Fitzgerald’s Single in 12th Pushes Expos Past Dodgers

Mike Fitzgerald’s two-out single to right field scored Tom Foley with the winning run in the top of the 12th inning Friday night to give the Montreal Expos a 2-1 victory over the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium.

Foley reached second when Dodger third baseman Tracy Woodson sailed his routine throw past Pedro Guerrero at first. Herm Winningham was walked intentionally, which brought up Fitzgerald.

Two Expo errors in the eighth inning helped the Dodgers tie the score, 1-1, before a crowd of 30,917 at Dodger Stadium.

Montreal mistakes led to the Dodgers’ game-tying run in the eighth inning, when second baseman Tom Foley could not handle Mickey Hatcher’s routine grounder at second. One out later, Tracy Woodson reached base and Craig Shipley, running for Hatcher, took second when third baseman Tim Wallach bobbled the bouncer.

Another out later, pinch-hitter Ken Landreaux broke an 0-for-12 slump with a single up the middle to score Shipley. The Dodgers’ second hit of the night accounted for an unearned run.

They had Perez in trouble again in the ninth as Pedro Guerrero singled and stole second with one out. But John Shelby and Shipley struck out the game into extra innings.

By then, Tim Crews had relieved Dodger starter Orel Hershiser, who pitched a game worth remembering himself. Hershiser left after eight innings, having allowed one run and five hits while striking out six.

Likewise, Perez gave way to a pinch-hitter in the top of the 10th. His totals: Nine innings, one unearned run, three hits, five strikeouts and no walks.

The Dodgers loaded the bases in the bottom of the 10th, but couldn’t score. Stubbs grounded out to end the threat.

The hot-hitting Wallach, a former Cal State Fullerton All-American, gave the Expos a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning with his third home run in four games and 22nd of the season. It also gave him 107 runs batted in, second in the National League behind Andre Dawson of the Chicago Cubs and six short of the Montreal single-season record set by Dawson.

Still, the real story through seven innings was Perez, the 30-year-old right-hander making his second appearance for Montreal since being promoted from the minors Aug. 19.

Perez had faced 22 batters, one more than the minumum, and allowed just one hit, an infield single to Steve Sax that bounced off Perez’s glove and could not be handled by Hubie Brooks at shortstop. But Franklin Stubbs followed by hitting into a double play.

The Dodgers got their second runner of the game in the seventh, just after Foley snarred Stubbs’ line drive headed to right field with a leaping catch. Pedro Guerrero reached first on an error by Brooks, but Perez and the Expos got out of the inning when John Shelby grounded to first for the third out.

A 15-game winner with Atlanta in 1983, Perez was part of the Braves’ same-day pitching purge of April 1, 1986, when fellow veterans Len Barker, Rick Camp and Terry Forster were also released. He didn’t pitch in 1986, working only in the Dominican Republic, Mexico and the minor leagues before signing with Montreal in mid-February and working his way up through the Expos’ system.

Friday’s outing marked Perez’s first start since Oct. 5, 1985, and put him in double-digits in innings pitched in the majors for the first time in two years.

The only ones who were made to look rusty in this game were the Dodgers, who had scored 17 runs in two victories over the Expos last week in Montreal.

Dodger Notes

Dodger pitcher Brad Havens, on the 21-day disabled list with an injured rib cage, made his second rehabilitation appearance for Triple-A Albuquerque Thursday, allowing five hits and three runs in three innings. . . . Steve Sax began the night two hits shy of 1,000 in his career.. . . .The Eddie Murray-to-the-Dodgers rumors are still alive. Baltimore special assignment scout Dan Carnevale was sent to New York earlier in the week to watch the Dodgers play the Mets. . . .The Dodgers signed pitcher Chris Nichting of Northwestern University, their No. 3 selection in the 1987 amateur free agent draft. A right-hander who played for the United States in the recent Pan American games, Nichting will report to the Arizona Instructional League Sept. 11. . . . Shawn Hillegas (2-1) vs. Bob Sebra (6-14) tonight at 7:35. The Hollywood Stars Night activities begin at 6.