Dodgers Ice Giants, 7-3, to Clinch Tie for West Title

The Dodgers have not had an autumn celebration for the last two seasons, so they didn’t mind waiting a little longer Saturday to celebrate their imminent clinching of the National League West championship.

By beating the San Francisco Giants before 34,214 fans at Candlestick Park, 7-3, the Dodgers assured themselves of at least a tie for the title. Kind words and backslaps were exchanged afterward, but the all-out celebration was delayed while the Cincinnati Reds played the Braves at Atlanta.

Three hours later, the Reds had pulled out a 2-1 victory to stay in contention, but the Dodgers can win the title today, with either another victory over the Giants or a loss by the Reds.

When it becomes official doesn’t really matter to the Dodgers, who assume they will win one of their remaining seven games.

“Let’s face it, it’s going to happen,” said Dodger outfielder Kirk Gibson, 1 of about 20 players who remained in the clubhouse to watch the Reds’ game. “We’ll just wait until (Sunday) to do it. Nothing’s changed. It’s up to us. I think we’re all anxious to get it in the books and start getting ready for the playoffs.”

Any mention of the P-word around Manager Tom Lasorda, however, draws an immediate warning not to bring up the subject until it is absolutely, positively official that they will meet the New York Mets in the playoffs.

“I just don’t want to talk about that until it’s for sure,” Lasorda said.

But that didn’t stop Lasorda from launching into what amounted to an acceptance speech--slightly premature, as it turned out--after the Dodgers had overcome an early 2-0 deficit to breeze to their second straight win over the Giants. Lasorda held a team meeting afterward.

“I told them how proud I am of them,” Lasorda said before learning of the Reds’ victory. “I told them I’ve won five division titles, and this is very, very satisfying because when you look at it, you could say everybody contributed to it. It seems like we always got the big hit, the big start, the big game, the big play when we needed it.

“It’s just self-satisfying to know we at least got a tie today. It’s satisfying to know we could come back, especially when people kept saying that the Dodgers were losing it, that they couldn’t come back.

“I think it was in spring training when it looked like we’d jell. The new guys felt comfortable right away, and the old guys on the team made them feel comfortable and at home. When we left spring training, I felt we were ready to win.”

Which is what the Dodgers did again Saturday.

With Mike Marshall resting his stiff back, Gibson nursing a sore left hamstring, and Mike Scioscia out with a bruised left hip, Dodger reserves helped provide enough offense to overcome a surprisingly shaky outing for starter John Tudor, who allowed 2 solo home runs to Matt Williams in 4 innings.

The Dodger offense, held hitless by rookie left-hander Trevor Wilson through 4 innings, broke away with 5 runs in the fifth. Rick Dempsey had a run-scoring double, Mike Sharperson and Mickey Hatcher run-scoring singles. The 2 other runs scored on ground balls. Two additional runs, in the seventh and eighth innings, were scored thanks to singles by Sharperson and John Shelby.

After Tudor’s departure, partly because of slight pain in his left elbow and partly because he wasn’t especially effective, reliever Ricky Horton pitched 2 scoreless innings to earn the win. Jesse Orosco pitched 3 innings for his ninth save.

Afterward, about half the team remained in the clubhouse for the start of the Red-Brave game, which was being televised on cable. When Atlanta’s Ron Gant hit a home run off Cincinnati’s Danny Jackson in the first inning, players cheered and chanted Gant’s name.

But after Atlanta second baseman Mark Lemke made an error that accounted for both Red runs, players gave a collective groan. And when the Reds’ Jackson earned his 23rd win, Dodger players slowly filed out of the clubhouse and onto the team bus.

“That just means there will be more excitement tomorrow,” Dempsey said.

The Dodgers were already preparing for the playoffs, though, by resting Gibson, Marshall and Scioscia, all of whom have minor injuries.

Gibson’s injury is an aggravation of his left hamstring problem. Apparently, the pain has been one of the reasons Gibson has only 2 hits in his last 27 at-bats. He said that, once the Dodgers clinch the title outright, he will take more time off but will return in time to be in sync for the playoffs.

Marshall, likewise, said he merely is trying to make sure he is fit for the playoffs.

“It’s no problem,” Marshall said of his back condition. “I’m not going to kill myself these final games. I plan on playing most of the way, but take a little time off.”

Tudor’s seemingly chronic elbow soreness might be another concern for Lasorda. Tentatively scheduled to start Game 2 of the playoffs, Tudor has experienced what he terms “twinges” of pain in three of his last four starts.

“It’s been that way this year, but I can still pitch with it,” Tudor said. “I had it for 2 months in St. Louis and still pitched.”