It’s Never Easy: Dodgers Win in the 10th

It has been this kind of season for Orel Hershiser: Any time he gives up only two runs, his earned-run average soars, and the Dodgers usually lose.

And his catcher will tell you that Hershiser “struggled all day.”

Hershiser is a victim of heightened expectations, the result of his Cy Young Award season in 1988 and a good start this season.

So it was that Hershiser, having given up a ninth-inning homer to Tim Raines Saturday, was able to count his blessings after such an outing, a struggle.

“This is a most fortunate victory,” he said after Mike Scioscia’s run-scoring single in the 10th inning rescued him and gave the Dodgers a 3-2 victory over the Expos.

Hershiser (6-3) knows, as does any pitcher on this staff, that giving up two runs is about the same thing as surrender. A couple of weeks ago, Hershiser gave up only one run and lost. Pitching for the worst-hitting team in the league, he could hardly expect better.

Letting Raines tie it up, at the very least, was going to break his streak. He had gained a decision, one way or another, in each of his previous eight starts. Hershiser said the victory was lucky “in that I didn’t have one until a two-strike, two-out hit (by Scioscia) in the 10th.”

With the Dodgers ahead, Manager Tom Lasorda sent Jay Howell to pitch the 10th. Lasorda got some argument from Hershiser, who is not called Bulldog because of his looks. “I’m a competitor,” he said, “I don’t like to give the ball away.

“It’s a lot more fun to wake up in the morning and see a ‘W’ by your name,” he said.

So he protested, even though the two walks he gave up in the ninth in addition to the home run indicated some fatigue.

“They didn’t see my side of the story,” said Hershiser, who had two complete games going into this one.

“But I stopped arguing when they showed me the number of pitches.” The number was 156. “That’s a lot,” Hershiser acknowledged.

But Hershiser was able to get the ‘W’ by his name when the Dodgers scrambled, in typical fashion, for one more run. With Pascual Perez, newly demoted to the bullpen after six losses as a starter, on the mound, Willie Randolph led off with a single but was forced by Mike Davis.

Davis got to second on Mike Marshall’s ground-out, and Perez (0-7) walked Eddie Murray. Scioscia, batting in the fifth spot in a lineup that is not studded with power these days, singled to right for the game-winner.

This is pretty much the Dodger Way these days. For most of the game, until Raines unloaded, the Dodgers’ go-ahead run was the result of Dave Anderson’s double-play ball that scored John Shelby.

And the first run was similarly produced. Marshall scratched out an infield hit and took second on Spike Owen’s throwing error to first. Murray’s subsequent single off starter Dennis Martinez got the Dodgers off to a good start.

Hershiser hasn’t often required more than that this season. He began the game with a 1.74 earned-run average. And if he hasn’t had any scoreless inning streaks like last year (59), he was working on a nice run without giving up a homer.

Hershiser wasn’t sure when he last gave one up, but he knew he hadn’t given up any this year, none in the playoffs or World Series last year and, of course, none during his scoreless-inning play. “Gotta be 150 innings or more,” he said.

Actually, the streak dates to a game with the San Francisco Giants on Aug. 14, when Bob Melvin homered. Including the playoffs and World Series, Hershiser went 195 1/3 innings without giving up a home run.

He wasn’t particularly surprised by Raines’ blast, however. “I fell behind on the count,” he said, “one of the few times I did all day, and I had to really go after him. I said, ‘Here, hit it.’ He did.”

Hershiser said it is easier to pitch around Raines when he’s leading off than when he is batting fourth.

Meanwhile, a change in the Dodger batting order was benefiting Hershiser. Scioscia, batting fifth, was the guy who rescued him.

“I like batting fifth,” Scioscia said, “even though I haven’t been producing. But there’s a lot of action there, lot of guys on base.” Saturday there were two, all he needed.

Scioscia wasn’t impressed by Hershiser’s performance--”I think he struggled all day,” he said--but conceded that it was good enough. “That he can keep us in a game like that. . .”

That is how the Dodgers have managed to win five of their last six games.

Hershiser and his colleagues--today’s starter, Mike Morgan, has an ERA of 0.77--have given up two earned runs or fewer in 23 of their 39 games. But the Dodgers find themselves only one game above .500.

Dodger Notes

Kirk Gibson still hopes to be back in the lineup for the Dodgers’ next homestand, but he’s making no promises. “I’m just getting close,” he said. “I can’t put a date on it.” But he’s relieved that the Dodgers are winning. “It’s less frustrating when you’re winning,” said Gibson, who has been on the disabled list because of a sore hamstring. . . . Jay Howell got his sixth save in Saturday’s game but denied he was “on a roll. . . . ‘ I never look back,” he said. “A reliever looks back, he regresses.” He said, “As of late, we’re doing the things to win. All we need to see is (Jeff) Hamilton and (John) Shelby hitting, and taking the load off the other guys.” Hamilton is nine for 16 in his last four games.