Strawberry’s 2 Homers Lead to 7-3 Dodger Win

Just when it seemed he was completely lost, Darryl Strawberry happened upon two familiar sights Tuesday night.

He was so pleased and relieved, he couldn’t help but stand at home plate and stare at them.

They are known to Strawberry historians as mammoth home runs, and Strawberry hit two of them to lead the Dodgers to a 7-3 victory over the Houston Astros before 9,053 at the Astrodome.

Two consecutive innings. Two swings. Two majestic drops of the bat. Two frozen poses while the ball carried high over the right-field fence.

In that short period of time, Strawberry hit as many home runs as in his previous 118 at-bats this season. Both homers were two-run shots, adding substantially to his previous season total of 11 runs batted in.

“I just had to watch them,” Strawberry said with a smile. “I mean, I knew they were gone. And they looked so good.”

His teammates added home runs by Mike Scioscia and Eddie Murray to tie a record for homers by an opponent in one game in the Astrodome, which opened in 1965. Only 11 home runs were hit in the Astrodome in 19 previous games this season.

“You know, some of these guys start hitting, this can be an explosive team,” Manager Tom Lasorda said.

If he sounded surprised, well, the Dodgers entered the night with only 21 homers, ranking ninth in the 12-game National League. And Strawberry entered in a horrible slump that was starting to infiltrate the clubhouse with worry.

He entered the game batting .216 with two homers, as many as Gary Carter has hit. His 11 RBIs were one more than Brett Butler has recorded. He was hitless in seven at-bats since suffering a mildly separated shoulder last week.

He even carried his slump until his first homer in the sixth inning. In his first two at-bats in this game against Houston starter Mark Portugal, he struck out twice while stranding two runners on base.

His final strikeout was so awful, he appeared to be running toward the pitcher’s mound while swinging for strike three.

“After that last strikeout, I told myself, ‘I’ve got to regroup,’ ” Strawberry said. “So I went up to the plate and blocked out everything and just tried to hit the ball hard.”

It may have helped that Portugal, who allowed three hits in five scoreless innings, left the game with the flu and was replaced by Jim Corsi, a right-hander.

With the Dodgers and Bob Ojeda trailing, 1-0, Corsi walked Juan Samuel to start the sixth. Then Strawberry hit a 1-and-1 pitch from Corsi deep to give the Dodgers a 2-1 lead.

One inning later, with Samuel on second base after an RBI double that gave the Dodgers a 3-2 lead, Strawberry took just-entered reliever Dwayne Henry deep on a 2-and-1 pitch. Six pitches later, Eddie Murray homered, the second time this season the two sluggers have hit consecutive home runs.

“I know I am going to come around, the key is not worrying, not thinking about things I haven’t done,” Strawberry said. “The key is recognizing you will be what you are. . . . I am a home run hitter.”

His teammates only hope he will continue to believe that.

“I’ve seen Darryl in funks, but like this? I don’t know,” said Gary Carter, a teammate of Strawberry’s with the New York Mets. “Hopefully, this will get him started out of it.”

Lasorda preferred that his display was not a result of Strawberry’s strength, but his sensitivity.

Before the game, after watching televised reports of the firing of Chicago Cub Manager Don Zimmer, Strawberry approached Lasorda.

“Don’t worry, Tommy,” he told him. “I’m not going to let that happen to you. I’m going to make sure of it personally.”

Said Lasorda later: “Can you believe he said that? Isn’t that precious?”

All was not so peachy with the Dodgers, even though they remained in first place while winning for the ninth time in 12 games.

Ojeda left the game after six innings with his third victory seemingly intact, and reliever Jim Gott was asked to protect a 7-2 lead with three innings of decent pitching.

Gott lasted 18 pitches, walking the bases loaded to start the seventh. Lasorda was forced to use three other members of the weary bullpen, a move that could have repercussions this weekend when the Dodgers will need the bullpen in a showdown in Cincinnati.

Gott, who was given a private inspirational speech by Lasorda before the game, has issued eight walks in his last six innings, including a bases-loaded walk that scored a run for the New York Mets last weekend.

The other worry was Kal Daniels, who has three hits in his last 19 at-bats and asked to be removed from the game after seven innings because his left knee is aching because of the artificial turf. Daniels was so upset after hitting a grounder to end the five-run seventh inning, he knocked over a bag of balls in the dugout.

Ojeda gave up two runs and five hits in six innings to improve to 3-3. After losing three of his first four starts as a Dodger, Ojeda has apparently found both his comfort zone and strike zone. In his last four starts, he is 2-0 with a 3.12 earned-run average.