Leary Holds Off Reds on Six Hits for Fifth Shutout

Sometimes it seems as if Tim Leary’s swift transformation from a marginal to a quality pitcher has happened with the use of time-lapse photography, like a flower blossoming before your eyes.

But, with almost every outing, Leary has proven that perhaps it was his 3-11 record last season that was the illusion. Using his refined cut fastball and split-finger pitch, Leary was again dominant Tuesday night in a 2-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds before 44,091 fans at Dodger Stadium.

It was a National League-leading fifth shutout for Leary, who did not have one of his best outings but still allowed only six hits.

With a minimum of offense, nothing new for the Dodgers’ hard-throwing right-hander, Leary worked his way out of a few anxious moments in the late innings to improve his record to 11-7.

Leary, who was a washout last season after coming to the Dodgers from the Milwaukee Brewers in the Greg Brock trade, now has statistics that are comparable to the league’s best pitchers. He attributes the turnaround to a productive winter pitching in Mexico, where he worked on his split-finger pitch and his confidence.

“The big difference is his mechanics and the consistency of his release point,” pitching coach Ron Perranoski said. “One thing I said to Timmy when he came to spring training was that those 12 complete games he had in winter ball proved he had changed. I told him not to worry about the competition; he could do it against anybody.”

And he has. The win Tuesday was Leary’s eighth complete game, tying him with teammate Orel Hershiser, among others, for the league lead. He also has the league’s best strikeouts-to-walks ratio--120-34. And, in his last four starts, Leary has allowed only 3 earned runs and 6 walks in 36 innings. His earned-run average is 2.24, second best in the league.

During that span, the Dodger offense has totaled only 11 runs, but Leary has managed to win three games. Tuesday night, the Dodgers scored two runs off loser Jose Rijo (11-6) in the first inning, then their offense took the night off.

Perhaps the most obvious indication of Leary’s improvement was that Manager Tom Lasorda stayed with Leary when he ran into problems three times in the late innings.

“The reason (Leary remained in the game) is that he’s a totally different pitcher,” Lasorda said. “There’s no doubt about that.”

Lasorda’s act of faith was rewarded. Leary pitched out of the Reds’ uprising in the seventh, a bases-loaded jam in the eighth inning and another predicament in the ninth.

The Reds’ eighth-inning rally began with two out on singles to left by Jeff Reed and Jeff Treadway. Leary then walked pinch-hitter Dave Collins to load the bases for Herm Winningham.

With Leary one strike away from getting out of the jam, the crowd roared and Winningham grounded to Sax’s right. Sax bobbled it twice, then hurriedly made a backhand flip to shortstop Alfredo Griffin at second to force Collins.

Cincinnati’s first serious threat against Leary came an inning earlier. With one out, Barry Larkin followed with a bouncing single into center field. He followed that with his 29th stolen base and went to third on Chris Sabo’s groundout. The threat was snuffed when Leary forced Eric Davis to ground to third.

In the ninth, Sabo reached on an infield single with one out. One out later, Paul O’Neill walked, but Leary forced Nick Esasky to pop up to Sax.

“As the game went on, I felt pretty confident,” Leary said. “But, in the eighth and ninth, I had to really battle with some mechanical things.”

Those late rallies aside, Leary breezed. He was helped out in the first inning, however, when John Shelby robbed Kal Daniels of a potential home run. It turned out to be the closest the Reds got to scoring.

Daniels, the Reds’ leadoff hitter who would later leave the game after fouling a pitch off his left knee, drove a Leary fastball deep into left-center. Shelby, playing Daniels slightly in, chased down the drive and made a leaping catch at the fence.

It was uncertain whether Daniels’ shot would have cleared the fence if not for Shelby’s play, but it clearly would have been an extra-base hit. Daniels did not seem to realize Shelby had caught the ball until he nearly reached third base on a slow home run trot. Then, he dejectedly turned and trotted just as slowly to the dugout.

Shelby declined to talk about the catch, apparently thinking it routine. But Leary certainly was appreciative.

“That’s probably a run, right there,” Leary said. “That’s a great lift, any time a guy makes a play like that. Tonight, I just combined my fastball with the other two pitches and let them make contact. I was fortunate to get some good defensive plays behind me.”

Leary gave up only two hits through six innings. Both runners were immediately erased by double plays orchestrated by Griffin.

“We’ve got great confidence now in Leary,” Sax said. “If we make the defensive plays behind him and score some runs, he’ll win.”

The Dodgers scored two runs in the first inning against Rijo, who on June 25 at Cincinnati had allowed the Dodgers 6 hits and 5 runs in 1 innings. But this time a potentially bigger rally was averted by an outstanding defensive play at third base by Sabo.

After Rijo walked Sax on five pitches, Kirk Gibson doubled into the right-center field gap, the ball rolling to the fence. It allowed Sax to score from first base. Guerrero, at the time hitting only 3 for 13 after being sidelined for 52 days, then singled to right to score Gibson for a 2-0 lead.

Guerrero moved into scoring position on Mike Marshall’s groundout, and Shelby followed with a walk. But, with Lasorda calling for a double steal, Mike Scioscia hit into a double play that could easily have been a two-run double had it not been for Sabo.

But with Leary pitching, two runs was one more than the Dodgers needed.

Dodger Notes

Pitcher Mario Soto, who threw 15 minutes of batting practice Monday, will most likely throw a simulated game Friday in Houston. Soto said that, if his right shoulder feels all right after two or three simulated games, he might be ready for a rehabilitation assignment in the minor leagues. “Right now, I’m throwing the best I have in three years,” Soto said. “The velocity is the best I’ve had in two years. But I’ve made up my mind not to push it. I’ll do everything they tell me and stick to their schedule. But yesterday, I threw for 15 minutes on the side and 15 minutes of BP and had no pain. My mechanics are a lot better now than before.” . . . Alfredo Griffin, who started at shortstop Tuesday night, said he still feels stiffness in his right wrist, which hinders his swing when batting right-handed. “My hand is sore, and when I hit right-handed, it’s the top hand,” Griffin said. “But left-handed, I feel fine.”

Don Sutton, in his third rehabilitation start for Class-A Bakersfield, gave up 4 runs on 7 hits in 6 innings. He left with Bakersfield leading Visalia, 5-4. Sutton made 87 pitches, striking out 5 and walking 2. If he does not have pain in his right elbow, he probably will be activated in time to pitch Aug. 9 at Cincinnati. Until then, the Dodgers will remain with a four-man rotation. The Dodgers currently are using a nine-man pitching staff, since outfielder Jose Gonzalez was recalled to replace disabled Fernando Valenzuela.