Valenzuela Leaves Dodgers Without Relief : With Bullpen in Heap, L.A. Goes to Heep in 14-6 Loss to Houston

A matchup between Fernando Valenzuela and Joaquin Andujar three seasons ago would have been billed as a classic.

Although both are still young as pitchers go, they are struggling.

They combined for 38 victories (21 by Andujar) in 1985, but they faced each other Saturday at Dodger Stadium on national television with a total of 6 victories (5 by Valenzuela).

In a weird three-hour game, both suffered injuries, and the Dodgers were humbled by the Houston Astros, 14-6, before a crowd of 35,835.

The Dodgers, whose bullpen has been impressive until now, finished the game with outfielder-first baseman Danny Heep on the mound for the first time since his college days in Texas.

The Dodgers, the best road team in the majors, dropped to .500 at home, and their lead in the West was cut to 3 1/2 games over Houston and to 5 over San Francisco.

Both Andujar and Valenzuela pitched well before the injuries. Valenzuela held a 2-0 lead and, although he was merely showcasing his fastball, had a one-hitter going with two out in the fifth.

Suddenly, Valenzuela backed off the mound and summoned trainer Charlie Strasser and pitching coach Ron Perranoski.

In a few seconds, half the club had gathered about the 27-year-old left-hander. He tried a couple of warmup tosses and decided to continue. That was his first mistake. Rafael Ramirez hit a single to center, and Alex Trevino, who had not hit a home run in a day game in more than a year, hit a 3-and-2 pitch over the left-field wall to tie the game.

Valenzuela departed. He said his shoulder and arm felt weak when he threw a fastball to Billy Hatcher, who made the first out of the inning. That was when the game turned into what Manager Tom Lasorda called the worst the Dodgers have played all season.

Andujar followed Trevino’s first home run with a single to right. He sprained his knee running out the hit and had to be replaced. The hit, off Brian Holton (6-3), was the beginning of the worst performance all season by the bullpen.

The Astros, despite missing their one power hitter, Glenn Davis, out with a severe hamstring injury, had a field day against Holton, Tim Crews and Jesse Orosco. Heep pitched the last two innings and gave up a two-run home run to Ken Caminiti, playing in only his second game since being recalled from the Pacific Coast League.

Valenzuela, who didn’t seem to think the injury was serious, will be examined today. He does not know when he will pitch.

The big mystery is why the Dodgers, 34-18 on the road, are finding Dodger Stadium so inhospitable.

Lasorda, who needed 35 minutes to calm down after the game, is at a loss to explain why everything goes right on the road and nothing goes right at home.

On the Dodgers’ last trip, Holton and Crews were brilliant. At home in this game, they were anything but.

Holton entered the game with a 1.82 earned-run average and Crews with a 2.40 ERA. Just about everything they and Orosco threw was hit hard.

After Valenzuela departed, the next 19 batters faced by the bullpen got 11 hits and produced 10 runs.

Those things didn’t happen on the road. Batters don’t hit their first home runs against the Dodgers as the Astros did Saturday, and Lasorda’s moves often work. Nothing worked Saturday.

“I don’t have the answer to why we do so much better on the road,” Lasorda said. “I wish I knew.”

Valenzuela stayed around until after the game to talk to the media.

Several times he said he didn’t think his injury was serious.

“Right now, it feels weak,” he said. “It’s not just the shoulder, it’s the whole arm that feels weak. I don’t know when I will throw again. It depends on what happens.

“I felt good when the game started. I knew this was a big game for us. But on the fastball to Hatcher, the arm felt weak. I got the next batter (Caminiti), but I knew my arm was weak. I thought I could get the next out, but I couldn’t. I had to leave.”

It was a particularly sweet moment for Trevino, cut at the start of the season by the Dodgers because they wanted Rick Dempsey as their backup catcher. But he is a close friend of Valenzuela’s and didn’t want to talk about him.

Asked if it wasn’t a special thrill to get the big hits off a team that cut him, he said, “It was nothing special. It was just beating the team ahead of us. It could have been the Giants or Reds, it didn’t matter.”

That’s a little hard to believe. In 92 at-bats before he faced Valenzuela, he had driven in 4 runs. In the five-run sixth that turned the game into a rout, he doubled in another run. In the seventh inning, Orosco paid tribute to Trevino’s big day by hitting him with a pitch.

The bright side for the Dodgers was that Pedro Guerrero, in his second game after missing almost two months, had two hits. He also survived a collision at first base when his head was bumped by Gerald Young. He rubbed his sore neck but continued in the game.

Mike Marshall, the team RBI leader, went hitless and has only 1 hit in his last 31 at-bats.

Heep said he was surprised when he was told he would pitch the eighth, after Houston built a 12-4 lead.

“I had pitched batting practice, but it was at St. Mary’s (Texas) that I last pitched.

“It was all right with me, though. I knew that some of the bullpen guys had had problems with their arms, and Tommy didn’t want to waste them.

“I just wanted to throw fastballs over the plate. I didn’t want to walk anyone or hurt anyone. No, I don’t think I’ll be in the rotation.”

Dodger Notes

Although he was not in the starting lineup, shortstop Alfredo Griffin is getting closer to 100%, according to trainer Bill Buhler. And Pedro Guerrero, after playing his first game in almost two months Friday night, apparently felt no unusual pain. He went 1 for 4 Friday night and 2 for 5 Saturday. . . . According to Buhler, Guerrero can expect the pinched nerve in his neck to flare up occasionally. . . . Orel Hershiser (14-5), named the best pitcher in the National League by Baseball America, will oppose the Astros’ Jim Deshaies (7-7) in the series finale today. Cincinnati comes in for three games beginning Monday night. Then the Dodgers go on the road again.