Elster’s Home Run Beats Dodgers, 5-4

Dodger frustrations, already festering because of an acute inability to beat the New York Mets in several chances this season, plunged to new emotional depths here Tuesday night.

Elation and satisfaction turned to intense disappointment and bitter sarcasm in the time it took for light-hitting Met shortstop Kevin Elster to launch a home-run shot into the night, giving the Mets a 5-4 win over the Dodgers in 11 innings.

A half inning away from a seemingly uplifting come-from-behind win over the Mets--and Dwight Gooden, no less--the Dodgers saw it fall apart as quickly as those watches hawked outside Penn Station.

Reliever Jay Howell could not protect a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the 10th inning, giving up two walks and two singles that translated into two Met runs. And, with two out in the 11th, Elster belted an Alejandro Pena fastball over the left-field fence for the Mets’ fifth straight win over the Dodgers before 35,564 fans at Shea Stadium.

Given the nature of Tuesday’s game, the Dodgers’ funk was understandable. Manager Tom Lasorda was so upset he snapped at reporters. “Frustrated?” Lasorda said, repeating a question. “No, I’m happy.”

Although the Dodgers (27-20) still lead Houston by a half game in the National League West, they are 0-5 against the National League East leader.

It is enough to give a team a complex, especially after playing well enough to beat most teams on a night when Lasorda went to a new lineup and benched slumping Mike Marshall and Mike Davis.

“It seems like they get all the big plays and we don’t,” said Mickey Hatcher, whose 10th inning single contributed to the Dodgers’ first lead of the game. “You just play some teams that got your number, and the Mets seem to be that team.

“It’s something we could’ve turned around tonight. It’s definitely frustrating for everybody. Everybody feels like we just gave one away.”

For the longest time, it didn’t appear as if extra innings and Dodger comebacks would be featured at Shea Stadium.

Gooden, who shut out the Dodgers in Los Angeles on May 21, had allowed a run in the first inning, then pitched seven shutout innings. Gooden took a 3-hitter into the ninth, but Kirk Gibson greeted him with a home-run over the 410-foot sign in center field to tie it, 2-2.

The Dodgers’ hope brightened the next inning, when Gooden tired. With one out, Mike Sharperson and Hatcher singled. Steve Sax drove in Sharperson with a single to right for a 3-2 lead. Gooden was replaced by Roger McDowell, who got pinch-hitter Marshall to hit a ground ball. But the grounder scored Hatcher from third for a two-run Dodger advantage.

Because the Dodgers used Marshall to hit for reliever Jesse Orosco, who pitched scoreless eighth and ninth innings, Lasorda called upon Howell, coming off a 10-inning loss in Montreal on Saturday.

Howell got Elster on a pop to short, then ran aground. He walked Lee Mazzilli on five pitches and walked Len Dykstra on a full count. Wally Backman, who had 2 hits and 2 runs batted in earlier in the game against starter Don Sutton, singled to left to score Mazzilli and cut the Dodger lead to 4-3.

Then, with Dykstra on third and Backman on first with one out, Howell ran the count to 3-and-2 against Keith Hernandez. Backman ran on the pitch and shortstop Sharperson broke to cover second. Hernandez hit a well-placed grounder in the hole between shortstop and third base, scoring Dykstra to tie it.

Howell said he took responsibility for losing the lead, but he did question home-plate umpire Frank Pulli’s calls on Mazzilli’s at bat.

“I think all the balls called on Mazzilli were strikes, even the one he ducked away from (ball four),” Howell said. “But you still got to bear down and do the job. I didn’t do the job from there.”

Pena did, at least temporarily. He got Howell and the Dodgers out of the 10th inning jam and had two out in the 11th before Elster strode to the plate.

Elster, who entered the game as a defensive replacement in the eighth inning, had hit only 3 home runs before Tuesday night. But Pena laid a fastball at the middle of the plate, and Elster lined it over the 358-foot sign in left field and into the Dodger bullpen.

“Al pitched good, except for that one pitch--and that was it,” pitching coach Ron Perranoski said. “(Pena) will usually throw that ball by him.”

Not this time. While Met players spilled out of the dugout and greeted Elster at home plate, Dodger players walked off the field with heads hanging. It was the second straight failure by the Dodger bullpen, which has been competent most of the season.

Four Dodger relievers were needed because Sutton tore part of the nail off his right index finger in the sixth inning and was forced to leave after allowing the Mets 2 runs and 6 hits.

Sutton said he tore the nail early in the game while digging into the ball to throw a curveball. After applying what Sutton called “Crazy Glue” to his nail, he continued pitching. But he said he tore the nail almost completely off in the sixth after Gary Carter had doubled to left.

He motioned to the Dodger dugout for Lasorda to inspect the finger. Third-base umpire Doug Harvey also took a look, and Sutton decided he could not continue.

“On the first breaking ball I threw to Carter, I had no feeling in the tip of the finger,” Sutton said. “Whenever I dig in for a curveball, it popped out a little. I’ve had the problem since 1966 . . . “

Gooden was two years old back then and barely had all his teeth. Unlike his last start against the Dodgers, Gooden had to get by with just two runs because Met hitters could not figure out Sutton.

Unfortunately for the Dodgers, they could figure out Howell and Pena, and it resulted in another loss.

“A tough, tough loss,” catcher Mike Scioscia said. “It may be really bothering us tonight, but tomorrow it’ll be just another loss. This is about two games we’ve thrown away (to the Mets). We can’t do that anymore.”

Dodger Notes

Right-fielder Mike Davis, hitting just .210 and engulfed in a 2-for-33 slump, was taken out of the starting lineup for the first time this season against a right-handed starter Tuesday night. First baseman Mike Marshall, 2-for-35 recently, was benched for the first time this season. Manager Tom Lasorda met with each player before the game and explained his reasoning, which he later repeated. “We want Davis and Marshall to sit down for a game or two or three and get a chance to evaluate what’s happened,” Lasorda said. “It’s been weighing on both their minds. They’ve been trying so hard. It’s tough, but they understand, I hope, why I did it.” Davis, admittedly frustrated by his slump, apparently was upset at his benching. He waved off reporters before the game, politely saying: “Gentleman, I do not want to talk about the lineup tonight. I just want to sit here.” Marshall said he understood and supported Lasorda’s move. “I’ve been struggling. You look at my stats and they’re pretty ugly. But I was hitting the ball hard until the other night.” Lasorda, asked when Marshall and Davis will return to the lineup, said: “We’ll see how it goes.” Both were used as pinch-hitters Tuesday, Davis striking out with a runner on third in the seventh and Marshall knocking in a run with a grounder in the 10th

A New York television crew working Tuesday night’s game, continually focused in on Don Sutton’s hands as he rubbed the ball prior to pitches. Sutton, accused in the past of scuffing balls, did not have his hands checked by the umpiring crew. Sutton reacted angrily when told that the cameras were focused on him. “I guess for 22 years I’ve misread baseball,” he said, sarcastically. “Apparently, people only watch the game to watch umpires umpire and TV play Columbo. Either that, or they have idiots upstairs running that TV crew.” . . . John Shelby’s 7th inning single extended his hitting streak to 16 games, tying Montreal’s Vance Law for the season high.