Dodgers Rained Out in S.F., Too--4 in Row

Rain followed the Dodgers north Friday night, but despite a steady drizzle, they were able to trade galoshes for spikes and umbrellas for bats--and actually play, after being confined to the clubhouse for three days.

Well, the Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants played for all of six minutes before that steady drizzle became a steady downpour. After a half inning, plate umpire Lee Weyer waved the teams off the field. On came the Candlestick Park grounds crew to cover the field once more.

Dodger players, soggy and stir- crazy from four days of rain, sloshed down the right-field line and back to the clubhouse, never to return. After a 1-hour 35-minute delay, Weyer called the game. It will be replayed Monday night, originally an day off for both teams, at 7:30.

“At least, we got to bat tonight,” Manager Tom Lasorda said, laughing. “This is unbelievable. Four rainouts. I can’t even remember three. This is frustrating.”

Tell it to Fernando Valenzuela, the Dodgers’ scheduled starter since Tuesday. Friday night, Va lenzuela at least made it as far as throwing warmup pitches in the left-field foul area for 15 minutes.

Dodger officials usually welcome days off for the valuable left arm of Valenzuela, who has logged at least 250 innings in each of the last six seasons. But because he threw and then sat and waited in the cold, Valenzuela has been temporarily bumped from the rotation.

Instead, Orel Hershiser (3-0) will pitch today at 12:20 p.m. against the Giants’ Mike Krukow (1-0), weather permitting. Lasorda did not say when Valenzuela will pitch again, but it might be in Monday night’s makeup game.

“It’s really tough waiting, especially on a pitcher,” Valenzuela said. “I threw 15 minutes. That’s no good for a pitcher to sit. But there’s nothing I can do about it. I need to throw in a game to really stay sharp.

“Today, I felt really good. The ball was moving in warmups. This is too many days off. Maybe that’s good. Maybe it’s bad. I don’t know. But I felt fine. I wish I had the chance.”

Added Lasorda: “I don’t want to risk it with Fernando. He warmed up, then sat down. I’m surprised they even started it with that rain.”

For those Dodger fans starved for action, here’s what took place Friday night:

Steve Sax, who sprained a joint in his right ring finger Monday night against the San Diego Padres, was back in the lineup and grounded a Kelly Downs pitch to shortstop for the first out. Then Alfredo Griffin struck out.

But Kirk Gibson, whose strained left hamstring had vastly improved as a result of the rainouts, stroked a single to right-center that sloshed on the outfield grass and stopped. Weyer threw the drenched ball out of play, and moments later, Pedro Guerrero grounded into a force play to end the top of the first inning.

Dodger players did not even have time to get to their appointed fielding positions before Weyer waved them off at 7:44 p.m. It took the grounds crew almost as long to put the tarpaulin on the field as it did for the teams to play the top of the first.

At 8:22 p.m., the rain eased, the tarp was removed and the game was scheduled to resume in 20 minutes. At 8:30, the rain returned, and so did the tarp.

Weyer waited until 9:20 p.m. before postponing the game, a decision that drew boos from the remaining Giant fans.

Some Dodger players weren’t exactly thrilled with the prospect of spending what would have been an off-day at Candlestick Park. Many players wanted to play a doubleheader either today or Sunday, but Giant officials apparently did not want to lose a home date.

Dave Anderson, the Dodgers’ player representative, said the decision to play Monday night “was completely out of our hands. There is that 19-day rule (teams cannot play in more than 19 consecutive days), but we don’t know whether rainouts count as a day, since you are at the stadium. I’ll try to call somebody at the (players’ union) and check it out.”

For the Giants, it was the first rainout at Candlestick since April 18, 1984. For the Dodgers, it was their first rainout since, oh, April 21, 1988.

Even though the Dodgers aren’t playing, they are gaining in the National League West standings. With Houston’s loss Friday night, the Astros are 10-5. The Dodgers remain 9-4, mere percentage points ahead of the Astros in the early race for first place.

Dodger Notes

Outfielder Mike Devereaux, who joined the Dodgers from their triple-A affiliate in Albuquerque, N.M., in time to watch it rain at Candlestick Park, said he has no idea about his future with the Dodgers. He might just be a temporary replacement for center fielder John Shelby, put on the disabled list Tuesday with a strained left abdominal muscle. But Devereaux is hoping that, if he plays well in Shelby’s absence, this might become a permanent gig. “It is definitely an opportunity to show some things whenever you get the chance of playing here,” said Devereaux, who was hitting .395 with 11 RBIs in 14 games at Albuquerque. “I don’t tell myself that I’m just going to be here two weeks, then go home. But I know what’s going on.” Devereaux hit .414 in the spring but was sent to Albuquerque because the Dodgers had signed free agents Kirk Gibson and Mike Davis, and the club was set on Shelby (.171 before his injury) as the center fielder. “I wasn’t happy about (being demoted), but I kept telling myself not to let it get me down. You have to have confidence in yourself. I think I can play for this team.”

Manager Tom Lasorda said Devereaux, 25, was sent to triple-A because he did not have enough experience. He played in double-A for two seasons after playing two years in junior college and two years at Arizona State. “I thought a year of triple-A would be beneficial to him,” Lasorda said. “But then, we had an emergency come up, and he’s the type of guy who can come up and help us right away. We’ve brought up guys from double-A before. We brought up (Steve) Sax, Fernando (Valenzuela), (Tom) Niedenfuer and Steve Howe from double-A. It can be done.”

Pitching coach Ron Perranoski is concerned that the rainouts will make the relief pitchers go out of kilter. “I’m particularly concerned with Jay Howell,” Perranoski said. “He’s made only two appearances (after off-season elbow surgery) and he needs the work. We’ll get him in there as soon as we can. As for the other guys, we have them playing long toss but that’s about it. I’m not concerned about the starters.” Said Howell, who pitched only 9 innings all spring: “(The layoff) shouldn’t matter. Jess (Orosco) has only pitched a couple innings, too. We’ve both been warming up almost every day.”