Dodgers Beat Expos in 11th, 1-0 : Baseball: Lack of offensive support continues to plague Candiotti, who gets his fifth consecutive no-decision.

When Tom Candiotti was young, he used to pretend he was Don Drysdale. He would pretend he was pitching against the Giants and go out and throw against the garage door. He remembers Drysdale’s motion; how his arm went behind his back. He remembers Drysdale’s nose, how he looked like he was smelling something all the time.

“He was my idol,” Candiotti said after the Dodgers beat the Montreal Expos, 1-0, in 11 innings Sunday.

But when Candiotti took the mound at Olympic Stadium, he didn’t have to pretend anymore. He hardly throws the same pitch as Drysdale, but he is suffering through a situation that Drysdale knew all too well.

Candiotti had a two-hit shutout through seven innings before being removed for a pinch-hitter in a scoreless game. Since May 31, when he pitched a complete-game victory against St. Louis, Candiotti has an earned-run average of 1.50 in six starts and a record of 0-1. Sunday, he had his fifth consecutive no-decision.

“I don’t think I have thrown better than this in my whole life,” Candiotti said. “I don’t plan on changing a thing. All I can do is put up as many zeros as I can and hope the offense can come through.

“My arm is strong, my nails are good, as funny as that sounds. I’m throwing the knuckleball hard and changing speeds. Today, a couple of times the ball even went in a circle. Sometimes it takes me a while in the first inning, but when I come out and start throwing strikes, they start swinging, and I know I am going to have a good day. At least we are winning some of these games.”

The Dodgers won on two throwing errors by shortstop Mike Lansing and a passed ball by Tim Laker. But what the play-by-play doesn’t show is how the Dodgers really did it. Still stunned by the death of Drysdale, who died of a heart attack late Friday night, the players said they dug in and battled it out on the field.

“They took it very hard,” Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda said. “When I called them in to tell them right before the game (Saturday night) that Don had died, to see the looks on their faces. . . . When we prayed for Don and his family, they didn’t move, they just stayed there with their heads bowed in reverence. It had a real effect on us. To come back and win a ballgame like we did today is positive proof that these guys are a bunch of wonderful young men.”

The Dodgers (42-37), trying to break tradition and have a winning record on this 11-game East Coast swing, won two of three games from the Expos. The game they lost came Saturday night, when they took the field within minutes of hearing the news of Drysdale’s death. By Sunday, the news had somewhat settled in.

“Don was the ultimate competitor,” said Jim Gott (3-5), who pitched the 10th inning. “He was direct and to the point and let you know where you stood--and he meant a lot, especially to the pitchers.”

Drysdale, who traveled with the team as a broadcaster, spent a lot of time in the clubhouse talking with the players, dissecting the game, never afraid to give his opinion. “He was always concerned about the players,” Orel Hershiser said. “He was an announcer, but his heart was in the locker room.”

Cory Snyder, who singled in the 11th inning against Jeff Shaw (1-5) and scored after the two errors and passed ball, reflected on the emotional blows that have been dealt the Dodgers and all of baseball since the spring.

“Four great people have died this year,” he said, referring to former Dodgers Tim Crews, Roy Campanella, Drysdale and his good friend from the Cleveland Indians, Steve Olin. “But we still have to go out and do our job, we have to play and play hard.

“But we will never forget them.”

With one out and a runner on second base in the bottom of the 11th, Snyder went to the right-center field wall to catch a hard-hit ball by Marquis Grissom. Roger McDowell then intentionally walked Larry Walker and Greg Colbrunn grounded out, giving McDowell his second save.