Dodgers Learn a Lesson in 8-3 Loss : Giants’ Clark Gets Two Doubles, a Homer and Five RBIs

It’s a name bound to bother the Dodgers more than a few times this season, whether the lineup card reads, “Clark, W., 1b,” as it does here, or “Clark, J., 1b,” as it does in San Diego.

On Tuesday night, it was the Giants’ half of the Clark clique, Will, who wreaked havoc on the Dodgers, driving in five runs with two doubles and a three-run home run in San Francisco’s 8-3 victory before a frozen crowd of 17,722 in Candlestick Park.

It was also the same Clark who had made a grievous error in the ninth inning the night before in the Giants’ home opener, then struck out with the tying runs on base to end the game.

Clark, however, said he was disinclined to reflect long on that sorry show. “That ended when I got to the ballpark today,” he said.

“I can’t change last night. I messed up, I know I messed up, and I can’t dwell on that fact.”

Dodger relievers Ricky Horton and Tim Crews might do well to heed Clark’s example after the Giants broke open a one-run game by scoring four times on five straight hits in the seventh inning. The Dodger bullpen had not allowed an earned run until Alejandro Pena balked home a run in the ninth inning of Monday’s win, but the Giants teed off on Horton and Crews, ensuring there would be no repeat of the Dodgers’ comeback win of the night before.

“You can’t be perfect every time,” said Crews, who had not been scored upon in three previous appearances. “I knew it was going to happen sooner or later.

“The bad thing about it is they hit some good pitches. I jammed Kevin Mitchell and broke his bat on his hit to center field, and (Candy) Maldonado hit one down the line off the end of his bat.”

Dodger starter Tim Leary, a complete-game winner in his first outing, also made some good pitches Tuesday, but more often than not he discovered that throwing his split-fingered fastball in the Candlestick draft was about as predictable as spitting into the wind.

Clark doubled home Robby Thompson, who had walked, in the first inning, then launched an opposite-field homer to left in the fifth after singles by Kelly Downs, the winning pitcher, and Thompson again.

The Dodgers had taken a 2-1 lead in the top of the fifth with a pair of unearned runs set up by Downs’ throwing error. Willie Randolph singled home one run and Eddie Murray hit a bases-loaded sacrifice fly for the other, narrowly missing a second grand slam in two nights.

“I really couldn’t get into the game plan I really wanted to get into,” said Leary, who can abide wind-chill factors--he played in Milwaukee--but had trouble with Candlestick’s capricious currents.

“It was tough to get the splitter over. It was really hit-and-miss.”

In the fourth inning, Leary threw a 55-foot splitter to Matt Williams that missed the plate by at least a yard outside.

“I was pretty much a thrower tonight,” Leary said. “There were a couple of pitches that broke two feet or more that normally would have landed on the plate.

“I was pretty strong, I thought, but that one inning was a killer.”

The fatal blow, of course, was struck by Clark, who jumped on a 3-and-1 fastball from Leary.

“I threw it as hard as I could, but he hammered it,” Leary said. “I got behind a lot of hitters, and this is a tough place for pitchers.

“Those guys (the Giant pitchers) must go nuts throwing in these conditions.”

Clark, who led the league in RBIs last season with 109, was just pleased that the conditions were not ripe for another Dodger comeback once the Giants got through with Horton and Crews. Horton walked the first batter to face him, Chris Speier, and after Brett Butler sacrificed, Thompson and Clark doubled, knocking out the Dodger left-hander.

Crews then gave up a single to Mitchell, a double to Maldonado and another single to Terry Kennedy before retiring a batter.

“The Dodgers have got some pop over there,” Clark said, referring to Los Angeles’ three-homer barrage on Monday. “They can beat you with the long ball in a hurry.

“They remind me of our team in ’87.”

And the Giants of ‘89?

“We’re pesky,” Clark said. “We’re going to score our runs nit-picking. And hopefully every now and then we’ll mix in a long ball.”

With Clark, W., in the lineup, count on it.

Dodger Notes

Alfredo Griffin, a .366 hitter in spring, ended an 0-for-17 string with a third-inning double. Last April, Griffin hit .183. . . . In a reprise of her World Series performance, Nancy Reagan will throw out the first ball in the Dodgers’ home opener on Thursday. Kenny Loggins will sing the national anthem. . . . The Giants gave ex-Padre Rich Gossage a tryout Tuesday. Manager Roger Craig said he will recommend that the team sign the 37-year-old pitcher, released by San Diego this spring.