Hats Off to Candy; Dodgers Beat Giants

John Candelaria was signed by the Dodgers for no other reason than to pitch in situations like the one Monday night in Candlestick Park.

Seventh inning, runners on first and second, two out, Dodgers leading by one run, Will Clark batting, Candelaria’s cap blowing across the field like a hot dog wrapper . . .

Well, nobody planned on the problem with the cap, which left Candelaria’s head just as a 3-and-2 pitch was leaving his hand.

The cap blew high and outside. The curveball went low and away. Clark popped the pitch to third baseman Jeff Hamilton to end the inning, and bare-headed Candelaria stalked into the dugout as one of the stars of an eventual 2-1 Dodger victory.

“Didn’t you know we practice that play in spring training?” Manager Tom Lasorda said. “We called it ‘the hat trick.’ Sometimes the batter even swings at the hat.”

It is no joke that Candelaria altered what could have been a fourth consecutive hand-wringing loss for the Dodgers, who committed three errors and managed only five hits amid the chill and swirling wind.

Before the second largest crowd to witness this rivalry, 55,883, the Dodgers spoiled the Giants’ home opener by refusing to let numerous problems spoil their night.

Brett Butler, who was hoping for a few cheers in his first visit here after leaving the Giants for the Dodgers this winter, faced a steady rain of boos and obscene gestures.

Alfredo Griffin, struggling to make people forget that Jose Offerman will be eligible to be recalled from triple-A Albuquerque this weekend, let one grounder go between his legs and threw wildly after catching another.

And on top of everything, when Candelaria was brought into the game, a section-wide brawl broke out in the left-field seats.

“Maybe they were mad because Tommy was bringing me in,” said Candelaria with a shrug, the same shrug he used when he reached the mound in the seventh inning to relieve starter and winner Tim Belcher with runners on first and second.

Candelaria had never faced Clark before. But he did have the good sense to stay in the warm clubhouse for the first four innings and to throw Clark all but one curveball.

“The conditions were so bad, I just wanted to make sure a ball didn’t slip out of my finger and hang up there where Clark could hit it eight miles,” Candelaria said.

Candelaria worked Clark to a full count, then wound up for the big pitch and . . .

“I felt my hat leave my head, I was just hoping the umpire would not call timeout,” Candelaria said.

Said Clark: “I saw the hat, it was hard to miss. But I saw the ball too, and I shouldn’t have missed that.”

By the time Hamilton caught Clark’s pop, Candelaria’s cap was bouncing around the third-base line. He grabbed it and was finished for the night. Jay Howell entered the game in the eighth and allowed only a single in the final two innings to record his first save of the season.

“You know what was so good about tonight?” Kal Daniels said. “We’ve been losing games like this.”

Daniels was one of the hitting stars, as he singled up the middle against Bud Black with two out in the first inning to drive in the Dodgers’ first run. His hit came after Mike Sharperson singled and Darryl Strawberry, who has two hits in his last 17 at-bats and no home runs, drew his first walk of the year.

Moments after Daniels’ hit, Jeff Hamilton recorded his first hit and RBI of the season with a grounder off the glove of third baseman Matt Williams.

The other pitching star was Belcher, who deserved not just a victory but a medal by working out of jams with runners in scoring position in four of his six full innings. He ignored the crumbling defense behind him and gave up five hits and one unearned run in 6 2/3 innings to improve to 2-0.

With at least one error in each of their six games this season, including seven in the last two games, the Dodgers are on a pace to make 297 errors, 104 more errors than the Los Angeles record of 193 set in 1962.

The Dodgers received both good and bad news before the game when they announced that the results of Sunday’s test on Eddie’s Murray sore right hip showed a strained inner pelvis, an injury that could keep him out several more days but is not deemed serious enough to place him on the disabled list.

“It’s in the area of the hip where he could be back in a couple of days, or it could be longer, we really don’t know,” said Charlie Strasser, assistant trainer.

Murray didn’t play, and there were times that perhaps Butler wished he hadn’t played, as he was given a rude welcome.

The booing was so intense when Butler took the field for pregame introductions, he stopped halfway and stuck out his arms as if to say, “Why me?” He then made certain the boos doubled when he hugged Lasorda, always a favorite target here.