Lasorda Shouts, Howell Listens, Dodgers Win

That yelling coming out of the Dodger dugout in the late innings of Saturday’s game unmistakably belonged to Manager Tom Lasorda. The object of Lasorda’s remarks was reliever Ken Howell, who figures to have heard more than his share of abuse from fans without getting it from his own bench, too.

But this Lasorda tirade, if that’s what you could call it, was neither voiced in anger nor merely senseless blathering. It was Lasorda, the motivator, trying to talk his inconsistent short reliever through the last three innings of the Dodgers’ 5-2 win over the San Diego Padres before a crowd of 20,915 at Jack Murphy Stadium.

What Lasorda did with Howell Saturday could be compared to someone talking a man off a ledge. Howell and his cohorts in the Dodger bullpen have lost confidence, as well as several games in the early season, so Lasorda thought that some positive reinforcement was needed.

“I told him I’m going to stay on him until he starts believing in himself,” Lasorda said. “It was mostly encouragement, but also what he needs to work on. I don’t know if you can hear me from the press box, but I was talking pretty good.”

Howell, after working his way out of a self-imposed jam in the seventh inning, in which he threw nine straight balls and loaded the bases, pitched pretty well, too. He retired the Padres in order in both the eighth and ninth innings to earn his first win and give the Dodgers their second straight victory.

Pedro Guerrero, coming off a two- homer night on Friday, kept the ball in the park but produced the game-winning single in the eighth inning and added an RBI double in the Dodgers’ two-run ninth. All three Dodger runs came off Padre ace reliever Lance McCullers, who could have used some encouragement of his own.

Instead, Padre players received only angry words from Manager Larry Bowa, who once again voiced his disgust for his 2-10 team. Bowa apparently isn’t big on positive vibes these days.

“I’ll take my share of the blame,” Bowa said. “But I can’t take all the blame. It revolves back to what Pete (Rose) told me when I first took this job. You are as good as your players. That’s the whole system. That’s the bottom line.

“When you don’t hit, everything is magnified. Every mistake will hurt you. That’s baseball. It’ll be like that for the next 50 years.”

Some critics figured that it would be at least that long before a Dodger short reliever would have three straight good outings. But Howell has done that this week, with Lasorda and pitching coach Ron Perranoski providing backup vocals.

“Tommy yells at him during the inning; I whisper to him after the inning,” Perranoski said. “Whatever it takes.”

Howell, whose earned-run average was 33.41 earlier in the week, has now pitched seven straight scoreless innings.

That modest streak was seriously threatened in the seventh, when he took the mound with the score tied, 2-2. Howell gave up a one-out single to Garry Templeton. Then, after getting pinch-hitter Tim Flannery to fly to right, Howell proceeded to walk Joey Cora and Tony Gwynn, each on four straight pitches.

Howell threw his ninth ball in a row, on his first pitch to Carmelo Martinez. But Martinez then made a mistake by swinging at the next pitch, which again was outside the strike zone, and popping up to second baseman Steve Sax to end the inning.

In the final two innings, Howell left his wildness behind and blew away the Padres.

“The thing that helped me the most was hearing Lasorda from the bench,” Howell said. “He was yelling positive things to me. Stay back. Stay on top. Extend your arm. I started off real slow this season and it was because of mechanical problems. I need to remember not to do some things. Control is the key. That’s what (Lasorda) was yelling at me.”

Lasorda might have competition for the Dodgers’ title of the Great Communicator.

The return of hitting coach Manny Mota, hospitalized earlier in the week with a gastric condition, has signaled the return of the Dodger offense. It showed Friday night, when the club had four home runs, Guerrero contributing two of them. Lasorda said that, before Saturday’s game, Mota held a meeting with Dodger regulars simply to sharpen their fundamentals.

Saturday, Padre starter Andy Hawkins held the Dodgers scoreless through five innings. But in the sixth, Sax reached second after Padre left fielder John Kruk misplayed a line drive. After Mariano Duncan’s ground ball moved Sax to third, Guerrero got his first RBI of the afternoon on a ground ball in back of third that enabled Sax to score.

Craig Lefferts replaced Hawkins with two out in the seventh and runners on second and third. Lefferts’ fourth pitch to pinch-hitter Mickey Hatcher bounced past catcher Benito Santiago for a wild pitch, scoring Franklin Stubbs from third.

Guerrero got his fourth game-winning hit of the young season in the eighth, singling home Sax from second. And, in the ninth, Duncan’s RBI single scored Sax from second and Guerrero’s towering double to center scored Duncan from first.

Guerrero’s 3-for-5 day improved his average to .289, and he leads the club with 13 RBIs. But is Guerrero satisfied?

“What was I hitting before today, .241?” Guerrero asked. “You call that a big April? I do feel much better at the plate. I guess when you are swinging the bat good, nothing can stop you. And I’m swinging the bat good.”

About the only Padre swinging the bat consistently well on Saturday was Kruk, who singled and scored in the second and hit his second home run of the season in the fourth inning off Brian Holton.

Holton, starting in place of injured Rick Honeycutt, gave up two runs and four hits in five innings. He was replaced by Tim Leary, who retired the Padres in order in the sixth inning.

Then, Lasorda screamed for--and at--Howell.

“He’s pitched seven good innings since I started yelling at him,” said Lasorda, who admitted that the strategy might not work with other Dodgers.

“They are different personalities, but I thought this is what Kenny needed.”

Dodger Notes

The Dodgers said that pitcher Alejandro Pena has contracted a case of the chicken pox. But Manager Tom Lasorda said Pena is still expected to make his scheduled start on Monday in San Francisco. Pena might have contracted the chicken pox from Kyle Matuszek, son of Len Matuszek, who broke out with the ailment on the team plane back from spring training on April 1. . . . Outfielder Mike Marshall said he has been experiencing back problems again. Marshall missed most of the second half of last season with the mysterious ailment that trainers diagnosed as a mechanical strain. “It’s getting better, but I still don’t feel like 100%,” Marshall said. “Dr. (Robert) Watkins says I just have to keep working at it. I’d be lying if I said I feel totally fine. But I do see signs of improvement. I’ve just got to play with it.” . . . The Padres have scored more than three runs in only two of their first 12 games. They are averaging only 2.67 runs per game . . . Bill Madlock took batting practice Saturday for the first time since arthroscopic shoulder surgery and reported no soreness. Madlock also fielded ground balls at third base. . . . The name on the back of Fernando Valenzuela’s road uniform Friday night wasn’t the only one misspelled. The company that supplies uniforms sent seven uniforms with misspelled names, including Pena and Orel Hershiser. . . . Rick Honeycutt says his right side feels better and that he wants to throw on the sidelines Wednesday in hopes of making his scheduled start Friday against the Padres and Dodger Stadium. . . . Bob Welch (0-1) meets Ed Wojna (0-1) today at 1:05.