Dodgers Find Some Pitches They Like, 7-1

With his Dodgers having scored two runs on only 14 hits during a three-game losing streak, Manager Tom Lasorda held a pregame meeting with his hitters Saturday night.

He didn’t plead for aggressiveness as much as selectivity.

The Dodgers were last in the major leagues in walks, averaging 2.65 per game.

Discounting intentional walks, Dave Anderson, Mariano Duncan, Pedro Guerrero, Jeff Hamilton, Mickey Hatcher, Mike Marshall, Steve Sax, John Shelby, Franklin Stubbs and Alex Trevino had combined to walk only 17 times in their last 512 at-bats.

Lasorda read off the individual figures during his meeting, then later said:

“There’s been nothing wrong with the effort. That’s one of the problems.

“They’re trying so hard that they’re swinging at a lot of bad pitches.

“I want them to stay aggressive, but I want them to be a little more selective. I don’t want them to make outs on the pitcher’s pitches.”

In the game that followed, selectivity was an issue for the Dodgers only when it came to which of a series of fat pitches they should jump on.

“That was more like it,” Lasorda said after the Dodgers collected 13 hits and four walks in a 7-1 victory over the Houston Astros before a Dodger Stadium crowd of 39,070.

A slumping team got three things they needed most:

--A dominating performance by their starting pitcher. Orel Hershiser (7-6) allowed only six hits and an unearned run in his third straight victory.

Hershiser has permitted only two earned runs in that span of 22 innings and said he seems to have regained his 1985 consistency. Hershiser was 19-3 in ’85 and 14-14 last year.

“I feel like I’m consistent again with two or three pitches,” he said after improving his earned-run average to 2.76 with his fourth complete game, tying San Francisco’s Kelly Downs for the National League lead.

--An encounter with a struggling pitcher. Bob Knepper, a 17-game winner last year, had lost five in a row en route to a 2-5 record and criticism from Manager Hal Lanier for his reluctance to pitch inside.

Knepper was losing, 4-0, when he left after the fifth inning. The Dodgers then added to their lead at the expense of Ron Mathis and Dave Meads.

--The return of their hottest hitter. Mike Marshall, who had missed the last two games with a pulled thigh muscle, triggering an outburst by Pedro Guerrero in which Guerrero reportedly accused his teammate of malingering, doubled as the Dodgers scored a quick two runs in the first. Marshall also hit his seventh homer in the eighth off Meads.

Marshall wore an ice bag on his ailing muscle as he reclined on a trainer’s table later and said that the incident with Guerrero and the ensuing turmoil did not prompt his return.

“The only factor was going to be if I felt healthy enough to play again,” he said. “I want to play, but I’m the only one who knows how I feel. You’ve really got to give the trainers credit. I’ve spent a lot of time in here the last two days and it paid off.”

Marshall, who had batted .343 in the nine games previous to missing the last two, said his hot bat carried over.

Lasorda said a little more, agreeing with Guerrero that Marshall’s presence is imperative if pitchers are going to be prevented from pitching around Guerrero, whose explosion Thursday night came after he had walked three times against Jim Deshaies.

“It’s evident that things are different with that guy behind him,” Lasorda said, alluding to Marshall. “Ever since he came back from the operation (to have a wart removed from his left index finger), he’s been hitting ropes. He and Pete hit 62 homers one year. We need him behind Pete.”

Guerrero drilled a single with two out in the first and Marshall followed with a double. Mickey Hatcher drove in both with a single.

It was still 2-0 in the fifth when Jeff Hamilton singled and Dave Anderson looped a hit down the right-field line, where it took a bad bounce and eluded Kevin Bass for a run-scoring triple. e Anderson then scored on a single by Steve Sax.

A walk to Sax and a double by John Shelby produced the fifth run in the seventh, then Marshall and Alex Trevino homered in the eighth. It was Trevino’s first homer of the year.

In snapping the Astros’ four-game win streak, Hershiser pitched seven scoreless innings before Sax booted a two-out grounder in the eighth to allow Craig Reynolds, who had doubled, to score.

“You’re just not going to hold this team down for long,” Hershiser said of the recent Dodger slump.

Is selectivity the key? That’s what Lasorda was saying behind his locked door.

Dodger Notes

Has Mike Marshall’s unhappiness in response to the confrontation with Pedro Guerrero resulted in his asking to be traded? “Anything about that will have to come from (attorney) Jerry Kapstein. That’s his area,” Marshall said. Kapstein could not be reached for comment Saturday, but Dodger Vice President Fred Claire confirmed that he and Kapstein did talk Friday, though he would not reveal the subject matter. Claire said he has not made any trade calls on Marshall’s behalf. Will he? “My policy is that it serves no purpose to discuss trades and the possibility that certain players will be involved in them,” Claire said. “I’ll only say that Mike Marshall is an important player on this club.” . . . . Scene: Guerrero and Marshall exchanging high fives with teammates in the dugout after their first-inning hits, but not with each other. . . . Some walk totals: Dave Anderson three in his last 30 at-bats, Mariano Duncan one in his last 89, Guerrero six in his last 69, Jeff Hamilton one in his last 28, Mickey Hatcher one in his last 67, Marshall 3 in his last 91, Steve Sax two in his last 41, John Shelby two in his last 46, Franklin Stubbs one in his last 35, and Alex Trevino one in his last 46. . . . Matt Young, who threw fastballs without pain for 15 minutes Friday and was expected to throw breaking pitches for another 15 Saturday to test his strained elbow, stopped after five minutes. “It just didn’t feel right,” he said, “but I’m not discouraged, it’s not a setback. I hadn’t thrown for four or five days, then I threw hard for 15 minutes yesterday. Maybe it was to be expected. I’ll try again tomorrow.” . . . Scene: Fernando Valenzuela being measured for a likeness in the Buena Park Movieland Wax Museum. . . . Tim Leary (1-1) faces Danny Darwin (3-4) in today’s series finale.