Dodgers Get a Win Thrown Their Way, 5-4 : Baseball: Los Angeles keeps pace with Atlanta by scoring the winning run in the ninth on a throwing error.

On a night when a fan left the stadium in handcuffs and pitcher Mike Morgan left the mound in a rage, it was only fitting that the Dodgers defeated the St. Louis Cardinals on a ball that was thrown off the field by a third baseman.

With pinch-runner Tom Goodwin on second base, Cardinal third baseman Todd Zeile threw a grounder by Chris Gwynn into the photographers’ well behind first base for an error, scoring Goodwin to give the Dodgers a 5-4 victory over the Cardinals Tuesday before 26,793 at Dodger Stadium.

For a third consecutive day, the Dodgers remain in a first-place tie with the Atlanta Braves, who earlier defeated the Montreal Expos.

And for once, midgame controversy dissolved into a happy ending, thanks mostly to the clutch hitting of rookie Dave Hansen, who had a ninth-inning pinch-hit for the second consecutive game.

After Morgan and reliever Jay Howell had blown a 4-3 lead in the top of the ninth on a bloop fielders’ choice fly ball by Jose Oquendo, Hansen, batting for Mike Sharperson, started the bottom of the ninth against reliever Cris Carpenter with a single up the middle.

Alfredo Griffin bunted pinch-runner Goodwin to second base, and then Gwynn, batting for Howell, hit a grounder directly at Zeile, who threw the ball over the head of first baseman Gerald Perry for the Dodger victory.

The Dodgers appeared poised for a victory about 30 minutes earlier, in the top of the ninth, with Morgan looking strong after allowing three runs and five hits in eight innings.

But Morgan allowed a leadoff single to Pedro Guerrero to start the ninth. After Felix Jose struck out, pinch-runner Geromino Pena stole second. Morgan then walked Milt Thompson, bringing pitching coach Ron Perranoski to the mound.

Perranoski left Morgan in to face Perry, who was batting for Pagnozzi. But Morgan bounced the first pitch past catcher Gary Carter, moving the runners to second and third.

Morgan was forced to walk Perry intentionally. Out came Perranoski again, this time to replace Morgan with Howell. Morgan kicked a leg into the air in apparent unhappiness, then stalked into the dugout.

When coach Joe Amalfitano tried to congratulate Morgan, the pitcher shrugged him off and stalked through the dugout, disappearing up the runway.

Howell, the loser in Monday’s 7-4 defeat, allowed the shallow fly by Oquendo to tie the game. What should have been a single was ruled a fielder’s choice because Thompson apparently thought the ball was going to be caught and was thrown out at third base on the play.

The Cardinals had taken the early lead with three runs in the third inning thanks to a play so strange, one of the people involved was led away from his seat in handcuffs.

Oquendo led off the third with a single against Morgan. After Olivares forced Oquendo at second, Ray Lankford walked.

One out later, Zeile hit a line drive into the left-field corner. The ball rolled to the base of the shallow fence and was gloved by a fan, who pulled it into the stands.

Zeile was given second base because the umpires ruled he would have stopped there if the ball had not been interfered with. Olivares and Lankford were both allowed to score because of the same reason.