Crews Doesn’t Lose, Dodgers Don’t Gain

In a summer when Tim Crews’ career has been turned on its previously nondescript head, the Dodgers’ 5-2 victory over Atlanta Monday was nothing new.

First, he warmed up in an empty bullpen.

“It was weird to see the other relievers walking down the field toward me,” Crews said. “I thought, ‘How strange, here I am, warming up before the game.’ ”

Then he watched the game from what seemed like an empty dugout.

“Every time I came off the field, nobody would sit within 10 yards of me, they were all crowded at the ends of the bench,” Crews said. “I don’t know what that was all about.”

Finally, after he allowed one run and three hits in 5 1/3 innings to eventually gain a victory in the second start of his career, the often-criticized pitcher was declared nobility.

“In my mind, Tim Crews is the most valuable pitcher on this team this year,” catcher Mike Scioscia said.

Responded Crews: “He said what? Does he have rocks in his head?”

Said Scioscia: “You don’t realize the impact of a Tim Crews until you take him away. He can start, he can relieve in all different situations, he has really saved us this year.”

Said Crews: “Well, I guess since Orel Hershiser and Tim Belcher are hurt . . . “

Before 3,473 at Atlanta Fulton County Stadium, when the Dodgers could have easily let down after their emotional three-game series at Cincinnati, Crews kept things interesting with help from three relievers and three hits each from Kal Daniels and Eddie Murray.

In winning for the fourth time in five games, the Dodgers were bothered only by a glance at the scoreboard in the eighth inning. The National League West-leading Cincinnati Reds defeated the San Francisco Giants, 4-0, leaving the Dodgers 5 1/2 games behind with 15 game remaining.

The Dodgers are beginning to realize that they can win the rest of their games, just like Monday, but because they have no remaining games against the Reds, they could still not win the division.

“When I said we were going to need to get some help to win this thing, I thought that help would come from the Giants,” Daniels said. “But then I look at the scoreboard and see where the Giants only got two hits and they were by the game guy (Kevin Bass) . . . man, that ain’t much help.”

On this night, the thing most helped was Tim Crews’ three-year career.

Last season, that career included a brief demotion to triple-A Albuquerque, even though Crews finished with a 3.21 earned-run average and 56 strikeouts in 61 2/3 innings for the Dodgers.

And in 1988, Crews was left off the postseason roster, even though he was 4-0 with a 3.14 ERA.

“The feeling has always been there that they are taking me for granted,” Crews said. “I don’t know how Mr. Claire (Fred, Dodger vice president) feels about me. Mr. Claire has done me several different ways.”

This year, with a 2.58 ERA and a career-high five saves with only three allowed runs in his last 20 1/3 pressure innings, he has exacted revenge. And this winter, eligible for arbitration for the first time, he plans to make the Dodgers pay.

“I’m not looking for revenge, I just want justice,” said Crews, who is making $215,000 this season. “I just want them to be fair. I’ve been dealt with poorly the last two years; now is my opportunity to make things fair.”

In improving his ERA as a starter to 1.93, Crews held the last-place Braves to one hit through the first five innings. True to his pregame prediction of lasting no more than six innings, he allowed a one-out double to Lonnie Smith and an RBI single to Jeff Treadway in the sixth before leaving the game.

The Dodger bullpen, which had given up runs in eight of its last 10 appearances, this time performed as the Dodgers had hoped.

Jim Gott replaced Crews and retired two of the next three hitters to escape the inning. Gott found trouble in the next inning, loading the bases on two singles and a walk. But he was rescued by Dennis Cook, who retired pinch-hitter Francisco Cabrera on a line drive to left.

Jay Howell finished by converting on his eighth consecutive save opportunity, earning his 16th save, by allowing one run in the final two innings with five strikeouts. That the bullpen did fine without Crews is a fact that did not escape the relievers.

“He’s not a part of us anymore,” Ray Searage said of Crews. “He can run lines with the starters from now on.”

Said Howell: “I like Tim Crews, but I may be the only one on the team. Seriously, we aren’t teasing him because he is a starter. We are teasing him because we always tease him.”

Against Braves’ starter Charlie Leibrandt, the Dodgers scored in the third on Murray’s RBI single, in the sixth on Scioscia’s RBI fly, and in the seventh on Daniels’ RBI single. Those were all the runs they needed.

Dodger Notes

Charlie Leibrandt will have a mediocre season because of the Dodgers. After giving up three runs in 6 2/3 innings, he is 0-3 with a 4.98 earned-run average in three game against the Dodgers; 8-6 with a 2.82 ERA against the rest of the league. Yet he questioned his conquerors, saying, “They’ve got a real good lineup. The only thing I question is their intensity. Day in, day out, sometimes they look great and sometimes it looks like they are going through the motions.” . . . Eddie Murray went three for three to increase his average to .322. With a .353 average since the All-Star break, he has a chance to finish among the league’s top three batters, perhaps even an outside chance of passing Willie McGee, the ex-St. Louis Cardinal traded to the Oakland Athletics, who will finish the season hitting .335. Murray will probably pass his career high average of .316, set with Baltimore in 1982. Pitchers are becoming so afraid of his bat that he has been walked five times in his last 10 plate appearances. “I guess the hits are just falling in, nothing special is going on,” Murray said. “There are still games to play, so I don’t want to think about anything else.” . . . Kirk Gibson, who was benched for a fourth consecutive game because of his slump, said he is unhappy but respects Manager Tom Lasorda’s decision. “It doesn’t matter what I feel, I’m not the manager,” said Gibson, who entered Monday with one hit in his last 29 at-bats. During the season’s most important series in Cincinnati last weekend, he batted just once. “I have not been performing lately, and the manager has determined that this is a better team without me. . . . I’m the one who put myself in this position, nobody else,” Gibson added. “The guys who he has put in there have done a good job, so I can’t say he’s wrong.” . . . Gibson said his left knee feels fine. When asked if he normally hits his way out of these slumps, he said, “Yep.” There is a feeling that this benching increases the already strong possibility that Gibson will leave the Dodgers when he becomes a free agent after the season. Because Fred Claire, Dodger vice president, has said he will not negotiate with Gibson until after the Dodgers are out of the pennant race, Gibson said he is packing his belongings and leaving for his Michigan home after the season. Once there, he said he will go hunting and work at his real estate development business and consider his future. “When I get back home and get back to work, I don’t know what will happen,” Gibson said. “They made the decision not to sign me back when, so now . . . it won’t take me long to get my shotgun in my hand and consider my options.”