Uneasy Dodgers Win Easy : Baseball: They beat Braves, 11-4, but questions about Hershiser’s comeback aren’t dispelled.

It appeared to be one of the Dodgers’ few carefree nights this season. It seemed like nothing more than three hours of fun at the expense of the Atlanta Braves, who committed six errors in losing to the Dodgers, 11-4, before 39,850 at Atlanta Fulton County Stadium.

But afterward, despite their smiles, the Dodgers could not hide their worry lines.

They are concerned about Orel Hershiser. He improved to 2-2 while throwing 91 pain-free pitches, but for a second consecutive start, he did little else.

He threw those pitches in only five innings. He gave up nine hits and three runs, increasing his earned-run average to 3.46--highest in the starting rotation.

For the first time, a teammate publicly said that he was not throwing as hard as the pre-surgery Hershiser. Not for the first time, an opponent said the same thing.

Privately, the Dodgers are saying other things. They understand that Hershiser is still building up the shoulder, but they are worried that he could start tearing down the team’s success before he finishes.

For now, their discontent is nothing but murmurs because the Dodgers are 4-3 in his seven starts, compared to their 3-4 record in Kevin Gross’ seven starts before Hershiser replaced him in the rotation.

But their opinions are clear.

“He was getting away with stuff tonight that was not Orel Hershiser-type stuff,” catcher Gary Carter said. “He did not have overpowering stuff. We were getting by with just anything. We were trying to fool them.

“But I think we are going to see that for a while. He said his arm felt strong, so that is a good sign.”

The Braves’ Terry Pendleton, who vividly recalls the ‘old’ Hershiser, agreed with Carter.

“This was not the Hershiser I’ve seen in the past,” Pendleton said. “I don’t think his velocity was there like in the past. You can tell, he’s not throwing the ball the way he used to.

“No matter how hard he threw tonight, he was going to win.”

Hershiser said the radar gun did not agree with those opinions. And scouts pointed out that because Hershiser is not yet changing speeds as in past years, that fastball simply doesn’t look as fast.

“It’s deceiving what velocity you have,” said Hershiser, who has a 6.51 ERA in his last two starts. “Even the catcher sometimes doesn’t know. If Gary felt that way, fine . . . but I know the ESPN (network) gun had me at 87-88 miles an hour, which is my usual. Tonight I threw the ball well when I needed to.”

Which wasn’t very often, because the Braves, who were supposed to have an improved defense this season, took command of the National League lead with 72 errors.

Hershiser gave up runs in each of the first three innings, but the Braves gave back two on consecutive bad plays in the second.

The Dodgers scored twice without hitting the ball out of the infield because of throwing errors by Rafael Belliard, Pendleton and Mike Bell.

Four innings later, against 10-game loser John Smoltz, the Dodgers broke the game open with a season-high six runs in one inning. The inning featured a key grounder that Pendleton could not get out of his glove, a blown tag at home plate when catcher Greg Olson dropped the ball, and a botched grounder by Ron Gant in center field.

With the 8-3 lead, Hershiser was replaced by Gross, who picked up his second save in two nights by giving up one unearned run in four innings.

“I don’t think I’m hurting the club, other than being a burden on the bullpen,” Hershiser said. “I’m keeping us in games. If we had a bad record when I started, it would be different, but we don’t.

“I would like for people to evaluate me in September. I would like for the whole National League to evaluate me in September.”

Tom Lasorda, Dodger manager, thinks Hershiser is merely going through another phase of his rehabilitation.

“I think he’s in a tired-arm stage,” Lasorda said. “He’s been going along, feeling stronger, then he has a setback, but now he’ll probably just go out and get stronger again.”

There are indications that Hershiser is ready to increase his limit to 100-110 pitches for his next start, which will give him more time to use his full repertoire.

For now, though, the winning is silencing everything. By winning three of four from a team that considers itself a contender, the Dodgers finished June with an 18-9 record, their most victories in June since 1973.