Subpar Fernando Clips Cardinals’ Wings, 4-2

Fernando Valenzuela was pitching Saturday night, so naturally certain assumptions can be made as to the course of events.

Even on an off-night, when Valenzuela may struggle and face jams as tough as the gridlock at the exits of Dodger Stadium, he almost always manages to take the Dodgers into the late innings with a chance to win.

You cannot always assume, however, that the Dodger offense or defense--or both--will adequately support their most consistent pitcher.

But the Dodgers’ 4-2 win over the streaking St. Louis Cardinals before 48,657 fans at Dodger Stadium was a case study of what can happen when both Valenzuela and the offense make a joint effort on a night when neither is especially outstanding.

Valenzuela (4-1), who struggled early without an effective screwball and teetered on the edge of disaster several times, persevered to post his second complete game of the season with a six-hitter.

That was made possible by a nine-hit attack, as Ken Landreaux proved to be the unlikely catalyst. Landreaux, filling in for injured Mike Marshall, had a double and a single and scored two runs.

Landreaux, who lost his starting job in center field to Mike Ramsey this spring, has mostly been the Dodgers’ forgotten man. With Marshall placed on the disabled list Saturday and Ralph Bryant on his way from Albuquerque to replace him, Landreaux found himself in the lineup.

If Landreaux’s two-hit performance was an attempt to prove his worth or even vent some resentment, he wouldn’t say. Landreaux refused to talk to the media afterward.

“You better ask (Manager Tom Lasorda) what’s going on,” an agitated Landreaux said. “I just work here. I’ve got nothing else to say.”

Lasorda also wouldn’t talk--because of a bout with laryngitis.

Had he not been sick, Lasorda probably would have been happy to discuss Landreaux’s role and Valenzuela’s consistent, if unspectacular, effort. Instead, he deferred to pitching coach Ron Perranoski and infield coach Bill Russell as his spokesmen.

Perranoski reported that Valenzuela threw 134 pitches and did not have nearly his best stuff. But it obviously was good enough to shut down a Cardinal team that had won three straight while scoring 25 runs.

“He just pitched his guts out out there,” Perranoski said. “That’s what he did. He’s that type of pitcher. What you’re going to get from Fernando is a ball game every game.

“He’s a battler. A lot of pitchers, when they don’t have their best stuff, that’s it. They are finished. Fernando finds ways to stay in there.”

It helps, too, when Dodger hitters supply enough runs.

Bill Madlock backed up Landreaux’s strong offensive effort with two hits, including a run-scoring single in the eighth that gave Valenzuela a two-run lead going into the ninth.

“I’m a good hitter,” Madlock said with a shrug and a smile.

Madlock seemed more impressed with Valenzuela’s solid pitching, which was needed since Cardinal starter Danny Cox sported a 3-0 record coming in.

“With a guy like Fernando, he doesn’t have to have his great stuff, because the hitters are still looking for his great stuff,” Madlock said. “He’s a master of what he does. He hardly ever pitches a bad game. When he’s not on, he’ll get guys on base, but he finds ways out of it.”

Valenzuela seems to delight in working his way out of jams, which he did three times in the first seven innings. It is as if he gets bored out on the mound without a challenge.

The Cardinals didn’t let Valenzuela totally off the hook, though. They took a 1-0 lead in the first inning and scored another in the seventh. But Valenzuela still was able to take a 3-2 lead into the eighth.

“I got into trouble but I feel OK,” Valenzuela said. “My arm is fine. I threw a lot of pitches, but there is no problem.

“I didn’t throw a lot of breaking balls and screwballs, so I had to throw a lot of fastballs inside that are easier to hit.”

In the first inning, leadoff hitter Vince Coleman walked. Valenzuela, well aware of Coleman’s speed, threw to first base five times. But he also had to deal with Ozzie Smith, whose single to left moved Coleman to third.

Terry Pendleton flied to shallow center, which was even too shallow for Coleman to make an attempt, but Coleman came home on Jack Clark’s ground-out. Valenzuela got out of the inning on Willie McGee’s grounder.

Five shutout innings passed until St. Louis got to Valenzuela again. With two out, Smith’s double and a walk to Pendleton set up Clark’s run-scoring single to left.

St. Louis put runners in scoring position in the fourth, fifth and sixth. Valenzuela’s best pitching came in the fourth, when a single by Pendleton, a walk to Clark and McGee’s fly ball put runners on second and third with one out. But Valenzuela forced Jim Lindeman to ground out to Madlock at third and Jose Oquendo to pop up the first pitch.

Through four innings, Cox allowed only one baserunner. But that runner, Landreaux, scored in the third inning to tie it, 1-1. Landreaux reached second base on a double that Lindeman misplayed in right field. Landreaux went to third on Mike Ramsey’s ground-out to second and scored when Valenzuela hit a high chopper back to Cox.

Cox’s undoing came in the fifth inning, though he stayed around to work out of another jam in the sixth.

In the fifth, Mike Scioscia singled, went to third on Landreaux’s single to right and scored when Lindeman threw the ball into the Dodger dugout. Landreaux wound up at third and scored on Mike Ramsey’s squeeze bunt that made it 3-1.

Pendleton said he thought Lindeman’s throw hit the sliding Scioscia in the back and caromed into the dugout. But Lindeman said he asked Scioscia about it during his next at-bat, and Scioscia said the ball did not touch him.

Dodger Notes

Mike Marshall, who will undergo surgery Monday to remove an implanted wart on his left index finger, expressed relief that the problem finally will be resolved. “I’ve been through so many different things with that since spring training,” Marshall said. “I’ve had it injected eight times, but that only gave temporary relief. I would still miss one or two games with it. Now, I can get it done and have five months in the season to go.” The Dodgers would not have put Marshall on the 15-day disabled list if Dr. Norman Zemel, a hand specialist, had not determined that surgery was necessary. Marshall will use the two- or three-week recuperation period to improve the strength and flexibility of his back, which has bothered him all season and occasionally kept him out of the lineup. “The (wart) was causing me problems, but the overall severity is not like my back is. My back hurts much more.” . . . The Dodgers are attempting to make Marshall’s stint on the disabled list retroactive to Wednesday, when he first sat out. But because Marshall was in uniform Wednesday (though he did not play), the Dodgers must get approval from the National League office to do so. . . . Outfielder Ralph Bryant, recalled from Albuquerque to replace Marshall, hit two home runs and drove in four runs Saturday night in the team’s 9-3 win over Edmonton . . . Pat Screnar, the Dodgers’ physical therapist, said some improvement has been made by Len Matuszek, out with a partial tear of tissue in his left foot. . . . St. Louis second baseman Tommy Herr (torn right groin muscle) is eligible to come off the disabled list, but Manager Whitey Herzog has decided not to reactivate him until the Cardinals return home Friday against Cincinnati. . . . Bob Welch (4-1), who has allowed only one run in the last 24 innings, will oppose St. Louis’ Greg Mathews (2-3) today at 1:05 p.m.