Clark Beats Dodgers Again, This Time on 2-Run Homer in 9th

A role reversal can be fun. But, as late-breaking events at Dodger Stadium showed, it is not advisable to place too much significance on it.

For much of Wednesday night’s game, the St. Louis Cardinals assumed some of the Dodgers’ qualities, and the Dodgers did a pretty decent impersonation of the National League East-leading Cardinals.

But then the masquerade ended and the Dodgers reverted to form, dropping a 3-1 decision to the Cardinals in familiar fashion--a game-winning home run by Jack Clark in the ninth inning.

Dodger starter Bob Welch’s attempt to protect a 1-0 lead in the ninth failed when he gave up a leadoff double to Ozzie Smith and a subsequent run-scoring single to Tommy Herr. Then Clark, that noted Dodger nemesis, launched his 29th home run of the season to left field to hark back images of the 1985 playoffs to many in the crowd of 33,665.

Before the Cardinals restored order in the ninth, the Dodgers had used daring base running, converted three double plays--including one on a successful rundown--to take the lead.

The Cardinals, meanwhile, had obligingly helped the Dodgers’ hopes of breaking their losing streak--now at four games--by committing several faux pas that were quite familiar to Dodger fans. They committed two costly errors, squelched two rallies with base-running blunders and suffered from an acute lack of offense.

St. Louis’ earlier indiscretions were mostly forgotten in the end, thanks to the ninth-inning rally capped by Clark’s homer. The win not only gave the Cardinals 60 wins, it kept alive their streak of not being shut out this season.

“It was a good win for us--under the circumstances,” said Clark, who powered a high fastball a third of the way into the left-field seats. “We never think about getting shut out, so I didn’t even know we hadn’t been shut out.”

The Dodgers, conversely, have been shut out 10 times this season. In the last four games, the Dodgers have totaled only six runs.

At least the Dodgers broke their three-game habit of scoring in the first inning and then getting shut out the rest of the way. This time, they scored an unearned run in the third inning against Cardinal starter Greg Mathews and were shut out over the final six innings.

The run came when Mariano Duncan hit a leadoff double and scored on Mathews’ two-base throwing error on Welch’s sacrifice bunt.

That was one of the Cardinals’ two errors, not counting the two rare base-running blunders, by Vince Coleman and Clark, that negated rallies in the third and fourth innings.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers also had chances to build on the shaky 1-0 lead. The best opportunity came in the eighth inning, after right-hander Lee Tunnell had replaced Mathews.

With one out, Tunnell walked Pedro Guerrero, then gave up a single to Mike Marshall. Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda decided to pinch-hit left-handed Danny Heep for Mickey Hatcher against Tunnell, but Cardinal Manager Whitey Herzog countered by bring in left-hander Ken Dayley. Lasorda then replaced Heep with right-handed-hitting Alex Trevino, who smashed a hard-hit ground ball to short that Smith turned into an inning-ending double play.

“The guy (Trevino) hit a shot,” Lasorda said, explaining his move of pulling Hatcher (hitting .335) for a pinch-hitter. “If he gets a base hit, would you be saying anything to me about it? But now, I’ve made a mistake, right?”

Hatcher did not take being taken out well. He briefly left the dugout for the clubhouse, but he eventually returned.

“I can’t really comment on it,” said Hatcher, who had gone 0 for 3. “I sure am not happy about it, but that’s the way it goes. I guess I must have looked pretty bad up their my first three at-bats.”

The bad times were only beginning for the Dodgers.

Clark continued to torment Dodger pitching. His ninth-inning home run gave him 4 home runs and 17 RBIs against the Dodgers this season. It would have been more, but a two-run home run by Clark against the Dodgers’ Rick Honeycutt earlier this month at St. Louis was washed away by rain.

The Dodgers could not stage a comeback of their own in the bottom of the ninth against Dayley (4-1), and the loss kept them 9 1/2 games behind first-place Cincinnati and 1 game behind fourth-place Atlanta in the National League West.

Welch, whose record fell to 9-6, gave no excuses for losing a chance for his fourth shutout of the season. He winced as he confirmed that it was a high fastball that Clark hit out.

“When it’s 1-0, any kind of bad pitch you make is going to hurt you,” Welch said. “But I blew it by giving up the leadoff double, then the single. . . .”

Said Lasorda: “(Clark) is awesome, unbelievable. Naturally, you don’t want to throw the ball there. You don’t have much room for mistakes when you aren’t hitting.”

Hitting was one thing the Dodgers could not reverse, even temporarily, Wednesday night.

“We aren’t getting the big hit, putting consecutive hits together,” Hatcher said. “Until we do, we’re going to be sitting where we are now.”

Dodger Notes

Shortstop Dave Anderson was scratched from the Dodger lineup because of the reoccurrence of a sore left (non-throwing) shoulder. Anderson received an injection from Dr. Frank Jobe and is listed day-to-day. The injury is aggravated when Anderson dives for ground balls and jams his shoulder. . . . Second baseman Steve Sax returned to the lineup after a two-game absence with a sore right shoulder. Trainer Bill Buhler reported that Sax felt well enough to play Tuesday, had he been needed. . . . Cardinal pitcher John Tudor, out since April 19 with a broken right leg in a freak dugout accident, continued his rehabilitation with his first work against live hitting Wednesday night. Tudor pitched three innings in a Triple-A game at Louisville. He allowed four hits, one run and had two strikeouts. Tudor’s second minor league start will come Sunday. . . . The Dodgers still haven’t decided on a fifth starter, who will face the Chicago Cubs on Saturday. Tim Leary and Brad Havens, the two likely candidates, each worked Tuesday night. Leary pitched two innings, Havens one. Manager Tom Lasorda said that those appearances do not preclude the pitchers from coming back on Saturday. Another possible starter is Brian Holton, a spot starter in April in San Diego.