No Blues Sung by Valenzuela : Baseball: Crowd of 54,167 turns out at Dodger Stadium to pay tribute to left-hander, but he and Phillies lose, 3-1.

It wasn’t a loose game of summer slow-pitch softball, but it felt that way to Orel Hershiser and Fernando Valenzuela, two old friends who both happen to have won Cy Young Awards in the not-that-distant Dodger past.

At times, with the crowd chanting “Meh-ee-co, Meh-ee-co,” and applauding Valenzuela’s every wink and shrug, it felt like a festival.

Other times, with pitches dipping into the 80-m.p.h. zone and batters popping pitches high into the air, it looked like an old-timers’ contest.

Somewhere in between all that, the Dodgers defeated the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-1, in a baseball game.

“I can’t remember a time when I’ve been more relaxed during a big league game,” Hershiser said after it was over.

“It was like a Fourth of July pickup game, like a bunch of friends who got together and I happened to be pitching against an old buddy.”

The warm feelings of familiarity Sunday included the 54,167 in attendance at Dodger Stadium who happily, and loudly, cheered both starting pitchers and watched Hershiser (5-4) beat his former teammate.

In his first appearance at Dodger Stadium since 1990, Valenzuela received a standing ovation when he went out to take his warm-ups in the bottom of the first, and loud applause each time he was introduced to bat.

“I was glad they were cheering him,” Hershiser said. “That’s what you want the home crowd to do when they see a returning champion. When he was in the American League, we knew he was back in the big leagues, but we didn’t get the feeling, that energy he provides when he walks into this ballpark.”

Valenzuela spun his way through six relatively strong innings--and lined a single to center against Hershiser.

“It worked out good,” Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda said. “Fernando looked good, Hershiser pitched good, and we won. It was exciting to see the two of them pitch against each other.”

Valenzuela (0-1), who gave up two runs on six hits and struck out one before being lifted for a pinch-hitter in the seventh with his team trailing, 2-1, downplayed the significance of the game, though it was the first time Dodger Cy Young Award winners had faced each other.

But even Dodger players who had never been his teammate knew it was special to face Valenzuela.

“He was such a big thing in Dodger Stadium, and you always wonder what it’d be like to face guys like that,” said outfielder Cory Snyder, who drove in a run in the second on a soft single. “This is something I’ll get to tell people, that I had a chance to face him.”

The Dodgers got their runs against Valenzuela on three soft hits and a suicide squeeze.

“Yeah, we did get some little dumpers,” Lasorda said. “But it’s all part of the game.

“I don’t think he looked any different from when we let him go. The only difference was he didn’t throw the screwball very often.”

Tim Wallach led off the second with a ground-ball double down the left field line, right fielder Tony Longmire misplayed Raul Mondesi’s flare into a double, Snyder scored Wallach with a bloop to left and Rafael Bournigal drove in Mondesi on a perfect squeeze.

Other than that, Valenzuela kept the Dodgers off balance predominantly with a cut fastball bearing in on right-handed hitters.

“We didn’t hit the ball very hard all day long,” Wallach said. “I’ll just say this: He got us out.”

Said Hershiser: “This guy will be throwing real well for another five years or so because he just knows how to pitch. He’s a guy with a repertoire of pitches lacking any real velocity, and he’s still getting people out. That says a lot.”

In a move greeted by loud boos, Valenzuela, in only his second start since being signed by the Phillies last month, was replaced by pinch-hitter Jim Eisenreich in the top of the seventh inning with the bases loaded and one out. Valenzuela threw 93 pitches, 61 for strikes.

Hershiser got Eisenreich to ground to Bournigal for an inning-ending double play.

After that, the Dodgers tacked on another run in the eighth against reliever Heathcliff Slocumb and Dodger stopper Todd Worrell pitched the final two innings for his seventh save.

But this was a day about looking back, not too long ago, to when Valenzuela wore blue.

“I thought that was beautiful,” Lasorda said of the first-inning standing ovation. “They appreciated all that he did for them.”