’m glad they didn’t find anything wrong with my heart. The gastritis caused the pain there. So I must change my diet. Not too much grease and no eating late at night. OK, maybe a light snack, but nothing heavy.” . . . Third baseman Bill Madlock, on the disabled list with a shoulder injury, was hoping to take batting practice Friday, but instead, played just a simple game of pepper. . . . Padre second baseman Joey Cora tried bowling over Dodger catcher Mike Scioscia on a play at the plate Thursday afternoon. Cora--a 5-foot 8-inch, 150-pound rookie--woke up Friday with a sore neck. “He’s a rock,” Cora said of Scioscia. Scioscia, who escaped unhurt, said: “Listen, he’s full speed, and I’m stationary. I don’t care if he’s a little guy, about 150 pounds. I’ll get the worst of it. Well, I usually get the worst of it.”