Hatcher Serves Up a Reprieve : His Sacrifice Fly in Ninth Ends Skid for Dodgers, 1-0

The ailing Dodger offense encountered the physically decimated Pittsburgh Pirates Monday night.

What ensued was predictable.

In a game in which neither team seemed capable of scoring, let alone winning, the Dodgers finally did both.

They loaded the bases in the ninth inning and ended their four-game losing streak, 1-0, on Mickey Hatcher’s flyball to center.

Hatcher, of course, works in strange ways, and he may have actually provided the magical touch a few innings earlier when he walked through the dugout with a cup of dry ice producing whiffs of smoke under his bat.

“I recently saw the movie ‘Major League,’ ” he said later, “where the one guy practiced voodoo on his bats. I was just trying to scare away the gods who had been jinxing us.”

Hatcher singed his hands some in the process, but he was available to pinch-hit in the ninth when the Dodgers, who have now scored a total of seven runs in their last five games and three or fewer in 16 of their 25 this season, mounted their only threat.

A crowd of 27,630, the smallest of the season at Dodger Stadium, saw Mike Morgan and Jay Howell combine to shut out the Pirates on seven hits.

The Dodgers collected only four hits off right-hander Doug Drabek, who has a 1-3 record despite a 1.80 earned-run average.

Drabek has permitted three runs or fewer in each of his six starts, but the Pirates--having put seven players on the disabled list already this year and still without center fielder Andy Van Slyke, first baseman Sid Bream and catcher Mike LaValliere--are next to last in the National League with a team batting average of .231, ahead of only the Dodgers, who are at .225.

The Pirates put their leadoff man on base in six innings, but only once got him as far as third and only twice as far as second.

Howell pitched in and out of a ninth-inning, bases-loaded threat of his own making, after Morgan improved his ERA to a league-leading 0.82 by picking up where he left off in a 3-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs in his last start.

Morgan has allowed only one earned run in his last 21 1/3 innings and only three in his overall total of 32. He scattered five hits and struck out seven while delivering 107 pitches.

“The offense will come around,” he said. “It’s inevitable. The pitchers just have to suck it up in the meantime and do the job.”

Howell (2-2) gained the victory with his one inning of relief.

He was greeted by a single from Jose Lind and a double by R.J. Reynolds. He then walked Bobby Bonilla intentionally to load the bases.

With the infield playing in, Benny Distefano, replacing Bream, grounded to second baseman Willie Randolph, who got a force out at the plate.

Steve Carter, replacing Van Slyke, then popped to Alfredo Griffin. The threat expired when Rey Quinones flied to right.

Howell ran off to a standing ovation and the high-fives of teammates massed on the top step of the dugout.

“I put them on and I had to make quality pitches to get out of it,” he said later. “I’m pleased that Tommy (Lasorda) stayed with me. It was a real confidence builder.”

It was more than that, according to Hatcher.

“It was Jay Howell’s pitching that fired us up,” he said. “When Jay came off, you could feel the spark from the fans. What I did was easy compared to what Jay did.”

Mike Davis opened the Dodger ninth by drawing a walk. Eddie Murray then singled, sending Davis to third. Mike Scioscia was walked intentionally, loading the bases.

Drabek responded by striking out John Shelby, but Hatcher, batting for Jeff Hamilton, then hit his fly to Reynolds in medium center, deep enough to get Davis home easily.

Hatcher said he was concentrating on getting a pitch away from him, which he did. Put another way: “I was just praying he’d hit my bat and he did.”

The Dodgers, with the league’s lowest ERA, have been operating on a wing and a prayer.

Only Murray continues to hit consistently. The first baseman singled twice and walked twice Monday night. He has raised his batting average from .146 to .298 over the last 14 games and hit in 10 straight, going 18 for 33 in that span.

In an attempt to revitalize the rest of his offense, Lasorda gave Mike Marshall, with 4 hits in his last 30 at-bats, the night off. Davis started in right field, while Chris Gwynn opened in left, replacing Kirk Gibson.

Davis, who came in with only 2 hits in his last 15 at bats, singled twice, in addition to his ninth inning walk.

Gwynn was 0 for 4, but could have been 4 for 4. He lined out three times and was robbed by Lind of another potential hit on a wicked one hopper.

“You can accept a strikeout, but that right there was a hitter’s nightmare,” he said of his first start since his Saturday recall. “To do what you’re supposed to do without any results is hard to accept, but it’s only one day. I’ll be satisfied if I keep hitting it like that.”

Lasorda will be satisfied with any kind of hitting.

“In three of our last five games we’ve gone into the ninth inning scoreless,” he pointed out. “What are the odds on that?”

Dodger Notes

Of his decision to finally go on the disabled list for his left hamstring injury, Kirk Gibson said he was concerned about the possibility of a tear that might take him out of the lineup indefinitely and permanently reduce his speed. “I felt it was more important for me to give up the time now so that I can work on getting it strong and play later,” he said. . . . Gibson had a cortisone injection after his return from St. Louis Saturday. He is eligible to come off the disabled list May 11 but said he could not predict when he will be ready. “I’ll be back when I’m able to run the bases at full speed,” he said. “I’ve been playing catch-up with this (the injury) since the end of last season. I don’t know why it didn’t heal more quickly, but rest wasn’t helping. Hopefully, the injection will help calm it down and I can work on strengthening it.”

Mike Marshall said his absence from the lineup was “a night off and nothing more,” adding the obvious: “I haven’t been swinging well. Hopefully I can come back strong tomorrow.” . . . Orel Hershiser, with a 3-2 record and 1.96 earned-run average, faces Neal Heaton (0-2) tonight.