Dodgers Don’t Panic, They Just Lose, 6-4

HOUSTON — None of the usual warning signs of excessive worry, such as irritability and a loss of appetite, were apparent in Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda’s office here late Friday night. He did not miss a bite of food and did not raise his voice once when asked to assess a messy 6-4 loss to the Houston Astros that might induce mild panic in others.

“We lost one game,” Lasorda said. “You just hope you can come back tomorrow night and win. That’s what you look for.”

Even so, perhaps it is time for Lasorda and the Dodgers to be mildly concerned.

Their once-firm grip on the National League West, which topped out at an 8-game lead in mid-July, dwindled to 2 1/2 over the second-place Astros after Friday night’s loss in the opener of the club’s most important series to date.

It happened, somewhat surprisingly, with Orel Hershiser pitching. Arguably the Dodgers’ best pitcher, Hershiser had beaten the Astros three times this season and was tied for the league lead in wins with 15. On this night, though, Hershiser was not at his best. He lasted just 5 innings, allowing 5 runs and 8 hits.

Despite a revival of the Dodger offense, which included Kirk Gibson’s 21st home run in the first inning and Rick Dempsey’s two-run home run, Hershiser could not hold either a 2-0 lead or maintain a 4-4 tie.

Granted, some of the Astros’ hits ranked among the unimpressive--bloopers and broken-bat singles--but Hershiser clearly was not as sharp as in his last start against Houston, when he pitched a complete-game five-hitter.

Did Lasorda feel confident kicking off an important series with his best pitcher?

“Yup,” Lasorda said.

Was he concerned that they lost with their ace on the mound?

“Now, we just got to win with the next ace,” he said.

Like their manager, the stiff upper lips that Dodger players have exhibited through this blossoming pennant race did not tremble because of the reduced lead.

“I’m not going to sit here and think about being swept,” Gibson said. “I’m going to keep positive. Even if we do get swept, it’s not the end of the world. The most important thing is to stay relaxed. When you start pressing, you’ll play differently. There’s nothing to panic about.

“I’m very optimistic about our chances at this point in the season. We didn’t like to lose tonight, but we won’t dwell on it. We know it’s going to be a race until the end of the season.”

Until recently, the Dodgers have been able to avoid a prolonged slump. But they now have lost 6 of their last 8 games and must face Nolan Ryan tonight.

Not that the Dodgers are concerned.

“I think the key is that it’s all still in our hands,” said Hershiser, whose record slipped to 15-6. “We’re still in first place. We’ve played well all season, and we’ll continue to play well.” Friday night’s game, then, must have been a brief lull in the Dodgers’ consistency.

It started out well enough, though. Gibson greeted Jim Deshaies (8-8) in the first inning with a two-run home run to right-center field. Eight of Gibson’s 21 home runs have come in the first inning. This one gave the Dodgers a 2-0 lead.

But the Astros deflated any sense of security the Dodgers gained by scoring four runs off Hershiser in the bottom of the inning.

As Hershiser repeatedly pointed out afterward, the Astros did not exactly knock him around. But they did hit him consistently enough to forge ahead, 4-2, in a first inning that took nearly an hour to play.

Four pitches into his outing, Hershiser had allowed three hits and one run. Two were singles to right-center by Gerald Young and Bill Doran, the third a single up the middle by Terry Puhl that scored Young. Two outs later, Ken Caminiti knocked a four-hop single to center that scored Doran to tie it.

Rafael Ramirez then lined a single off shortstop Dave Anderson’s glove that scored Puhl to make it 3-2, Astros. Alex Trevino then walked on four pitches, bringing up Deshaies. That is when the Dodgers were struck by a defensive lapse.

With the bases loaded, Deshaies hit a nubber in front of the plate. Dempsey fielded the ball as Hershiser and Caminiti raced to home plate. Dempsey picked up the ball, glanced at the runner and then turned to first. But, apparently losing his grip on the ball, Dempsey did not make a throw and Deshaies reached on a fielder’s choice. The run scored, making it, 4-2, but the Dodgers got out of the messy inning when Ramirez was tagged out at home after a bungled rundown between second and third involving Trevino and second baseman Steve Sax.

Dempsey made up for his defensive lapse in the fourth inning, hitting a two-run home run to tie it, 4-4. But Hershiser gave up an unconventional run in the bottom of the fourth to fall behind.

With one out and the speedy Young on third base, Hershiser got Astro clean-up hitter Glenn Davis to pop up to Steve Sax in very shallow right field. Young tagged up and sprinted in, easily beating the throw.

Reliever Alejandro Pena gave up a run in the sixth inning to make it, 6-4, and Astro relievers stifled two late-inning Dodger rallies to secure the win.

“I thought the Astros were very fortunate to get those runs off me,” Hershiser said. “They didn’t hit the ball that hard. A lot of the balls fell in. On that sacrifice fly, the bat went farther than the ball. The one hit up the middle must have bounced forever.

“I probably had the best stuff I took to the mound in the last two months. I’m happy with that, except for the results. No big deal; we lost.”