Cardinals Get Some Rain to Cool Off Guerrero : Game at St. Louis Is Postponed; It’s One Way to Stop Dodgers’ Hottest Hitter

A Dodger opponent finally, if temporarily, solved the problem of Pedro Guerrero. Since nothing humanly possible has worked so far to impede Guerrero’s offensive assault, it was a natural element--rain--that did it Sunday afternoon.

Heavy showers, pounding on the St. Louis area, forced postponement of the Dodger-Cardinal game after team officials waited more than an hour for the rain to stop because of an advance ticket sale of 35,000. Even though the Cardinals lost money by not playing, they had to be happy not having to face Guerrero or Fernando Valenzuela, the Dodgers’ scheduled starter.

Valenzuela instead will start today in Chicago. That pushed Bob Welch back to Tuesday’s game against the Cubs and gives Orel Hershiser another day’s rest after pitching two innings of relief Saturday night. Hershiser will pitch Wednesday against Pittsburgh at Dodger Stadium.

Sunday’s game will be made up on July 6 as part of a doubleheader. Maybe by that time Guerrero will have cooled off or perhaps Cardinal Manager Whitey Herzog will have come up with another idea.

“I didn’t want no rainout,” Guerrero said. “(Bleep), let’s play.”

It is obvious why Guerrero was hankering to hit Sunday. He has been the hottest Dodger hitter, as well as one of the National League’s best, in the first 25 games of the season.

Going into Sunday’s games, Guerrero ranked third in the National League in batting average at .363, trailing Cincinnati’s Eric Davis and Houston’s Billy Hatcher; was second to Philadelphia’s Mike Schmidt in runs batted in with 23; and tied for fourth in home runs with 6.

Guerrero has been particularly productive against the Cardinals in the first two games of the series. Friday night, he had two run-scoring singles, the second sending the game to extra innings. And on Saturday night, Guerrero had an RBI double in the first inning and a game-tying two-run home run in the ninth.

After Guerrero’s 3-for-4 performance Saturday, a frustrated Herzog seemed ready to concede.

“Maybe we should just walk him every time,” Herzog said.

But that didn’t work, either. In the ninth inning Saturday, when Herzog had reliever Rick Horton walk Guerrero with a runner on second, Mike Marshall delivered a run-scoring single.

“How can they not pitch to me?” Guerrero asked incredulously. “They don’t, they have to face Marshall.”

Guerrero’s fast start has been compared to his record-setting June in 1985, when he hit .344 with 26 RBIs and tied a major league record with 15 home runs.

Although Guerrero has not reached those lofty home run totals, Manager Tom Lasorda says Guerrero is hitting just as well.

“All-around, he’s hitting the ball as good as ever,” Lasorda said. “The big change is that he’s not swinging at bad balls. He’s doing it all--hitting for average, hitting to the opposite field, hitting home runs. . . . “

Said Manny Mota, the Dodger hitting coach: “This is his best. You can see he’s swinging just like he did in 1985. When he’s swinging good, his hands and wrist are doing it. He doesn’t overswing. It’s a very easy swing.

“He’s hitting according to the situation, and that’s a change. If all we need is a single, he gets it. He’s not trying to drive the ball out of the park. He’s very disciplined at the plate, too, and that may have something to do with his spring.”

Lasorda says it definitely has something to do with Guerrero’s unseasonably early arrival in Vero Beach. Guerrero beat the team to camp by two days.

“I thought he’d have a great year simply because of his attitude coming into spring training,” Lasorda said. “That’s what I think is causing this thing. He knew he had a great deal of work to do after his knee injury. He wanted to show everybody he can play to a high degree of success. You haven’t see Pete work like that in a while.”

If ever, actually. But after the serious rupture to his patellar tendon, Guerrero didn’t need much convincing about putting to rest his tradition for arrival at camp fashionably late.

Now, though, Guerrero is downplaying his work-ethic spring.

“I came to spring training on March 1 in 1985 and I hit 33 home runs, so that’s how much a difference it makes,” Guerrero said. “I just came down there to work on my knee, not my hitting.

“I don’t know what it is. I’m just happy I hit the ball well. I’m just happy to be back playing.”

Dodger Notes

Had the Dodgers and Cardinals played, Dodger first baseman Franklin Stubbs would have been benched because a left-hander--Tim Conroy--was pitching. This is the third straight time Stubbs has been “rested” against left-handers. Curiously, Stubbs, hitting .299 with 7 home runs and 17 RBIs, is hitting .353 (6 for 17) against left-handers this season. “I don’t think it’s rest anymore, it’s something else,” Stubbs said. “I want to play every day. I’m no different (hitting left-handers) than the other. But there’s noting I can do. When they put me in the lineup, I try to play the best I can. I’m a little (surprised). I don’t know. The job is supposed to be mine. I guess it still is, but . . . “

As soon as Fernando Valenzuela, Sunday’s scheduled starter, found out that the game was canceled, he yelled “nice game, guys” and then pounced on the buffet spread in the clubhouse. Said Lasorda: “If we had seven rainouts in a row, Fernando would still pitch on the eighth day.” . . . . . . Valenzuela will be opposed by Greg Maddux (1-2) today. Bob Welch (3-1) will face Jamie Moyer (2-1) on Tuesday.