Wells Behind Early, Stays There in Loss : Dodgers: Rookie pitcher gives up three unearned runs in first inning of second major league start.

With the Dodgers’ pitching as troubled as it has been this year, Terry Wells’ arrival in the big leagues was greeted with little fanfare and much optimism.

Not only was it hoped that Wells would give the Dodgers the fifth starter they so badly need, but it brought them another left-hander in their rotation--a highly valued commodity in the National League.

Sunday, Wells got his second major league start, drawing the loss, 7-2, against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

He pitched four innings, gave up seven runs (four earned), two walks and eight hits, and struck out seven.

But of the eight hits, only Jay Bell’s liner up the middle in the first inning was solid. “His control has been much better than his record shows,” Dodger pitching coach Ron Perranoski said. “He still needs to get a breaking ball and off-speed pitch over, but it’s tough to come up here and get everything together all at once.”

Wells was obtained on April 1, when the Dodgers swapped Franklin Stubbs to the Houston Astros.

Wells, 27, made his major league debut last Tuesday against Chicago, a no-decison when the Dodgers came from behind to win, 7-6. Wells pitched six-plus innings, giving up six runs (four earned) on eight hits, including two doubles and two home runs.

He had been called up the day before from Albuquerque, where he was 7-3 with a 4.10 earned-run average in 17 games. In his last three starts for Alburguerque, he went 3-0 with a 2.21 ERA.

“I can’t say what our plans are for him, and I can’t say he’s our fifth guy,” said Perranoski. “He’s only been here two games. But this is his shot, it’s what he makes of it.”

Wells used breaking balls and a few changeups to set up his fastball, which could be ominous.

But his statistics question his promise.

The three runs he gave up in the first inning provide an example.

Wells started the game by striking out Gary Redus, then gave up Bell’s single.

With Bell at first, R.J. Reynolds hit a double-play grounder to shortstop Alfredo Griffin, who botched the throw to second, allowing both runners to reach base.

Bobby Bonilla flied out to right field, then Wells gave up singles to Barry Bonds, Jeff King and Jose Lind before striking out Dann Bilardello to end the inning. Three unearned runs had scored, and the Dodgers were already playing catch up in the bottom of the first.

“We’d have been out of the inning if they wouldn’t have scored the three runs. They didn’t support him,” said Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda. “Had they not scored, it could have been a different ball game. But he had to pitch from behind.”

Still, Wells took full responsibility.

“Those things (errors) happen. It’s part of the game. The defenders didn’t give up all the hits,” Wells said. “I had a little bit better stuff than the last time, but we still lost the game and you can’t do much about that.

“I threw a few changeups and some fork(balls) and breaking balls, but I was missing. For a while, I was pretty wild and I wasn’t ahead (in the count) and I got less effective.”

Still, the opposition was impressed.

“His fastball keeps you honest,” Reynolds said. “He just needs to work on his mix. But it’s hard to learn all that in the big leagues.”