Dodgers Are Doubly Hurt in Latest Loss : Scioscia Breaks a Finger in Practice Before the Mets’ 5-2 Victory

Losing games because of inactivity at the plate has been frustratingly common for the Dodgers. But losing an important player at the plate, during batting practice, no less, seems an unusually cruel occurrence.

Monday night, as a prelude to another episode of splintered hitting and fractured defense in a 5-2 loss to the New York Mets, Dodger catcher Mike Scioscia fractured the middle finger on his left hand trying to drag bunt during batting practice.

Scioscia, put on the 15-day disabled list, was hit with the pitch on the tip of his finger. The injury isn’t expected to keep him out as long as most finger fractures.

But Scioscia, hitting .288, will be lost for at least two weeks. Alex Trevino will start in his place, and Gilberto Reyes has been recalled from Albuquerque as the backup catcher.

“I just feel sick about it, really,” Scioscia said. “The ball just hit my finger. It was my own fault.”

If the sight of Scioscia walking around the clubhouse with a finger wrapped thickly in gauze didn’t sink Dodger spirits as low as some of their batting averages, the events of their third straight loss, before 39,624 fans at Dodger Stadium, certainly must have.

In addition to the unexpected shelling of starter Fernando Valenzuela, who gave up 5 runs and 10 hits in just five innings, there was the usual offensive drought with runners in scoring position and another calamity in the field.

The enduring image of this loss, which otherwise might have been indistinguishable from other recent efforts, was when second baseman Steve Sax literally took one on the chin trying to catch a pop-up in the third inning. Sax said he didn’t exactly know where the ball hit him, but it certainly wasn’t his glove.

“I wasn’t hit as hard a Pinklon Thomas,” said Sax, perhaps trying to save face.

That faux pas didn’t cost the Dodgers a run, but it typified an evening of futility in which the Dodgers beat themselves just as much as the Mets beat them.

Perhaps the most surprising development Monday, even for a team that has lost 12 of its last 16 games, was that Valenzuela (5-3) made his quickest exit of the season. Trevino said poor location was Valenzuela’s problem, while some of the Mets said it was his velocity.

Both contributed to a forgettable performance in which New York scored single runs in the first and third innings and then nailed Valenzuela for three runs on four hits in the fifth. That made it 5-0 and prompted Manager Tom Lasorda to yank his best starter before the sun set. “He was missing spots,” Trevino said of Valenzuela, who quickly left the clubhouse afterward. “If he doesn’t spot the ball the way he wants it, he’s going to get hit, like any pitcher. Especially against a good hitting team.”

Countered Met first baseman Keith Hernandez: “Fernando’s not really popping his fastball like last year.”

Because of injuries and other circumstances, the Mets’ starting rotation hardly resembles last season’s imposing staff.

The Dodgers, who have scored only three runs in their last three games, hoped to take advantage against that decimated staff. But Terry Leach, making his first start since 1985, gave up only one unearned run and four hits through six innings to improve his record to 4-0.

The other Dodger run came in the eighth inning against reliever Roger McDowell, who earned his fifth save despite allowing the Dodgers to rally in each of the final three innings.

“That guy (Leach) went six innings,” Lasorda said, derisively. “He looked like Walter Johnson.”

Even if Met Manager Davey Johnson had started Robin Leach, interviewer of the stars, the Dodgers still might have struggled. But Leach, a side-arm pitcher who baffled the Dodgers in relief twice last week in New York, gave up only a run-scoring double to Mike Marshall in the sixth and had to pitch his way out of only one other jam during his stint.

That came in the second, when the Dodgers had the bases loaded with one out. But they stranded all three runners when Dave Anderson popped to second and Valenzuela grounded to first.

In another sight that told more any quote, Anderson ran to first base with only the shattered handle of his bat in hand after popping up.

“We’ve scored only three runs in our last three games, and we’ve got to be more productive than that,” Lasorda said. “The good news is, we’re getting (runners) on. The bad news is, we’re not driving them in. Maybe if you keep getting them on, you’ll drive them in.

“We’ve got to get a good offensive movement going. I don’t know how.”

Offense is not the Dodgers’ only problem, just the most profound. The way Marshall figures it, you can’t win unless the offense, defense and pitching are solid at the same time.

Monday, the Dodgers again went 0 for 3, though the defensive lapses weren’t as numerous or as glaring as in previous games.

“When you don’t play a complete game, you don’t win,” said Marshall, who had three of the Dodgers’ 10 hits. “We’re giving away runs early, and it’s very difficult to catch up. We’re putting both our pitchers and hitters in a hole.”

Trevino said that unwanted influences such as the Dodger defensive foibles and hitting drought are causing many of Valenzuela’s unusually average performances this season.

“You got to look at a lot of situations Fernando’s had,” Trevino said. “He needs run support. He needs to be lucky once in a while. He needs to be helped by the defense once in a while. All those things help a pitcher. You can’t win without that.”

It is a fact the Dodgers are proving almost daily.

Dodger Notes

Trainer Bill Buhler said that had catcher Mike Scioscia suffered the fracture higher on his finger, he probably would be sidelined longer than the expected two weeks. “There was no joint fracture involved, just the tip,” Buhler said. “A real freak injury.” . . . Added Scioscia: “I’ve bunted a lot and that’s never happened to me in batting practice or in a game.” . . . Shortstop Mariano Duncan and third baseman Jeff Hamilton were benched Monday night. Duncan is hitting .219, while Hamilton went 0 for 3 and had two errors in his 1987 debut Sunday. Said Hamilton: “The tough thing for me, like last year, is to come to the park and wonder whether I’m going to play. I know the reasoning behind (not playing Monday). Right now, I just have to keep working and hopefully I’ll get back in.” . . . Steve Greenberg, agent for deposed Dodger third baseman Bill Madlock, said Monday that Madlock probably will sign with one of three American League teams by the end of the week. Greenberg would not specify the teams, but it is believed the Chicago White Sox are interested. The White Sox play a four-game series against the Angels beginning Thursday. . . . Pedro Guerrero has been bothered for two weeks by a partially torn tendon in the ring finger of his left hand. Guerrero, who has played with the injury with only minimal pain, suffered the slight tear sliding head-first into second base in Philadelphia.