Valenzuela Struggles to 3-1 Win : He Strikes Out 13 Mets in 160-Pitch Performance

Once again, Fernando Valenzuela’s struggle was more with himself than the New York Mets here Tuesday night. Walks and strikeouts were amassed in almost equal numbers, and the pitches ranged from wild to wicked.

This was, unquestionably, a performance that typified the Dodger pitcher’s maddeningly inconsistent season. The suspense was whether the good or bad Valenzuela would eventually overtake the other.

It took 160 pitches and a few anxious moments along the way, but the dominating, pre-1987 Valenzuela finally took hold, enabling the Dodgers to emerge with a 3-1 victory over the Mets before 41,286 fans at Shea Stadium.

Contradictory descriptions of Valenzuela’s performance were voiced by all involved. In one breath, Valenzuela was assailed for being erratic and wild. In the next, he was hailed for being effective with all his pitches and deftly hitting the corners when he had to.

His statistics backed up the paradox. Valenzuela struck out a season-high 13, yet he matched his career-high with 8 walks. He also had two wild pitches. Valenzuela’s 160 pitches, according to pitching coach Ron Perranoski, was the second most he has thrown this season, yet he seemed to be stronger in the late innings.

Trying to make sense of it all was Dodger catcher Mike Scioscia, who finally came to this conclusion:

“The guy’s a winner. Even though he had good stuff and struggled, he still found a way to win.”

Valenzuela may be a winner in the figurative sense, but he has only been at or near .500 all season. Two straight victories, coming after three straight losses, improved his record to 11-11. Valenzuela’s earned-run average stands at 4.14, still higher than in any of his six previous major league seasons.

“I know I threw a lot of pitches and I know I didn’t have good control on my fastballs, but I think I had good stuff,” Valenzuela said. “I kept changing speeds on my screwball, and they swung at a lot of bad pitches, mostly screwballs. That helped me.”

So did a few runs from his offense, something other Dodger pitchers haven’t been given recently.

Tuesday night, though, Valenzuela received all the runs he needed on John Shelby’s two-run home run in the first inning off loser David Cone. In the ninth, Valenzuela knocked in the Dodgers’ third run with a single off reliever Terry Leach.

“Fernando hits so well, I’m thinking of playing him again tomorrow,” Manager Tom Lasorda cracked.

Valenzuela, tied with Rick Reuschel for the league lead in complete games with nine, faced far more crisis situations than Cone. Many were self-induced, but the Dodger defense also contributed to his anxiety.

The Mets loaded the bases with two outs in the first. Keith Hernandez doubled, Darryl Strawberry walked on four pitches, and Kevin McReynolds walked on a 3-and-2 pitch. But Valenzuela got Gary Carter to chase a screwball and foul out to Scioscia.

The next predicament came in the third, and it was solely Valenzuela’s doing. With one out, he walked Tim Teufel and Hernandez. But he struck out Strawberry on a screwball and then got McReynolds to fly to right.

Valenzuela seemed on the verge of getting knocked out in the fifth, but the Mets emerged with only one run. Mookie Wilson led off with and double, and Teufel followed with a single to cut the Dodgers’ lead to 2-1. Hernandez walked again, and Strawberry reached base when Valenzuela bobbled a throw from first baseman Mickey Hatcher.

That presented Valenzeula with another bases-loaded situation, but this time with no outs.

Once again, he escaped further damage. He struck out McReynolds on two curveballs and a fastball. He forced Carter to foul out again.

That brought up Howard Johnson, who has hit 31 home runs. But Valenzuela served up two slow screwballs in the dirt, and Johnson swung and missed at both. Then, he blew a fastball on the outside corner past Johnson for the inning-ending strikeout.

In the eighth, the Mets advanced McReynolds to third on an error by Dodger third baseman Tracy Woodson, a sacrifice bunt and Valenzuela’s second wild pitch of the night. Valenzuela then walked Johnson, who had struck out his first three at-bats. But Valenzuela got Rafael Santana to ground into a double play.

The Mets had plenty of chances to score, but Valenzuela frustrated them each time but once.

“What an exhibition of pitching he put on the fifth inning,” Lasorda said. “He pitches with great poise. Normal guys get in jams and start trying too hard and look to the bullpen. Fernando just gets better.” Scioscia, who could have occasionally used a shovel instead of a glove to excavate some of Valenzuela’s screwballs in the dirt, had ambivalent feelings about Valenzuela’s performance.

“He walked too many people,” Scioscia said. “I don’t care if you’re pitching around people, eight walks is still too many. But like I said, he finds a way to win. He had great stuff. The (screwballs) in the dirt are effective pitches for him . . . “

Dodger Notes

Dave Anderson, the Dodgers’ player representative, and Rick Honeycutt were interested spectators at the arbitration hearing concerning the free-agent collusion charge levied at the owners by the players’ association. Tom Reich, agent for Tim Raines, testified Tuesday, which is why Anderson and Honeycutt attended. “I wanted to see whether there really was any interest at all on the Dodgers’ part to sign Tim Raines,” Anderson said. Well, was there? “Reich testified that there was none at all. He said he wrote a letter to the Dodgers expressing Tim’s interest, and he said he got a call back from Mr. (former Dodger vice president Al) Campanis saying the Dodger weren’t interested in signing any free agents. After that, I left. I was just wondering if we did have any interest.”. . . . Tracy Woodson, who had three hits Tuesday night, injured his left wrist sliding into second base in the fifth inning. Woodson said he was not hurt badly enough to ask out of the game.. . . .Add Fernando Valenzuela statistics: Though he remains among the National League strikeout leaders with 151, Valenzuela is on a pace to eclipse his season-high for walks. He had 95 after Tuesday. His previous high was 106 in 1984, when Valenzuela was 12-17. . . . Steve Sax went 0 for 5 Tuesday. Sax is hitless in his last 20 at-bats. . . .John Shelby, second on the Dodgers with 18 home runs, has 8 homers and 19 runs batted in in his last 27 games.