Dodgers Lose as Show Hurls a 3-Hitter, 4-0

In a startling reversal of decorum, San Diego Padre Manager Larry Bowa performed his daily primal scream therapy before Sunday’s game and was as close to relaxed as he can get afterward.

Bowa, the self-described human volcano, usually waits until after his team loses before erupting. This time, though, he shrewdly held a Sunday morning service to rattle some eardrums and perhaps wake up and shake up the slumbering Padres.

It certainly got the attention of starting pitcher Eric Show, who was provided the rare luxury of an early lead and responded with a three-hitter to lift the Padres to a 4-0 win over the Dodgers before 48,116 at Dodger Stadium. Bowa was probably so relieved that his team finally did something right that he didn’t want to divulge what he said--or, most likely, screamed--to his players.

“It was private,” Bowa said calmly.

Show, who retired 18 straight Dodgers during one stretch, said Bowa basically used scare tactics as his motivation.

“Let’s just say he was not proud of us,” said Show, who struck out four and had no walks in notching his first win of the season. “Basically, he aired us out--very hard--and cleared the air, although he used different terms. But, in no uncertain terms, he said either do it or changes will be made.”

The only change was that the Padres won, improving their record to a slightly less pitiful 5-15. They did it by scoring four unearned runs in the third inning off Dodger starter Rick Honeycutt, who was making his first start in 13 days because of a pulled rib muscle.

Relievers Alejandro Pena, Tim Leary, Matt Young--who pitched out of a bases-loaded jam created by Leary in the eighth inning--and Tom Niedenfuer made sure that four runs would be all Show would have for a cushion.

Except for Pedro Guerrero’s first-inning single, Franklin Stubbs’ double in the seventh and Ken Landreaux’s bloop single in the ninth, Dodger hitters took a Sunday siesta against Show, who used good sliders and curves to compensate for what he called weak fastballs.

So, at least for one afternoon, all was right with the Padres and wrong with the 11-9 Dodgers, whose four-game winning streak was snapped.

It could be argued that each team was due for this reversal of fortunes, but Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda could not accept that explanation.

“Where is it written?” Lasorda asked. “What book is that in?”

Still, Sunday did seem to be a bad day all around for the Dodgers.

Consider:

--Lasorda suffered minor rib and hand injuries in the fourth inning when he tried to catch third baseman Tracy Woodson, who was chasing a foul ball on the steps of the dugout.

Woodson missed the ball, and Lasorda missed Woodson, who went head-first over Lasorda and onto the floor. Lasorda reported that a few ribs and his knuckles were sore in the collision.

“I’m glad (Woodson) was OK,” Lasorda said. “I can go on the disabled list. He can’t.”

--First baseman Franklin Stubbs jumped for a high-bouncing ground ball in the sixth inning and looked behind him, thinking it had gone into right field.

Stubbs finally figured out the ball was in an odd place--his glove--and made it to the bag before the Padres’ Tony Gwynn.

--The Dodger defense put on a Padre-like performance in the third inning, enabling San Diego to score all the runs they needed off Honeycutt, who was replaced the next inning.

Honeycutt, admittedly not sharp in his first start since being injured on April 13, gave up a leadoff double to Randy Ready and then a bunt single to Marvell Wynne that catcher Alex Trevino had problems handling, enabling Ready to advance to third.

Gwynn then hit a sharp grounder to Stubbs at first, but his throw to the plate sailed over Trevino’s head and Ready scored.

“I had him at the plate or I wouldn’t have gone there,” Stubbs said. “The ball just sailed, that’s all.”

The second worst throw of the inning soon followed as Honeycutt bounced a wild pitch that scored Wynne, making it 2-0. It looked as if Honeycutt might escape without further damage after Carmelo Martinez lined to left and Gwynn was thrown out at home by Mariano Duncan on a Steve Garvey grounder.

But, in a rare show of offensive strength, the Padres revived the inning with two outs. Kevin Mitchell delivered a double to left that moved Garvey to third. After Garry Templeton was intentionally walked, rookie Mark Parent got his first hit of the season, a single to right that scored both runners.

Honeycutt finally ended the Padre assault by striking out Show, but San Diego had staked their pitcher to a 4-0 lead.

Perhaps caught up in the excitement, Show approached Bowa in the dugout and flatly told him he could guarantee a shutout. As it turned out, Show lived up to his bold pronouncement.

“I used to think that you shouldn’t say anything unless you were absolutely sure you could do it,” Show said. “But now, I say, why not have confidence and go out there and try to do what you say.”

The Dodgers were quite accommodating. After Show hit Mike Marshall with a pitch with two out in the first, he did not allow another base runner until Stubb’s two-out double in the seventh. And there weren’t any close calls, either.

“You can’t take anything away from Show,” Lasorda said. “It was one of those days when our bats were silent.”

Perhaps because Bowa wasn’t silent beforehand, the Padres awoke in time to win one of the series’ three games.

“That meeting got us concentrating,” Templeton said.

Show, however, wasn’t so sure the meeting was the only reason for the change in performance.

“I want to give Larry all the credit I can, but I don’t think one speech magically turned things around,” Show said. “If we win 10 games in a row, then I’ll say, ‘OK that was what did it.’ ”

Bowa just seemed pleased to have one in a row.

“We played with intensity today,” he said. “Pitching has not been our problem. We still have to get progress from the middle of our lineup. . . . But this was encouraging.”

Dodger Notes

Rick Honeycutt said he felt no pain in his right side during his three innings on the mound but felt out of sorts after a long layoff. “I just didn’t have the location,” he said. “I depend on control and hitting spots. Definitely, getting in the rotation and into a groove will help.” . . . Alejandro Pena, who gave up three hits in three innings in his first appearance after being stricken with the chicken pox, looked strong and said he felt strong. “I’m ready to be back (in the rotation),” he said. . . . Manager Tom Lasorda gave catcher Mike Scioscia the day off, his first of the season. “I’m tired of looking at him,” Lasorda said. “But seriously, he needs it. With two days off (today is a travel day), he’ll be like a bull.” Trainer Bill Buhler said Scioscia is not injured but “has the usual bang-ups.” . . . Mike Marshall left Sunday’s game in the fifth inning with soreness in his left elbow. Marshall was hit in the elbow by an Eric Show pitch in the first inning. Ken Landreaux was Marshall’s replacement. “I’m hoping to play by Tuesday,” Marshall said.