One From Heart, 6-1, for Dodgers

Mike Morgan proved once again Friday that he is the sort of veteran pitcher who warms Dodger hearts.

First, he threw eight scoreless innings against the Houston Astros. Then, when leaving the Astrodome field in the middle of the ninth inning, he tipped his cap to the silent crowd.

He wasn’t being sarcastic. In the middle of that crowd was wife, Kassie. The gesture was for her.

“She’s been watching me nine years-- long years,” Morgan said. “She deserved it.”

And so did Morgan deserve a 6-1 victory over the Astros in front of 22,067.

The victory, the Dodgers’ third in five games, came in Morgan’s first start after he returned to the rotation in place of John Wetteland.

“My objective was simple,” Morgan said after giving up six hits and striking out two while showing nothing flashier than a head-first slide into third base during a seventh-inning rally.

“I want to keep the ball in the ballpark. I want to keep our team in the game. Simple.

“Sometimes tonight I might have gotten lucky. But I have learned, I’ll take lucky. Any day.”

He will take Eddie Murray, too. The Dodger first baseman saved Morgan from early trouble with a run-saving, diving stop of Gerald Young’s grounder down the first-base line in the third. Then he singled and scored the Dodgers’ third run in the fourth inning.

Finally, he got a two-out, two-strike, line-drive single up the middle that drove in two runs in that seventh inning.

“Those are the kinds of hits you’ve got to get,” said Murray, who, despite stranding three runners Friday, is hitting .333 with four RBIs in five games.

“Those situations are what the game is about,” Murray said. “You get up there and you’ve got to do something right now . I should be doing that more. I think I’m scuffling.”

But what about that catch?

“I didn’t want that ball hit to me, I’ll tell you that,” he said, smiling. “But it did kind of keep them from getting going.”

The catch occured with Ken Caminiti on second base and two out. The Dodgers led, 1-0, at the time thanks to Alfredo Griffin’s triple and Juan Samuel’s sacrifice fly in the top of the inning.

After Murray picked himself out of the dirt and tagged first base, Morgan left the field with a visible sigh of relief. In the next three innings, only two Astro balls left the infield, both singles.

Morgan finally tired in the seventh, but hung in by getting fly-ball outs until the ninth, when Bill Doran’s double and Glenn Davis’ single put runners on first and third with one out. Although stopper Jay Howell had been warming up and is finally ready to make his first appearance of the season, Ray Searage relieved Morgan. He gave up an RBI fly to Mark Davidson for the Astros’ run before getting Glenn Wilson on a pop-up to finish it.

By then, Morgan was already in his shrugging and predicting mode.

“I’ll tell you what, we get this kind of offense and defense every night. . . . I know everybody is talking about San Diego and San Francisco in this division. . . . You better watch out for L.A.,” Morgan said.

He didn’t mention pitching. But then, he thought he had this club’s pitching figured out last season when he led the National League at the All-Star break with a 1.79 earned-run average despite a 6-8 record. He was a starter then, and figured to be a starter for three more months. Three bad outings later--14 runs in 12 1/3 innings--and he was in the bullpen, replaced by Wetteland.

After parts of nine big-league seasons spent playing for six teams and 11 managers, Morgan now figures he has seen it all.

“I’m glad I’m in the rotation, but I have learned,” Morgan said earlier this week. “One bad outing, two bad outings, you never know. I have learned to appreciate everything I have and pitch every game with everything I’ve got.”

Manager Tom Lasorda said Morgan beat the Astros in exactly that fashion.

“He is one guy who pitches to his strength,” Lasorda said, noting that Morgan gave up only four fair balls in the air in the first six innings. “He is a ground-ball pitcher, and look what happened. Simply, he knows how to pitch.”

So did Astro starter Bill Gullickson, at least several years ago. But Friday, in his first start since returning to the major leagues after playing in Japan for a season, he showed little, giving up five of the Dodgers’ 10 hits in his five innings, with two earned runs.

“I knew Bill Gullickson because I’ve played with him in Cincinnati, and this wasn’t the Gully I knew,” said the Dodgers’ Kal Daniels, who had two more hits to improve his average to .417

Dodger Notes

Franklin Stubbs, like many players who leave the Dodgers for other teams, said that he is happiest about his recent trade to Houston because of the change in clubhouse pressure. “I am finally having some fun, I am so relaxed here, it’s so different,” said Stubbs, traded April 1 for minor-league pitcher Terry Wells. “Here you can just go out and play the game. They let you do what you can do.” Stubbs, who resisted Dodger attempts to change his big swing, said, “They don’t try to change you here, all they want to do is relax you. They don’t expect you to be anybody but yourself.” Stubbs, who could not find a spot in the Dodgers’ crowded outfield, has become a starting outfielder with the injury to rookie Eric Anthony. After a solid first three games, he failed to get a hit in three at-bats Friday, dropping him to .267.

When Juan Samuel stole second and third base in the third inning during Thursday’s 8-6 loss to San Diego, it was the first time one Dodger has stolen two bases in an inning in 192 games. It last happened Aug. 31, 1988, when Kirk Gibson stole two in the fifth inning at Montreal. “That’s something, isn’t it? “ Samuel said. He stole second base in the fifth inning Friday, but did not attempt to steal third. The problem was, with the left-handed-hitting Kal Daniels at the plate, catcher Craig Biggio had a clear shot to third base, greatly reducing Samuel’s odds. “But I thought about going anyway,” Samuel said. “I always think about it. If I get a chance to go, I’m going.” . . . When Samuel struck out in the seventh inning, it gave him at least one strikeout in each of the five games this season. . . . Starting today’s 10 a.m. PDT game for the Astros will be Mike Scott, who has a 2.69 earned-run average in 36 games against the Dodgers, his lowest ERA against any team. Orel Hershiser, with a 2.47 ERA against the Astros, will start for the Dodgers.

The Astros have signed former Dodger pitcher Jerry Reuss to a minor league contract. Reuss is attempting to become the sixth pitcher in baseball history to appear in four decades, joining Early Wynn, Jack Quinn, Bobo Newsom, Nick Altrock and Jim Kaat, the color commentator for today’s CBS telecast of the game here. Reuss has been assigned to double-A Columbus (Ga.).