Bean Fails to Hit Big Time as L.A. Falls to Montreal

When they were called up from the minor leagues several weeks ago as emergency replacements, outfielders Billy Bean and Mike Huff were smiling. For two players who never expected to wear a Dodger uniform this year, what was the worst that could happen?

Now they know. The worst has happened, and keeps happening. It is a process that is not only costing the Dodgers victories but threatening to age two young men.

In the Dodgers’ 4-2 loss to the Montreal Expos Tuesday, it was Bean’s turn. He was hitless in four at-bats and failed to score any of seven baserunners in a game at Olympic Stadium before 23,810.

When Bean doesn’t play, it’s Huff’s turn. In New York Sunday, he was hitless in four at-bats and failed to score six runners.

“Tonight was a golden chance to do something real special . . . and I just didn’t do it,” Bean said softly, “It’s not the end of the world, but this is all of me they’ve seen. And that makes it hard to swallow.”

Huff said: “You want to do so well, so badly. Then you don’t do it, and you go back to the hotel to sit around and think about it.”

Other Dodgers are also thinking about it Tuesday, as Bean’s failures at the plate helped end their two-game winning streak. The third-place Expos won for only the sixth time in 19 games and moved to within two games of the National League East-leading Chicago Cubs.

In the first inning, with two out and bases loaded against struggling pitcher Kevin Gross, Bean grounded out to first base. In the sixth inning, with runners on second and third and two out, Bean grounded back to Gross.

In the Dodgers’ last-gasp effort in the eighth inning, with runners on second and third and one out, Bean bounced Tim Burke’s pitch to shortstop Spike Owen. Eddie Murray attempted to score from third, but hesitated halfway to the plate and was caught in a rundown to end that threat.

“I just misread the grounder, I just didn’t see it right, it’s my fault,” Murray said.

Gross, who gave up one earned run in seven-plus innings, won for the third time since June 24. Burke earned only his second save since Aug. 2.

Bean’s and Huff’s combined statistics, meanwhile, grow ever worse. The last 14 times they have come to the plate with men on base, they have gotten one hit and failed to score 19 runners.

Bean has one hit in his last 16 at-bats, Huff has four hits in his last 21 at-bats. Together, they are batting .175 (11 for 63) with one homer and two RBIs.

This is unfortunate for the Dodgers because, with five outfielders on the disabled list and Mike Marshall hurting, either Bean or Huff has started nine of the 11 games on this trip.

“This is a great opportunity for us, and if you don’t make the most of these things . . . well, I know I can break out of it, every time I go up there I still know I’m going to get a hit,” said Bean, who was recalled from triple-A Albuquerque to replace Kirk Gibson. Huff was recalled to replace Kal Daniels.

“We have put these young men in a very, very tough situation,” Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda said. “They are just trying too hard to win it.”

Trying hard for his fourth consecutive victory Tuesday was Dodger starter Fernando Valenzuela. But he lost after a six-inning outing where the worst pitches were the one he didn’t make. Three times, Valenzuela balked. It was his first balks since last year, and half as many balks as he has recorded in his previous eight seasons combined.

After giving up Andres Galarraga’s 18th homer in the first to tie the score, 1-1, he balked twice in the second inning. It didn’t hurt him then because Tim Wallach was called out for trying to advance past third base on the second balk. But after rookie Marquis Grissom’s first major league hit (single) scored a run in the fifth, and Mike Fitzgerald’s single in the sixth scored another, Valenzuela balked home the game’s final run. Wallach, who had advanced to third on Fitzgerald’s single, trotted home after Valenzuela’s third failure to bring his body to a halt before pitching from a stretch position.

“He just didn’t stop before he threw to the plate,” said first base umpire Greg Bonin, who called all three balks. “He knew it, too.”

Dodger Notes

Mike Marshall missed Tuesday’s game with a bruised thigh, which caused his early removal from Monday’s game. He will likely not play until the Dodgers return to the grass of Dodger Stadium Friday. Marshall’s injury could give infielder Lenny Harris his first chance in the outfield. . . . On the Dodger postgame radio show, second base umpire Frank Pulli admitted he blew a call in Tuesday’s second inning, on Fernando Valenzuela’s balk with Tim Wallach on second base. After batter Mike Fitzgerald flied to left field on the pitch, Wallach trotted around third and halfway to home, knowing a balk is a dead ball and he would be guaranteed third base regardless. Except when the Dodgers tagged him before he returned to third, Pulli ruled him out. If Expos Manager Buck Rodgers had filed a protest, and the Expos had lost, the protest would likely have been upheld the game replayed from that inning. Except Rodgers was as confused as everybody else, and did not protest. “We all messed up--except Wallach,” Rodgers said.

With the expansion of rosters in September, look for the Dodgers to recall their smallest group of minor leaguers in recent memory. “Most of them are already here,” noted one club official. The favorites to be recalled from triple-A Albuquerque upon the completion of the Dukes’ postseason games are shortstop Jose Vizcaino and pitcher Mike Munoz. From double-A San Antonio should come third baseman Dave Hansen, who was sent back there from the Dodgers Tuesday when outfielder Mickey Hatcher was activated from the disabled list. From the time he informed of his recall Sunday night until the time he was demoted, Hansen was a Dodger for about 36 hours. He did not even appear in Monday’s game, as he is a left- handed hitter and the Dodgers were facing left-handed pitcher Mark Langston. Hansen’s stint was even shorter than an earlier stay by pitcher Ramon Martinez, who was recalled from Albuquerque June 4 and sent back June 6. . . . When the Dodgers lost Steve Sax to the New York Yankees through free agency this winter, they were awarded two extra June draft picks as compensation. Those picks, pitchers Kiki Jones and Jamie McAndrew, are a combined 18-0 with a 1.46 ERA for Great Falls (Mont.) in the Pioneer rookie League. . . . Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda walked 12 1/2 miles before Tuesday’s game, his most vigorous exercise since beginning his diet last spring.