Honeycutt the Victim in 5-3 Loss : Dodgers Drop Fifth in Row on 5 Unearned Runs in 6th Inning

The unraveling of Rick Honeycutt here Monday night came in the sixth inning, which was the time the seemingly obligatory breakdown by the Dodger defense took place.

No need to ask whether it was a coincidence. Just note that all five runs Honeycutt gave up that inning, which catapulted the Philadelphia Phillies to a 5-3 win over the slumping Dodgers before 17,314 fans at Veterans Stadium, were unearned.

“That’s not much consolation,” Honeycutt said.

The consolation prize for Honeycutt (2-2) was the reduction of his earned-run average to a National League best of 1.31 after working 5 innings.

There are no other positive numbers for the Dodgers (19-20) these days. Monday’s loss was their fifth straight and kept them in fifth place in the National League West, which is where they finished last season thanks, in part, to their inadequate defense.

Through 39 games, the Dodgers have committed 36 errors, which is 16 less than at this point last season, but still too many for even Manager Tom Lasorda to stomach.

“When you’re out there (leading) just, 1-0,” Lasorda said with a sigh, “there’s no margin of error.”

Honeycutt, of course, did not go blameless in the Phillies’ five-run, four-hit sixth inning, which wiped out the Dodgers’ 1-0 lead. But he might have eluded later bombing had the Dodger infield not gone into one of its frequent lapses.

This time, it was third baseman Bill Madlock’s throwing error that hastened Honeycutt’s downfall. After Mike Schmidt opened the sixth with a single, Glenn Wilson bounced a grounder to Madlock, whose throw to second base for the force play drew Steve Sax off the base.

It looked as though Honeycutt might pitch out of the problem after he forced Lance Parrish to foul out and Chris James to lift a short fly to left. But James’ blooper fell between shortstop Mariano Duncan and left fielder Pedro Guerrero, Schmidt scoring to tie it, 1-1.

From there, though, Honeycutt began to unravel.

Madlock momentarily redeemed himself and saved a run when he fielded Luis Aguayo’s hard smash and dived to third to force Wilson. That gave Honeycutt two outs, but pitcher Bruce Ruffin was by no means an automatic third.

Ruffin, who gave up three runs on seven hits through 7 innings, produced his own game-winning hit when he doubled home two runs. Honeycutt then walked Milt Thompson on four pitches and, after a visit to the mound by pitching coach Ron Perranoski, he gave up a triple to right field by Von Hayes that popped out of Mickey Hatcher’s glove the moment he crashed into the fence.

That was it for Honeycutt and the Dodgers, trailing, 5-1, at that point. Single runs off Ruffin (3-3) in both the seventh and eighth innings weren’t enough.

After having to pitch through rough stretches in the fourth (because of Duncan’s fielding error) and fifth inning (by his own doing), Honeycutt said he lost his concentration after Madlock’s error in the sixth.

Was it hard for Honeycutt to forget the error and push on in the inning?

“Yeah, I’d say so,” he said. “By the end of the sixth, my concentration wasn’t there. It’s a mental game a lot of the time. I got Parrish out, and the (bloop single) James hit, I was throwing well. Doggie (Madlock) made a great play on the force, but I just lost it when Ruffin (0 for 14 before Monday) came up.

“It was my fault. The pitcher has no right getting a hit off you that can open up the game.”

Madlock also took his share of the blame, but he said Ruffin’s hit was what really hurt.

“I had the error, but we still could have got out of the inning with only one unearned run instead of five,” Madlock said. “But that double by the pitcher, that killed us. And that other hit (Hayes’ triple). That made it four runs scored with two out.”

Both the Dodgers’ pitching and the defense have been less than sparkling four games into this Eastern trip. Opponents have tagged the Dodgers for 29 runs and 44 hits in the last four games. In that span, the Dodgers have committed seven errors and had even more adventuresome infield plays.

Lasorda was asked afterward if he flinches when opponents hit ground balls.

“No,” he said. “I want them to hit the ball on the ground. That’s what you want them to do, keep the ball in the infield and not out of the park.”

But is Lasorda concerned that the ground balls do not always stay in the infield, or if they do, they deflect off a glove or body?

“I think those guys are capable of doing a good job out there,” Lasorda said. “Tomorrow, we may go out there and see those guys make real good plays.”

So, the Dodgers continue to suffer--mostly in silence--through their longest losing streak since they began the season 0-5. Outwardly, at least, they are exuding patience rather than panic.

“Just another day in our lives,” outfielder Reggie Williams said.

Dodger Notes

Pedro Guerrero, who had two of the Dodgers’ seven hits, suffered a jammed third finger on his left hand sliding head-first into second on a stolen base. He was examined by a doctor afterward, but Dodger therapist Pat Screnar said Guerrero is not seriously hurt and should be able to play tonight. . . . Bill Madlock was fined $100 for throwing equipment (his helmet) after being called out on a close play at first base trying to beat out a bunt in the eighth inning. “Manny Mota (the Dodger first base coach) said I was safe, and Manny never says anything unless you really are safe,” Madlock said. First base umpire Bruce Froemming said that Madlock was clearly out, and that Madlock did not say anything to him. . . . Alejandro Pena (0-3) opposes the Phillies’ Kevin Gross (2-4) today at 4:30 (PDT).