Dodgers, Rain Fall on Braves : 14-Hit Attack Gives Valenzuela 9th Win

Onto every Dodger trip a little rain must fall. Weathermen in National League cities merely have to check the schedule to find out when the Dodgers hit town and then predict evening thunderstorms.

“We used to be the sunshine boys,” Manager Tom Lasorda said. “I guess we aren’t any more.”

But unlike the Dodgers’ last trip, when the daily showers added to their depression, the rain was only a minor distraction here Friday night in the club’s opener of a six-game trip.

The Dodgers had a two-run lead over the Atlanta Braves in the eighth inning and were threatening to add more when the threatening sky above Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium unleashed a torrential downpour.

After a 1-hour 4-minute delay, made that long because the grounds crew could not completely cover the field with a tarpaulin, the Dodgers wrapped up a 9-5 win over the Braves, which lifted their slim hope of contending in the National League West race.

For once, the Dodgers didn’t curse the weather conditions or find fault with much of anything that happened Friday night.

Their 9-run, 14-hit offensive production off three Brave pitchers, which included home runs by Franklin Stubbs and Pedro Guerrero, enabled starter Fernando Valenzuela to overcome early ineffectiveness and improve his record to 9-8 with the win.

Newcomer Tim Crews, who took over for Valenzuela after the rain delay, pitched the final two innings to give the Dodgers their fifth win in the last six games.

“This was a really big win for us,” said catcher Mike Scioscia, who had three hits. “Maybe this will start something.”

Some Dodgers came into this series entertaining visions of their 1982 comeback, in which they made up 11 games in 12 days on the Braves to leap into first place in the National League West race. The Dodgers aren’t counting on such a startling sequel, but they are hoping for a steady ascent in the standings.

Friday night’s win pushed the Dodgers ahead of the Braves into fourth place, but they still are 8 1/2 games behind first-place Cincinnati.

“If we can just win four out of every five games, like we just did, we’ll be back in it,” Lasorda said.

The late-inning rain delay neither dampened the Dodgers’ hope nor their performance.

Once play resumed, the Dodgers ended up scoring two additional runs on a John Shelby single, giving them a 9-5 lead entering the bottom of the eighth.

The delay forced Lasorda to pull Valenzuela, who endured a shaky four innings before settling down for his final three innings of work. Crews, replacing injured Alejandro Pena on the roster, gave up an eighth-inning double to Ozzie Virgil and faced only seven batters.

Although he struggled early, Valenzuela was pleased with his performance. He also indicated that he didn’t mind that the rain delay ruined his chance for a complete game.

“Maybe it’s good that Tim came in,” Valenzuela said. “Get a new arm in there to pitch. It’s tough to hold a two-run lead in this ball park. The ball was jumping off the bat tonight.”

The Dodgers, last in the league in run-making, took advantage of that.

The key hits were Stubbs’ three-run home run in the first inning off Brave starter Doyle Alexander, Guerrero’s home run in the seventh that gave the Dodgers a 7-5 lead and Shelby’s two-run single in the eighth.

“We got some big hits tonight,” Lasorda said. “Our run production has been up the last five or six games. I told you guys we’d start getting the big hits.”

One thing Lasorda doesn’t predict these days is Valenzuela’s performance. Valenzuela’s season-long inconsistency was in evidence again Friday night.

The Braves knocked him around the first four innings, with Dale Murphy and Ken Griffey hitting homers. But Valenzuela later became more accurate with his fastball and more effective with his screwball to shut down the Braves during the rest of his stint.

Valenzuela’s tough test came in the sixth, when the Braves had Virgil at third base with one out. But Valenzuela used his screwball to strike out both pinch-hitter Graig Nettles and Dion James, who earlier had two RBI singles.

“My screwballs were good that inning,” Valenzuela said. “Scioscia told me to keep it down and away on those guys, and I did. The last three innings, I felt a lot better with my screwballs. Tonight, I threw the screwball a lot better, and my fastball had better location.”

Valenzuela’s performance heartened Lasorda.

“His screwball had a much better down-break on it than before,” Lasorda said. “I think he needed a win bad. I think this win, psychologically, could help him a great deal.”

Crews’ second straight impressive relief outing since being recalled from Albuquerque may have thrust him to the top of Lasorda’s list of reliable right-handed short relief pitchers--not that the list was too long to begin with.

“The big thing is, he comes in there and throws the ball over the plate,” Lasorda said. “He’s got a good change of speeds, good control and confidence. I’ll give him an A+ for tonight.”

As a unit, the Dodgers (46-56) have not had a passing grade this season. But they are looking at the final two months of the season as a makeup test for their earlier failings.

Some of the regular problems cropped up again Friday night. Shortstop Dave Anderson had two early errors that resulted in three unearned runs, and Valenzuela’s pitching was not stable in the early going.

Yet, for once, the offense carried the Dodgers.

Guerrero had two hits and two RBIs, including his 22nd home run, before leaving in the eighth inning with a strained neck muscle.

Mike Marshall, coming back after missing three games with the flu and back stiffness, had a run-scoring single and a double before leaving in the eighth with the same stiff back.

Scioscia, who had hit only .197 in his previous 21 games, had two doubles and a single. And Shelby, who had been 4 for 43 since July 16, delivered his two-run single in the eighth.

“It’s definitely good to see us score runs,” Scioscia said. “That’s been our problem the whole season. Maybe this is a start of a streak.”

Dodger Notes In a critique of the Dodgers’ downfall published Thursday, the San Francisco Chronicle quoted sources as saying that Fred Claire will remain as the club’s vice president and that this will be Tom Lasorda’s last season as manager. The Chronicle said that an “important position will be created for Lasorda” but that it will be below Claire’s. . . . As expected, the Dodgers have decided to temporarily demote struggling Rick Honeycutt, winless since mid-May, to the bullpen. Pitching coach Ron Perranoski said Ken Howell will start Monday night at Cincinnati in Honeycutt’s place and Tim Leary probably will start Tuesday night against the Reds in the fifth spot in the rotation. “We’re leaning toward Leary, but we aren’t sure yet,” Perranoski said. “Maybe a couple appearances down there will help Rick’s confidence and his sinker ball. He’s getting the sinker up and it’s hurting him.”