Dodgers Beat Giants, 7-6, in 10th Inning

The Dodgers, coming back three times to tie it, defeated the San Francisco Giants, 7-6, Sunday at Dodger Stadium when Jeff Hamilton was walked in the 10th inning with the bases loaded, forcing in Mickey Hatcher.

The Giants’ Will Clark, who went five for five, took the loss particularly hard.

“It’s definitely the toughest loss to take, because we kept battling and scratching out there and still came up short,” he said.

“It wasn’t even a hit that won the game. It was a walk. So that typifies how flaky a game it was.”

Clark, whose five hits for a career high for a game, had three hits off Dodgers starter Fernando Valenzuela, including a run-scoring double in the first inning.

Then he tied the game at 5-5 with a leadoff homer in the seventh against Alejandro Pena. Clark put the Giants ahead in the eighth with an RBI single off Ray Searage.

“So far, this is the best I’ve ever hit the ball in April,” said Clark, who boosted his average 48 points to .409. “But what I did today doesn’t matter because we lost. Whether I went 5 for 5 or 0 for 5, it’s over with and all you can do is forget about it.”

Clark never had a chance for a sixth hit. With Brett Butler on second and one out in the 10th, Jay Howell walked Clark intentionally. Kevin Mitchell then popped to shortstop and, after pinch-hitter Ed Jurak’s infield single, Tracy Jones flied out to end the chance.

The Dodgers finished it in the bottom of the inning. Willie Randolph singled with one out in the 10th off Atlee Hammaker (1-2) and took third on Mickey Hatcher’s single. Randolph then was tagged out on Dave Anderson’s bouncer back to the mound.

“The smart play would have been going for the double play,” Dodgers Manager Tom Lasorda said. “Hammaker blew it. He should have gone to second. That’s what Randolph was thinking.”

Eddie Murray walked, loading the bases, and Hammaker threw four straight ball to Jeff Hamilton, who was pinch hitting for Howell (1-2).

Valenzuela had a 4-2 lead in the fifth but couldn’t hold it as he failed to win for the fourth straight start.

San Francisco pulled to 4-3 in the fifth on Terry Kennedy’s run-scoring groundout off Mike Morgan and tied the game in the seventh on Clark’s fourth homer of the season.

Murray gave the Dodgers a 5-4 lead in seventh with a homer off Craig Lefferts, Murray’s third of the season.

The Giants took a 6-5 lead in the eighth on Robby Thompson’s RBI double and Clark’s run-scoring single, only to see the Dodgers tie in the bottom of the inning on Hatcher’s RBI double.

With Valenzuela ahead 4-2 in the fifth, Clark singled, the fourth straight leadoff hit off the left-hander. Valenzuela walked Candy Maldonado and Matt Williams, loading the bases and was pulled by pitching coach Ron Perranoski. Valenzuela stalked off the mound and slammed his glove to the bench just a few feet from Lasorda.

Valenzuela, who has not gotten through the seventh inning yet, allowed three runs and seven hits in his shortest outing of the season. He has pitched 20 2/3 innings, walked 14 and his earned-run average is 4.79.

Clark hit an RBI double in the first, the 14th time in 18 games the Giants scored in the first inning. Mike Davis tied it in the bottom of the inning with a sacrifice fly.

Mitchell’s RBI double in the second put San Francisco ahead but the Dodgers scored three in the third on Davis’ RBI single and Scioscia’s two-run double.