Who’s on Third? Sorry, Not Hershiser : Dodgers: Lasorda fools with lineup in 5-4 victory over Padres to get Hansen a pinch-hit try.

“Batting third, playing third base, No. 55, Orel Hershiser.”

Matter-of-factly, the public address announcer was droning his way through the Dodger starting lineup before Wednesday night’s 5-4 victory over the San Diego Padres.

The crowd hardly stirred. The home team, after all, was starting a center fielder at third base and a third baseman at first, so starting a pitcher at third base probably didn’t seem so strange.

It was strange.

After all, Hershiser’s bid to break the National League record for highest batting average by a pitcher would not be helped. He could go four for four and he would be hitting 1.000 as a third baseman, but still a mere .373 as a pitcher.

Something else was up.

Eric Karros was coming out of the batting cage when Tom Lasorda nudged him.

“You see the lineup?” the manager asked.

“I saw who’s hitting third,” Karros said. “He should be. He’s our best hitter.”

Hershiser neither batted third nor played third. Dave Hansen did both. In the top of the first inning, Hansen appeared as a pinch-hitter. Hershiser might as well have been in Denver, where the Dodgers play next, for all his presence was required Wednesday night.

So what gave?

Hansen was tied for most pinch-hits in a season by a Dodger with 17.

“This gives Hansen a pinch-hit opportunity,” Lasorda said, “and still gets him three more at-bats.”

And no one can say this record has not stood the test of time. It was set all the way back in 1992 by Mitch Webster.

“Hey,” Lasorda said, “records are made to be broken.”

This one was not, at least not Wednesday. Hansen flied to left as a pinch-hitter. What he did thereafter--two hits in three at-bats--was as a third baseman.

As it turned out, the guy who pitched was probably prouder of a piece of hitting he did. With runners on second and third in the second inning, both courtesy of errors by Padre center fielder-turned-third baseman Derek Bell, Jody Reed was walked intentionally to get at Kevin Gross. He promptly singled home two runs to get the offense rolling.

On the mound, Gross (10-13) struggled as he has for much of the season. Padre rookie Dave Staton hit his first major league home run into the second deck in left, only the 11th time that has happened. Gross gave up at least one hit an inning except the seventh, when he was yanked after walking the first two hitters. He turned a 5-0 Dodger lead into an adventure.

Even before the Dodger bullpen got into the game, right fielder Raul Mondesi deserved a save. The Padres got only two runs out of five hits in the fifth because Mondesi cut down a runner at the plate. He short-circuited the sixth inning when he threw out a runner trying to advance from first to second on a deep fly out near the foul line.

In the seventh, the Padres were within 5-4 when left fielder Billy Ashley threw out a runner at third to end the inning.

The real save went to Todd Worrell, which made his brother Tim, the Padres’ starter, the losing pitcher.