It’s One More Strike Against Wetteland, 7-3

When Dodger pitcher John Wetteland faced Houston last season, his fielders were insurance risks. The Astros scored 12 runs in 9 2/3 innings against him--an earned-run average of 11.21.

“You better believe I knew all that,” Wetteland said late Saturday afternoon. “I studied all of it. And that’s the only reason I studied all of it. Because I knew it. And I didn’t want to let it happen again.”

But it did.

Wetteland entered Saturday’s game in the seventh inning with the score 3-3. He retired the first two batters and got two strikes on Craig Biggio. But then he lost it, giving up four runs in the next five minutes as the Dodgers lost, 7-3, in front of 21,736 at the Astrodome.

It wasn’t Biggio’s hit--a line-drive single to center field--that bothered the Dodgers as much as how hard it was hit.

“To me, in general, when a guy hits a two-strike pitch with that much authority, you’ve made a terrible mistake,” said Ron Perranoski, Dodger pitching coach.

“Terrible,” Wetteland said.

After Biggio stole second, Wetteland then made a worse mistake to Bill Doran, who had misplayed a grounder at second base that helped the Dodgers tie the score in the top of the seventh.

Wetteland again got the count to two strikes before Doran lined a single to right field, driving in Biggio. Biggio leaped over catcher Mike Scioscia and knocked aside his glove as Scioscia was attempting to catch Hubie Brooks’ throw.

“I don’t think I could have been more down during the time between my error and that hit,” Doran said. “I needed some way to react, and I got it.”

After intentionally walking Glenn Davis after Doran had gone to second base on Brooks’ throw, Wetteland gave up a third consecutive two-strike hit--a three-run homer to Glenn Wilson.

It was the Astros’ first home run of the season. A couple of innings later they had their first victory this season. But it was not the first time the Dodgers have questioned Wetteland’s judgment this season.

On Wednesday in San Diego, he gave up a two-strike home run to Tony Gwynn, who had gone 84 games without one. Two days earlier, on opening day in Dodger Stadium, he gave up a two-out single to Benito Santiago and an RBI double to Garry Templeton.

As a result, Wetteland, 23, was removed from the rotation. The way things are going, he will be lucky if that’s the only thing that happens to him this summer.

“The name of the game is, when you get the other guy down, you make him hit your pitch,” Perranoski said. “This isn’t happening here.”

Said Wetteland: “Yes, I guess they might be losing confidence in me. I guess that giving up blasts and two-out hits might cause them to wonder. What would you think?

“But I know I haven’t lost confidence. And I know I’ll get out of this. I will get out of this.”

Dodger starter Orel Hershiser left the game after six innings, trailing, 3-1. But with two out in the seventh, Jeff Hamilton singled and Alfredo Griffin reached first when Doran muffed his grounder. Chris Gwynn’s pinch-hit double tied the score and took Hershiser off the hook.

“Kind of a weird day,” Hershiser said. “It started out OK, but turned into a comedy of errors. I threw just average . . . and (Astro starter Mike) Scott was just not as dominant as he used to be. One of those kinds of days.”

The strangeness began immediately for the Dodgers. They drew three walks, stole three bases and hit three fly balls. And they didn’t score.

Juan Samuel led off by drawing a walk off Scott, who gave up only 2.4 walks per nine innings last season. Samuel has averaged one walk every four games.

Samuel then stole second, and one out later, Kal Daniels walked. Then he and Samuel pulled off the team’s first double steal of the season, moving them to second and third with one out and Eddie Murray batting.

Murray popped up to shallow left field for the second out.

Hubie Brooks then drew the third walk of the inning to load the bases for Scioscia. But Scioscia popped out to second base to end the inning.

“We had him, and we couldn’t bury him,” Hershiser said of Scott.

And as Wetteland knows, it is either bury or be buried.

Dodger Notes

John Wetteland’s position as the team’s long reliever seems safe until either Jim Gott or Pat Perry return from off-season surgery. Both will throw off a mound again today and might begin rehabilitation in the minor leagues within two to three weeks. Before they return, the Dodgers might give Tim Crews a chance at that role. Crews was the only healthy Dodger reliever who didn’t appear in Thursday’s 8-6 loss at San Diego. “I swear, I don’t know what’s going on, they haven’t told me anything,” said Crews, who has pitched two scoreless innings this season after going 0-1 with a 3.21 ERA last season. An ERA above 3.00 for a relief pitcher is not considered great. He added, “It’s just hard for me to watch a game like (Saturday’s) slip away like that. I keep thinking, ‘I’m ready, I could be in there.’ ”

Jeff Hamilton stayed in a slump, fouling out on reliever Dave Smith’s first pitch with two outs and the bases loaded in the eighth inning. “I got the pitch I was looking for, and I still couldn’t hit it. That’s when it really gets upsetting,” Hamilton said. Although he had one hit to raise his average to .130, he still looks uncomfortable at the plate and has been icing a sore right shoulder after games. The Dodgers might give him a rest in favor of Lenny Harris, although Hamilton said he doesn’t want one. “I am going to be running and swinging every day anyway, so why not do it in a game?” he said. “I know I’m better than this.” Hamilton said the shoulder soreness had been diagnosed as a form of tendinitis, and although it doesn’t appear to have affected his throwing, he says it might be hurting his hitting. “Compared to when I got to spring training, before it started to hurt, I am not swinging the bat as well now,” he said.

Chris Gwynn was thrilled to get his two-run pinch double Saturday, even if it was a blooper that bounced past a diving Gerald Young in center field. “I needed that hit in my position,” said Gwynn, who is trying to establish himself as an effective pinch-hitter. It didn’t help that he blew an important hit-and-run play against the Padres. “The good thing is, at least for the next couple of games, I’ll only be thinking about that hit,” Gwynn said.

Willie Randolph was especially glad to see Mike Scott leave the game shortly before Randolph came to the plate to start the sixth inning. By going hitless in two at-bats against Scott Saturday, Randolph is hitless in 16 at-bats against Scott in Randolph’s two National League seasons. . . . Saturday marked the 40th wedding anniversary of Tom and Jo Lasorda.