Martinez, Dodger Fans Have Ball in 2-0 Victory

It was a simple gesture, but one that spoke volumes about the kid who is becoming a pitcher.

After a three-hit shutout of the Houston Astros Sunday, Ramon Martinez took the game ball and tossed it into the seats above the Dodger dugout. It was as if he was telling the fans: They couldn’t hit it. Now you try.

Martinez not only led the Dodgers to a 2-0 victory over Astros, he may have started a new promotion.

“Every complete game I win this season, I will throw the ball into the stands,” he said.

Why not just keep those balls?

“I think I would have too many balls,” he said with a smile.

The youngest Dodger--he turned 22 last month--is pitching and talking like a veteran. Witness Sunday’s victory, his third shutout and the low-hit game of his one-year career.

Of the three Astro hits, two were flares to left field and the third was a bunt. He allowed only five other fly balls in fair territory, faced two batters over the minimum of 27, and struck out nine.

Before an appreciative 40,520 Dodger Stadium fans who may finally notice something about him other than that he is skinny, Martinez broke the Dodgers’ two-game losing streak and afterward held a coming-out party.

“This year, I am here to stay,” the Dominican Republic native said. “I go out there every five days, no matter what. I feel a lot of confidence. I win a lot of games.”

He later added, “My goal is to win 15 games this year. But I think I can be a 20-game winner in the major leagues.”

Martinez was supported Sunday by another Dodger with high hopes, third baseman Lenny Harris. He had his first hit of the season Saturday night after 12 at-bats, and hasn’t stopped hitting since.

He drove in both Dodger runs Sunday with two singles, giving him four hits and three RBIs in his last eight at-bats.

Harris said he respects platoon mate Mike Sharperson, but said he wants third base all to himself. “Those guys make the rules, and I go by them,” said Harris, 25, who is benched against left-handed pitchers. “But I know that the more I’m in there, the more I’m going to hit. I know I can hit left-handers. I know I can do the job every day.”

The veteran Dodgers, with an 8-6 record heading into today’s first off-day of the season, were given that youthful exuberance by everyone Sunday, even though it was less than 24 hours after they blew a one-run lead and the game in the ninth against Houston.

Against Astro starter Mark Portugal, who is not the same pitcher who went 7-0 after the All-Star break last season, the Dodgers scored their first run in the third inning, thanks in part to Alfredo Griffin.

Griffin, with nine hits in his last 20 at-bats, began the inning with a single to left, one of his two hits. Two outs later, Willie Randolph bounced a single up the middle, and then Harris singled to right to score Griffin, who is hitting .370.

Patience helped the Dodgers in scoring their second run. Juan Samuel started the inning by drawing his ninth walk of the season, and then stole second and third base while Harris watched two good pitches at the plate. Harris singled through a drawn-in infield to score him.

That left the rest for Martinez, who at 1-0 with a 1.89 ERA in three starts, has gotten off to the best start of Dodger starters. He used his new curveball--which he said accounted for a five strikeouts--and he also used newly found maturity to survive two late-inning jams.

“Last year when he would get in trouble, he would look worried,” Griffin said. “Not this year.”

In the eighth inning, he did not panic when leadoff hitter Franklin Stubbs reached first when Randolph bobbled his grounder. Eleven pitches later, Martinez was out of the inning on two fly balls and a grounder.

With one out in the ninth, Terry Puhl pulled off a surprise bunt single, and up stepped Dodger-killer Craig Biggio, who has had a career against them this month with 11 hits in 26 at-bats. But Martinez fooled Biggio into a grounder to shortstop Griffin, who began a game-ending double play.

That ball, of course, ended up in the stands. Martinez is scheduled to start again Saturday against Chicago.

Dodger Notes

The Dodgers’ medical problems are increasing. Reliever Jay Howell will undergo a Magnetic Resonancy Imaging exam today on his left knee. Although Howell warmed up in the ninth inning Sunday and said he was available to pitch, he said the knee has become so sore he cannot run or perform many other conditioning exercises. The knee was injected with cortisone this spring, and Howell said it felt better for a couple of weeks, but recently it has bothered him again. “It has not affected me pitching-wise. . . . I’m not going to use it as an excuse,” Howell said, referring to the 5-4 lead he blew in Saturday’s 6-5 loss to Houston. “But I want them to check it out and make sure there isn’t a cartilage torn or something. This way, too, they will better know how to treat it.” If the MRI, similar to an X-ray of muscles and tendons, reveals something serious, the loss of Howell would be a significant blow.

Kal Daniels’ side felt tight again Sunday morning, so he missed his second start, but later said he plans on starting Tuesday against St. Louis. . . . Since he left the lineup in the fifth inning Friday night, his replacements have gone a combined one for 11. This includes a one-for-9 performance by Chris Gwynn, with four strikeouts. . . . Jim Gott moved a step closer to returning to the Dodger roster Sunday by pitching in his second simulated game in four days. He threw 65 pitches to Dodger hitters, and, although he was not as sharp as in Thursday’s workout, he worked through his early sluggishness and afterward felt good. “You cannot call it a setback, because there was no pain,” said Gott, who said he will throw another simulated game Tuesday or Wednesday. After that, he could be sent to Class-A Bakersfield for a couple of rehabilitation appearances before officially joining the Dodgers in early May.

Brian Traxler joined the Dodgers from triple-A Albuquerque Sunday, and was immediately met with the obvious question about his weight. “I lost 20 pounds during spring training,” Traxler protested, noting that his weight was 215 pounds. That is still 15 pounds more than the listed weight in his biography. “I know the first thing people look at is my physique,” said the 5-foot-10 first baseman. “And I know that won’t change. I’ll never be tall, and I’ll never be thin. But I go out and play hard and I know I can hit.”

History repeated itself in Friday night’s 4-2 Dodger loss to the Astros when catcher Mike Scioscia’s bad cold gave rookie Carlos Hernandez his first big league start. Scioscia’s first big league at-bat came on the same date 10 years earlier, on April 20, 1980. Scioscia also doubled in that game, just as Hernandez doubled Friday night. Hernandez, 22, is only the second Venezuelan to start a major league game at catcher in recent memory. The other was Bo Diaz. If it seemed like Hernandez’ speed on his fifth-inning double to shallow left field was uncharacteristic for a catcher, Hernandez has only been catching since 1986, when he was moved from left field by Dodger rookie league coaches. “Never had a catcher’s glove in my life until then,” said Hernandez, who was recalled last week to replace the injured Rick Dempsey despite just 12 career games in triple-A.

DODGER ATTENDANCE Sunday: 40,520

1990 (6 dates): 247,707

1989 (6 dates): 240,912

Increase: 6,795

1990 Average: 41,284