Dodgers Revert to Strength as Hershiser Stymies the Cubs, 4-1

Only a few hours after they made a move to strengthen their offense, acquiring Kal Daniels in a trade with the Cincinnati Reds, the Dodgers again showed that they are not lacking in other areas.

Most notably, they got another strong pitching performance from Orel Hershiser, who gave up only four hits Tuesday night in a 4-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs before 37,543 at Dodger Stadium.

Hershiser, winning for the second time since the All-Star break to improve to 11-7, finished his fifth complete game by giving up only two hits in the last eight innings, facing only three batters over the minimum after the Cubs sent six batters to the plate in the first inning. He struck out five and walked none.

Hershiser, whose status was in doubt as late as Monday because of a stomach virus, needed only 98 pitches and said he never felt tired.

“I was getting ahead of the hitters, and when they’re behind, they’ve got to get their bats moving early,” he said in a radio interview. “And so, I got a lot of outs early in the count.”

All of the Cubs’ hits were singles, and none left the infield.

“When he’s hitting the spots, he’s tough,” said Lloyd McClendon, who was one for four. “His ball moves a lot.”

What moved Hershiser was a Dodger uprising in the fifth and sixth innings, when they bunched six hits, including a two-run fifth-inning double by the slumping Kirk Gibson, to score all of their runs.

“When we score--that’s the most exciting time for me,” said Hershiser, who has been a victim of the Dodgers’ dormant offense this season.

The Dodgers scored all of their runs against Cub starter Greg Maddux, who had given up only eight earned runs in his previous six starts and had won eight of his previous 10 starts, including three in a row.

Maddux had not lost in three previous decisions against the Dodgers, including a 1-0 victory over Hershiser on April 27 at Chicago.

The Cubs gave Maddux a 1-0 lead in the first inning after Ryne Sandberg reached safely on a one-out error by Dodger third baseman Jeff Hamilton, whose errant throw skipped past first baseman Eddie Murray.

One out later, Mark Grace singled through the right side, extending his hitting streak to eight games and sending Sandberg to third base. Moments later, Grace ducked under a line drive by catcher Damon Berryhill, whose single to right field scored Sandberg.

Maddux sailed into the fifth, which started on a bad note for the Cubs, Maddux hitting Mike Scioscia with a pitch.

After Scioscia was sacrificed to second, Alfredo Griffin stretched a single through the left side into a double. He took the extra base when left fielder McClendon inexplicably threw to cutoff man Shawon Dunston, who was stationed near the mound, instead of Sandberg, who covered second.

Gibson, hitless in his previous 11 at-bats, followed with a two-run double, slicing a 3-and-2 pitch into the left-field corner.

That gave the Dodgers a 2-1 lead, and they might have had more if not for a baserunning error by Gibson, who moved to second when Murray was intentionally walked and was running on the pitch when Mike Marshall bounced a grounder toward the hole between shortstop and third base.

Gibson rounded third and charged toward home, but Dunston back-handed the ball in the hole and easily threw out Gibson at the plate.

In the sixth, however, the Dodgers increased their lead after getting a leadoff double from Franklin Stubbs, whose fly ball kicked up dirt on the warning track and bounced off the wall in left-center field.

Stubbs moved to third on a groundout by Hamilton and scored on a single by Scioscia, whose sharp grounder bounced off the right arm of Grace, the Cub first baseman, and into right field.

After Hershiser sacrificed him to second, Scioscia scored on a double by Griffin. Griffin bounced a line drive in front of a diving Gary Varsho, the Cub right fielder, who was unable to come up with the ball.

The Dodger lead was 4-1.

Hershiser continued to beguile the Cubs.

“It was a lot of fun to pitch that well,” he said. “I haven’t pitched that well in my last three or four starts.”

Scioscia, he said, deserved at least part of the credit.

“I only shook him off twice,” Hershiser said.

Dodger Notes

Said pitcher Ramon Martinez, who gave up three runs and three hits in six innings Monday night in his second start of the season and first since being called up Sunday from the Dodgers’ triple-A affiliate at Albuquerque, N.M.: “I think I pitched very good, except for one pitch.” Martinez, who was not involved in the decision in a 6-3 Dodger loss, served up a first-inning fastball down the middle to Mark Grace, whose three-run home run gave the Cubs a 3-0 lead. . . . The starting time for the Dodgers’ game against the San Francisco Giants Aug. 1 at Dodger Stadium has been changed to 5:20 p.m. to accommodate NBC, which will televise the game nationally.

Kirk Gibson had not driven in more than one run in a game since June 26, when he had two RBIs against the Cincinnati Reds.