Power Is Dodgers’ Nemesis : He Improves to 7-1 Against Old Team as Reds Win, 6-0

An elaborate press conference did not precede Cincinnati Red pitcher Ted Power’s first Dodger Stadium appearance this season, as it did for celebrated teammate Eric Davis prior to Friday night’s game.

The Dodgers, no doubt, would like to forget all about Power, who was traded from the Dodgers to the Reds in 1982 for Mike Ramsey, now prowling center field for the Dodgers’ Triple-A team in Albuquerque.

Power, meanwhile, has delighted this season in shorting out the Dodger offense, which has hardly experienced many surges lately against any pitcher, anyway.

After pitching a complete-game win against his old team in Cincinnati earlier in the month, Power made it a shutout Friday night in the Reds’ 6-0 win before a Dodger Stadium crowd of 41,458.

Take this, Dodgers: Power is now 7-1 lifetime against his former team. This season, he has allowed a total of two runs and 10 hits in 18 innings.

Speaking of power, the Reds’ offense knocked the ball all over the place. Starter Rick Honeycutt gave up solo home runs to Tracy Jones in the first inning and Dave Parker in the sixth, and reliever Ken Howell allowed a three-run homer to Bo Diaz in the eighth.

Cincinnati has remained in first place in the National League West primarily because of its hitting. The Reds’ three home run performance Friday gives them 100 home runs this season. The Dodgers have 62.

By the way, Davis had what for him is a standard game. He went 1-for-3 at the plate, scored two runs and stole two bases. And, in the bottom of the eighth, Davis stole a potential extra-base hit from Mike Marshall when he leaped at the center-field wall and made the catch.

Marshall’s shot was one of the few the Dodgers hit against Power, who relied on well-timed ground-ball outs and one Dodger base-running calamity in the early innings subdue the Dodgers.

It’s not that the Dodgers didn’t have scoring chances against Power in the early innings. They put runners in scoring position in the second, fourth and fifth innings, only to strand them.

In the third inning, they squandered an opportunity in quite ludicrous fashion. With one out, Steve Sax walked. John Shelby then lofted a fly to shallow left that dropped between left-fielder Kal Daniels and Davis in center.

Sax apparently thought the ball had been caught, because he ran back toward first base. Shelby apparently thought the same thing, because he stopped about halfway to first. Davis, meanwhile, retrieved the ball and threw to Dave Concepcion covering second to force Sax.

Concepcion then threw to first baseman Dave Parker, who went looking for Shelby, retreating back toward home plate. Eventually, Shelby ran out of the baseline and was called out.

Score that one a long-distance double play.

Earlier, meanwhile, the first inning had been unkind to Honeycutt for the second game in a row. Again, he and his infield were to blame.

Last Sunday in Houston, Honeycutt suffered through a four-run first inning that included two errors and a wild pitch.

On Friday night, Honeycutt gave up two runs in the first inning, which is risky in these days of Dodger offensive inactivity.

The first run was clearly Honeycutt’s fault. Jones, now playing regularly insted of being platooned with Kal Daniels, lined Honeycutt’s 2 and 1 pitch over the fence in left-center.

Davis, the next batter, chopped a seemingly routine grounder to Jeff Hamilton at third base. But Hamilton, perhaps overly conscious of Davis’ speed, rushed a one-bounce throw to first that Franklin Stubbs could not handle. Davis took second on the error when the ball bounced toward the Reds’ dugout.

Davis didn’t stay there long, though. After Honeycutt forced Parker to fly to center for the second out, Buddy Bell delivered a single to left that easily scored Davis.

Apparently, Dodger left-fielder Pedro Guerrero felt he had a chance to get Davis at the plate, because he over-threw Hamilton, the cutoff man, allowing Bell to advance to second. Honeycutt overcame that miscue, however, getting Bo Diaz to ground to third to end the inning.

It remained 2-0 until the sixth inning, when Parker belted his 18th home run of the season, which increased his RBI total to 52.

Honeycutt probably felt some relief earlier in the inning, when Jones and Davis both grounded out. But he still had to face Parker, who unleashed a golflike swing on Honeycutt’s low pitch and drove it halfway up into the right-field seats.

That blow seemed to slighty unravel Honeycutt. He proceeded to walk Bell and give up a single to Diaz. But Kurt Stillwell’s ground ball to second ended the inning and kept the Dodgers’ reasonably close.

Dodger Notes

As expected, the Houston Astros took minor league pitcher Jeff Edwards as the player to be named in last Friday’s Phil Garner trade. Edwards, who was 2-1 with a 6.08 earned-run average with the Dodgers’ Triple-A team in Albuquerque, will report to the Astros’ Triple-A team in Tucson. The reason for the delay was that Edwards had been on the disabled list after suffering from tendinitis in his left shoulder. . . . Al LaMacchia, a Tornoto Blue Jays vice president and a close friend of Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda, has been watching the Dodgers the last two nights. The Dodgers earlier had an interst in Blue Jay center fielder Lloyd Moseby. Toronto is believed to be interested in either Rick Honeycutt, Tim Leary or Alejandro Pena.

Steve Sax is second among second basemen in the latest All-Star voting. Pedro Guerrero, who is among the league leaders in several offensive categories, ranks fifth among outfielders. Balloting ends July 1. . . . Shortstop Mariano Duncan had the stitches removed from above his right knee before Friday’s game. Duncan is on the 15-day disabled list after being spiked last week in Houston. He continues rehabilitation. . . .Cincinnati’s Eric Davis, during a 20-minute press conference before Friday’s game, said that the Reds would lead theNational League West by a greater margin had the club’s starting pitching been stronger earlier in the season. “If we ever hit a stretch where we play consistently--put together hitting and pitching--we might be 10 or 12 games up,” Davis said. “But our pitching hasn’t really failed us so far. We’re still up.”

Atlanta Braves’ second baseman Glenn Hubbard, nailed in the right shoulder with Ted Simmons’ line drive in the odd ending to the Dodgers’ 2-1 win Thursday night, had X-rays taken on his shoulder Friday morning in San Diego. No serious damage was seen, but Hubbard was kept out of the starting lineup Friday night agaisnt the Padres. . . . Tim Leary (1-3) opposes the Reds’ Guy Hoffman (6-1) tonight at 7:05.