Dodgers Get Chewed Up at Wrigley Again

If nothing else, Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda no longer has to worry about his players bragging about their superiority in the National League West.

Getting pummeled by the Chicago Cubs, 11-1, and embarrassed in every phase of the game, has a humbling effect. And that’s what happened to the Dodgers on Friday before a paid crowd of 19,324 at Wrigley Field.

The team considered an overwhelming favorite to win its division title suddenly is looking ordinary.

The Dodgers lost their fourth consecutive game Friday and at 1-4 are off to their worst start since 1987.

“This is very disappointing, absolutely,” Lasorda said.

The Dodgers have lost their last two games to the Cubs by a combined score of 20-5, have been out-hit by them, 30-15, and for the third consecutive game their starting pitcher failed to make it to the fifth inning.

“It’s embarrassing for everybody as a team,” said reliever Darren Hall, who yielded three hits and two earned runs in one inning. “The [36-degree] conditions don’t help, but that’s not an excuse. The Cubs are playing under the same conditions.”

Certainly, the Dodgers can’t play much worse.

“It’s a long season, things have got to change,” said Dodger shortstop Greg Gagne, whose two errors led to seven unearned runs. “If they don’t change, it’s going to be a long, long season. But we’re too good of a team to let it go on.”

The Dodgers surely can’t be this bad, but how is it that rookie left fielder Todd Hollandsworth can permit two runs to score simply because he has lost track of the outs?

How can his platoon partner in left, Billy Ashley, strike out in the ninth inning, and then trip in the dugout and bruise his right thumb?

How can Gagne, a defensive whiz, look like Jose Offerman for a day?

How can Cub pitcher Jim Bullinger not only strike out a career-high eight batters, but have more extra-base hits than the entire Dodger team?

Surely, Dodger catcher Mike Piazza can’t go much longer without mixing in a few extra-base hits to go with his 11 singles and .550 batting average.

Surely, right fielder Raul Mondesi will eventually get his first hit with a runner in scoring position after failing in his first six attempts.

Surely, the starting rotation is going to improve its 5.11 earned-run average.

And surely, the Dodgers won’t continue yielding a .555 batting average to opposing pitchers.

“You’ve got to get those guys out,” Lasorda moaned. “That’s why they’re pitchers.”

After Bullinger’s run-scoring double, run-scoring single and walk off Dodger starter Tom Candiotti and reliever John Cummings, 11 of the last 30 runs have scored simply by the opposing pitcher keeping the inning alive with a hit or walk.

“It’s just one of those things,” said first baseman Eric Karros, hitless in his last 11 at-bats. “We’ve just played bad baseball as a unit. You can’t blame it on defense, hitting or pitching. It’s every area.”

The Cubs can’t help but be amused by the Dodgers’ follies. They took advantage of Gagne’s two-out throwing error in the fourth inning that triggered five consecutive hits and four runs.

They watched Bullinger prevent the Dodgers from even reaching third base during his eight-inning stint.

They snickered as the Dodgers struck out 10 times, leaving them with 50 strikeouts and only seven extra-base hits the first five games.

They even giggled when announcer Harry Caray yelled out during the seventh-inning stretch, “We don’t need any more runs!” instead of his usual, “Let’s get some runs.”

Yet, nothing compared to the laughter in the sixth after Gagne’s fielding error loaded the bases with one out. Then Cub catcher Brian Dorsett smashed Cummings’ pitch into left field, but the wind held it up. Hollandsworth caught the ball, put his head down and started trotting to the dugout. Mark Grace easily scored.

And when Sammy Sosa realized Hollandsworth’s gaffe, he kept running from second base. Hollandsworth finally looked up when he heard Gagne and second baseman Delino DeShields screaming, but it was too late. His throw was too late to beat Sosa, and Dorsett was credited with two RBIs on a sacrifice fly.

“That was a pretty big mistake in a situation like that,” Hollandsworth said. “I just went back to make the catch, and I thought there were two outs. What can I say? It was a mental error, and I don’t let mental errors happen twice.

“It’s something I won’t forget.”

Perhaps one day, the other Dodgers can say the same.

For Openers

A look at the worst Dodger starts since 1980:

* 1987: 0-5; finished 73-89, fourth place, 17 games behind the San Francisco Giants.

* 1984: 1-4; finished 79-83, fourth place, 13 games behind the San Diego Padres.

* 1980: 1-4; finished 92-70, tied for first with Houston Astros, lost playoff game.