Dodgers Go Gently Into Night : Baseball: Strawberry accounts for four of the Dodgers’ 12 strikeouts as the Cardinals win, 3-1.

The decision allowing Darryl Strawberry to return from his back injury without a stop in the minor leagues has finally proved beneficial to somebody:

Those who like to boo.

Four times Friday night, the Dodger Stadium crowd of 32,036 poured boos and catcalls down upon Strawberry.

One chorus for each time he struck out.

Strawberry’s post-disabled list average dropped to .190 in the Dodgers’ 3-1 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

“I guess they assumed I’ve been playing all year,” said Strawberry, who acknowledged it was the worst he had been booed here. “I was somewhat surprised. It’s not like I’ve been in the lineup and not performing.”

Strawberry, who stranded one runner on third with a strikeout, helped make a hero out of Rheal Cormier. The Cardinals’ struggling left-hander struck out a personal-best 11 while winning for only the second time this season. Todd Worrell struck out one to complete the Dodgers’ frustration.

Strawberry also helped make it a longer season for Tom Candiotti, who gave up three runs in seven innings but has still not won a start since June 7.

“I think we are starting to see the effect of playing all of these games, I think everybody’s dragging,” Candiotti said. “We saw a lot of bad swings tonight against a guy who has given up a lot of hits.”

Since convincing Fred Claire, team vice president, that he didn’t need a rehabilitation stay at triple-A Albuquerque despite being sidelined for 49 games because of a herniated disk, Strawberry has six strikeouts in six games with only four hits, two of them doubles.

“If people expect Darryl to come in and hit every ball to the moon, it’s just not gonna happen that way,” teammate Eric Davis said. “It’s sad they feel like that. Coming back, Darryl will be going through the same thing I went through. One day it will feel good, the next day it won’t.”

The evening’s fun, and the Dodgers’ ninth loss in 20 games on this home stand, was completed in the ninth inning after pinch-hitter Dave Hansen and Jose Offerman got two-out singles against Lee Smith.

Mike Scioscia, also pinch-hitting, grounded to first base to end the game, giving Smith his league-leading 22nd save.

The Dodgers should have known they were in trouble by the end of the fourth inning, when Brett Butler left the game because of a sore right shoulder.

Butler has started 35 consecutive games, including all eight games in the recent doubleheaders, despite a shoulder injury that he said has prevented him from sleeping on his right side for a week.

Even Butler couldn’t have defended the Cardinals’ winning hit during the sixth inning, a two-run home run by Todd Zeile.

The Cardinals broke a 1-1 tie against Candiotti after Ray Lankford hit a grounder up the middle that Juan Samuel stopped behind second base with no chance for a good throw.

Lankford then stole second base, but it didn’t matter one out later when Zeile hit his fifth home run into the seats down the left-field line.

It was Zeile’s second hit of the game, but only his sixth hit against the Dodgers in 29 at-bats (.207) this season.

If Candiotti has not already wondered about leaving the Toronto Blue Jays to sign here last winter, he is undoubtedly wondering now.

He has not won a start since June 7, even though during that time he has a 3.29 ERA in six starts. In those starts, the Dodgers have given him 15 runs, 2.5 per start.

The Cardinals scored first, with two out in the second inning, when Milt Thompson hit his fourth home run, his second against the Dodgers. Thompson is batting .429 against the Dodgers this season.

The Dodgers tied it in the third inning because of two unusual circumstances.

Candiotti scored his first run of the season when the Lankford made his first error of the season.

It happened after Candiotti started the third inning with a line drive inside first base for a single, his fourth hit of the season. After Butler struck out, Mike Sharperson lofted a single to shallow center field.

The ball landed in front of Lankford, then bounced underneath his glove, rolling toward the center-field wall. Candiotti scored and Sharperson ran to third.

But he was stranded there after Davis flied to shallow left field and Strawberry struck out.