Gibson Gives Dodgers a Lift : Baseball: After continuing his slump with two strikeouts, he gets a tiebreaking single in the eighth that leads to a 5-1 victory at Philadelphia.

What Kirk Gibson saw when he stalked into the dugout after his second consecutive strikeout Tuesday night made him even more uncomfortable than the sight of shaving cream and a razor.

He saw discouragement.

“I looked at Tommy (Lasorda) and Billy (Russell) and it looked like they had just lost their dog,” said the Dodger outfielder, who was hitless in nine previous at-bats. “I said, ‘C’mon you guys, it isn’t that bad. At least I fouled three pitches off.’

“I had been going bad, but I wasn’t going to pout. I wasn’t going to sit down. I was going to stay positive.”

Gibson muscled a pitch up the middle four innings later for a run-scoring single that broke a 1-1 tie with the Philadelphia Phillies and sent the Dodgers to an eventual 5-1 victory.

With two out and Jose Offerman on third base against rookie pitcher Jose DeJesus, Gibson battled until he knocked a slider over the pitching mound and into center field before 24,296 at Veterans Stadium. It was his first hit in 11 at-bats, his first RBI in 31 at-bats.

It wasn’t the first time he has inspired a team that won for the 10th time in 14 games and remained 6 1/2 games behind NL West-leading Cincinnati, which defeated St. Louis, 2-1.

Winning pitcher Jim Neidlinger stuck around after leaving the game for pinch-hitter Alfredo Griffin in the eighth inning. Neidlinger stayed on the bench as Griffin bunted Offerman, who led off with a walk, to second base.

“I’m used to staying on the bench and watching the rest of the inning after coming out of a game, because in the minor leagues, it’s sort of a rule,” said Neidlinger, offering a gentle reminder of his whereabouts just last month.

After Lenny Harris grounded to second for the second out, Neidlinger and the rest of the Dodger bench knew Gibson had a chance to win it. Since he returned to the lineup June 2 after knee surgery, he has batted .283 with 21 stolen bases while the Dodgers have gone 43-36.

“I know if he puts a good swing on the ball, he’s going to get them,” Neidlinger said. “It’s just a feeling.”

Said Gibson: “As bad as I’ve been going lately, I still visualized getting the hit. And with that, I felt I could do it.”

After Gibson’s hit, the feeling caught on. Chris Gwynn doubled, then Eddie Murray was intentionally walked by reliever Roger McDowell. Hubie Brooks, who tied the score in the fifth inning with his 17th homer, knocked in two runs with a single, and Mike Scioscia had an RBI single to complete the scoring.

Neidlinger went to the showers confident of his third victory in six starts. Jay Howell took the mound confident that, after doing it three times in the last seven meetings between these teams, the Phillies would not mount an incredible comeback.

“They were due to make an out in the ninth inning,” said Howell, who allowed just one hit in the final two innings for his 10th scoreless appearance in his last 11 games.

Gibson felt he was also due for a comeback Tuesday but, then, he always feels he’s due for a comeback.

“I’ve known I’ve been terrible lately, but, I don’t feel that bad,” he said. “Physically, I’m fine. It’s at the point of the season where I’m going to play hard every day until the end and then see where we stand.”

Gibson illustrated the recovery of his knees by running down two balls in deep center field, a position he does not enjoy. If he’s still hurting, he’s not saying it or showing it.

“I am where I am, and I will play hard there--what else can I do?” he said.

Other Dodgers are showing the same fortitude, notably Brooks, who was removed from Sunday’s game with the New York Mets with a sore left knee. When asked how he could return to the lineup so soon, and on synthetic turf, he shrugged.

“A lot of aspirin,” he said. “If I feel it’s not too painful, if I’m not going to hurt the team, then I’m playing.”

After Neidlinger allowed a first-inning run on an RBI double by Dale Murphy under the glove of Kal Daniels, suffering from a sore back, he settled down to shut the Phillies out on five hits in the next six innings.

Brooks helped him by hitting an 0-and-2 pitch off DeJesus off the top of the right-field fence in the fifth for his first homer since Aug. 14.

“With two strikes on you . . . you’re just trying to keep yourself alive,” he said.

That’s what the Dodgers are doing, staying alive.

Said Gibson: “When does the season end, Oct. 3?. We’ll play hard all the way until then. And if we’re tied, we’ll play hard in the playoff.”

Dodger Notes

Juan Samuel went to the bench because the Phillies started a right-handed pitcher, Jose DeJesus. Alfredo Griffin was benched in keeping with Manager Tom Lasorda’s recent trend of splitting the starting job between him and Jose Offerman. . . . Griffin and Samuel said they were relieved to reach an out-of- court settlement of about $1,500 Monday with Pittsburgh busboy Wilson Sturgeon Jr., whom they were charged with assaulting on July 21. “I didn’t take the problem on the field with me, but it was always there,” Griffin said. “As soon as I get off the field, I think about it.’ Sturgeon said one of the reasons he settled was that Griffin hinted at filing a lawsuit against him because Griffin injured his eye in the fight and missed a week of games. “I just wanted it over with,” Sturgeon said. Since the fight, Griffin has hit .181, while Samuel has actually improved, hitting .256.

Kal Daniels was removed from the game in the seventh inning with a recurring problem in his lower back. “But I’ll be back out there (Wednesday),” Daniels said. . . . Umpire Joe West, after meeting with National League President Bill White, said NL umpires will no longer attempt to break up fights. West has come under fire recently because of three such incidents with the Phillies. “We aren’t going to break up another fight until they tell us to,” West said. “If that’s the way they want it, fine.”

The Dodgers’ six-game Eastern trip got off to a bad start Monday when the team’s plane arrived in Philadelphia 3 1/2 hours late from Los Angeles after a storm delay and a stopover in Baltimore for refueling. Several players left the plane in Baltimore and drove to Philadelphia. . . . Pat Perry threw a third simulated game and said he still didn’t feel sharp. The left-handed reliever said he hopes to throw two more simulated games on this trip and be ready for activation during the next home stand.

Rick Dempsey met with NL President White before the game to appeal the $1,000 fine and one-game suspension given him after his fight with Phillie outfielder Lenny Dykstra on Aug. 20. White said he will probably not have a ruling on the appeal until he returns to his New York office next Monday. In itself, that is a break for the Dodgers because, with the expansion of rosters Friday, a third catcher will have already arrived from triple-A Albuquerque. That catcher will probably be Darrin Fletcher.

Jeff Hamilton said late last week that there is still a “5%-10% chance” that he will agree to undergo additional shoulder surgery, the preferred option given him by Dr. Frank Jobe. Hamilton, who has been out since April 16 and will miss the rest of this season with rotator cuff problems, said he prefers the lesser option of attempting to treat his injury through rehabilitation.