It’s Not a Joke as Dodgers Lose Two to Cardinals

Late Night With the Dodgers, episode one, here Tuesday against the St. Louis Cardinals turned out to be as zany and unpredictable as anything David Letterman would dream up.

With the Dodgers, however, the joke is always on themselves. Tuesday’s features included Stupid Fielding Tricks, Top 10 Ways To Lose Games and Brush With Ineptitude .

After enduring a 2-hour 20-minute rain delay before an evening doubleheader, the Never-Ready-For-Prime-Time Dodgers committed three consecutive errors in the seventh inning of the first game, turning a 4-3 lead into a 5-4 loss to the Cardinals.

No punch lines to this demoralizing and inventive defeat were issued from the Dodgers between games. In a departure from club policy, Manager Tom Lasorda barred the media from talking to his players afterward.

As one Dodger beat writer quipped afterward, maybe Lasorda should have locked the doors before the first game.

Eventually, the Dodgers emerged from the clubhouse for the second game, which began at 11:14 Central time.

A long night got considerably longer as the second game unfolded. The Dodgers had a 4-2 lead in bottom of the ninth, but Steve Lake’s two-run home run to left field with one out tied it.

What had been a solid Dodger effort showed signs of fading in the top of the ninth when Steve Sax committed a base-running blunder that killed a rally. Sax was on second with one out, and Dave Anderson flied to right. A befuddled Sax kept running, apparently thinking that there were two out, and he was doubled off second.

So, the teams played on into a 10th inning, when Jack Clark singled off Ken Howell and drove home Tom Lawless from second with one out at 3:02 a.m. local time, giving the Cardinals another 5-4 win.

But after the events of the opening game, which marked the midway point in the season in fitting fashion, even a resounding win in the second game would have been only partial redemption for the Dodgers.

With one out and no one on in the bottom of the seventh of Game 1, the Dodgers began to fold and frazzle like a cheap lawn chair. Tim Leary, their starting pitcher, walked both Vince Coleman and Ozzie Smith, prompting Lasorda to summon Brian Holton from the bullpen.

That’s when the continuing misadventures of the Dodger defense put on a comedy skit that won’t soon be forgotten by veteran Dodger watchers, who could not remember the last time the club made three errors in one inning.

The unraveling began when Tommy Herr hit a ground ball to Hatcher at first. Hatcher backhanded the ball, but bobbled it and had no play. That loaded the bases for Jack Clark. But Holton forced Clark to lift a fly ball to Ken Landreaux in left field.

Landreaux, a late-inning defensive replacement for Pedro Guerrero, settled under the ball. It hit square in the middle of his glove and popped out. That error scored Coleman with the tying run and brought up Willie McGee with the bases loaded and one out.

McGee grounded sharply to Hatcher at first base. Hatcher’s throw to the plate to try to force Smith was off to the right and bounced well in front of catcher Alex Trevino. Smith scored, and the Cardinals had a 5-4 lead.

Finally, the defense did something right, as Holton forced Terry Pendleton to ground into a double play to end the inning but not quite yet end the Dodgers’ misery.

St. Louis had ace reliever Todd Worrell on the mound, but the Cardinals’ own defensive miscue resulted in a leadoff triple by Steve Sax. John Morris, the Cardinals’ defensive replacement in right, tried to make a diving catch. But the ball bounced under his glove and to the wall, Sax taking third.

But the ultimate pie-in-the-face awaited the Dodgers. With Sax, the tying run, on third and none out, the Dodgers could not bring him home.

Pinch-hitter Danny Heep popped to third. Dave Anderson lined softly to second. And John Shelby flied to left. Had the Dodgers been in the field, that might have been worth, say, three runs.

But the Cardinal fielders made the plays, and the Dodgers officially ended the first half of the season with a dismal 37-44 record.

Before the pratfall at the close of the first game, it looked as if the Dodgers might close the curtain on the first half of the season on a positive note and have a chance to sweep the doubleheader from the Cardinals.

Instead, all the Dodgers’ productive efforts early on turned out to be was the set-up before the punch line of another cruel joke.

Phil Garner gave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead in the second inning with a solo home run off Cardinal starter Rick Horton that landed directly over the 383-foot sign in left field.

The Dodgers made it 2-0 later in the inning. The rally, starter by Garner, continued with a double to left-center by Trevino, who went to third on the play after the ball slipped out of Coleman’s hand in left field. One out later, Leary’s single scored Trevino.

But the Cardinals came back in the third for three runs off Leary. Horton doubled to left on a ball that Guerrero misplayed. Two outs and two walks later, McGee doubled to left, scoring Horton, Coleman and Smith.

It remained, 3-2, until the top of the seventh. With Leary on second and two out and the count 2 and 2 to Shelby, Cardinal Manager Whitey Herzog played the percentages and brought in Worrell, a right-hander, to replace Horton, a left-hander.

Shelby, a switch-hitter, is much more effective hitting right-handed, so the move made sense. But Shelby hit a check-swing bloop single to center that scored Leary for the go-ahead run.

But the Dodger lead did not make it through the inning. And the night became a little longer going into the second game.

Dodger Notes

In tonight’s doubleheader, the Dodgers will send Fernando Valenzuela against the Cardinals’ Bob Forsch in the first game (3:35 PDT). Bob Welch, working on three days’ rest, will pitch the second game for the Dodgers. St. Louis will go with Dave LaPoint, being recalled from Louisville of the American Assn. . . . Orel Hershiser continues treatment for stiffness in his back. He says he will be ready to pitch Friday against Chicago. Said physical therapist Pat Screnar: “Orel said his back felt fine when he woke up this morning, but it started getting stiff after that. I don’t see (the stiffness) persisting. He was able to play catch. He’ll be OK.”

Manager Tom Lasorda on Pedro Guerrero’s neck injury: “That hasn’t hurt him in a while, but he’s always got something. One guy (Mike Marshall) goes in, another goes out (Guerrero).” Guerrero’s neck apparently felt good enough for him to be inserted into the lineup Tuesday. Marshall continues treatment on a strained left thigh muscle. He played in the four innings Monday night before the rainout, and he was in the lineup Tuesday. . . . Mariano Duncan’s migraine headache had subsided enough Tuesday so that he could play if called upon.

Although Mike Ramsey’s descent from the Dodgers’ opening-day center fielder to starting center fielder in Albuquerque (Triple A) to San Antonio (Double A) would appear to be quite a comedown, Dodger Vice President Fred Claire said Ramsey still is considered a top outfield prospect. Ramsey was demoted to make room for Ralph Bryant, who had been optioned to Albuquerque when Duncan came off the disabled list. Albuquerque has an abundance of outfielders--Bryant, Reggie Williams, Jose Gonzalez, Chris Gwynn. “I spoke with Mike and he expressed concern about this,” Claire said. “But it’s not a demotion. The bottom line is, he needs to play, and we have so many quality outfielders that we had to make a move. We’ve had a lot of players go from San Antonio to the big leagues. Steve Sax did it. He jumped ahead of (Jack) Perconte. “Mike has proven he can make that jump to the major league level. We’ll just have to wait and see.” . . . Add minor league news: Mike Deveraux, another highly touted outfielder in the Dodger organization, was named to the Texas League (Double A) All-Star team. Also, minor league shortstop Craig Shipley has been optioned from Albuquerque to San Antonio, but he remains on the Dodgers’ 40-man roster.