Dodgers Give Up Guerrero to Get Insurance : Leary’s Shaky but Its Phillies Who Fall Apart

With or without Pedro Guerrero, the Dodgers have had nights when they just don’t hit. When that happens, the Dodgers’ only hope is a dominating outing from their starting pitcher.

Tuesday was shaping up as one of those nights. Perhaps out of respect to Guerrero, who was traded to St. Louis earlier in the day, Dodger bats remained silent for four innings against Philadelphia Phillies left-hander Don Carman.

Then, as if emerging from a period of mourning for their departed slugger, the Dodgers exploded for five runs in the fifth inning and two in the sixth to eventually secure a 7-5 victory over the Phillies in front of 32,482 in Dodger Stadium.

The victory gave the Dodgers a 3 1/2-game National League West lead over the second-place Houston Astros, who lost to St. Louis Tuesday night. They are 4 1/2 ahead of third-place San Francisco and 6 1/2 in front of Cincinnati.

With Guerrero gone and Mike Marshall out Tuesday suffering from flu symptoms, the Dodgers figured to have to scrape for runs. That could not have been a heartening prospect to Manager Tom Lasorda, because starter Tim Leary did not have one of his better outings.

But, after falling behind 2-0 in the fifth inning, the Dodger offense finally came alive. Kirk Gibson, emerging from a 1-for-12 slump in the Giant series, hit his 23rd home run to leadoff the fifth, and the Dodgers scored four more runs off Carman (9-7) to take a 5-2 lead. Two runs off reliever Greg Harris in the sixth later proved to be important, because Leary gave up three runs in the seventh and didn’t make it out of the inning. Alejandro Pena eventually worked out of the seventh inning, and Jay Howell pitched scoreless eighth and ninth innings to earn his 15th save.

“(Leary) has picked us up before,” Gibson said. “The way he pitched tonight, it was nothing to be ashamed of. He pitched well enough to win, and that’s all that matters.”

Both Leary and Howell could not stop Phillie leadoff hitter Phil Bradley, who went 4 for 4 with 2 RBIs against Leary and had a two-out double in the ninth inning against Howell that would have been a home run had center fielder John Shelby not reached over the fence and hit the ball with his glove.

It was an off night for Leary, who nonetheless earned his 13th victory in 21 decisions. Pitching on three days’ rest, he allowed the most earned runs, 5, since June 17, when he gave up 5 runs in a loss to the San Diego Padres.

“‘I was mediocre for six innings and lousy in the seventh,” Leary said. “But the win is the main thing. I’m just mad at myself for making bad pitches at certain times.”

Carman, who had won four of his previous five starts, had allowed only two hits and a walk through four innings. Those baserunners were erased on two steal attempts and a double-play line drive.

But the Dodger breakthrough came in the fifth. It began on Gibson’s leadoff home run to right field that cut the Phillies’ lead to 2-1. The rally continued when Shelby hit a single to center field and went to second on Carman’s balk.

Rick Dempsey then hit a liner down the right-field line for a double, scoring Shelby with the tying run. Tracy Woodson scored Dempsey with a single up the middle, giving the Dodgers the lead. One out later, Leary moved Woodson to second on a sacrifice bunt. Steve Sax followed with a two-strike single to right, Sax taking second when first baseman Paul Jordan bobbled the cutoff throw. Alfredo Griffin made the Phillies pay for that mistake, singling to left to score Sax.

An inning later, the Dodgers made it, 7-2, against Harris. Again, it was Gibson who started the rally. This time, he did it by reaching first on an infield single. Shelby hit a triple to right to make it 6-2. Shelby then scored on Dempsey’s fly ball to give Leary a five-run lead. “We’ve been scoring runs all year, even with Pete out of the lineup,” said Dempsey, who had two RBIs. “If Pete had been hitting well (at the time of the trade), it would have been more noticeable, the pain of him leaving.”

Leary, often hurt earlier in the season by lack of offense, received seven runs in his last start against the San Francisco Giants last Friday night. Tuesday, he again received seven runs, and this time he needed them.

Having received the 7-2 lead, Leary ran into trouble in the seventh inning. He gave up consecutive singles to Jordan and Jeltz, who advanced to third on a groundout. Ricky Jordan scored on Leary’s balk, and Bradley’s single knocked in Steve Jeltz to cut the lead to 7-4.

The balk was the second called on Leary with a runner on third in his last three starts. Leary said he is so concerned about being called for balks that he is thinking of pitching from a windup, rather than a stretch, with a runner on third.

Leary was eventually replaced in the seventh by Pena, who gave up a run-scoring single to Juan Samuel to cut the lead to 7-5. But Pena struck out Lance Parrish to end the threat.

Dodger Notes

Mike Marshall missed Tuesday night’s game with what the Dodgers announced as flu symptoms. Marshall had missed only one game in the Dodgers’ first 118 games. . . . When the Dodgers activate pitcher John Tudor tonight, they will have to demote a pitcher. The likely candidate is middle reliever Tim Crews, who has been suffering from a “tired arm” lately. The other candidate seemingly would be Ken Howell, just activated from triple-A Albuquerque on Monday and has not made an appearance. . . . With Pedro Guerrero gone, first base for the Dodgers likely will be split between left-handed hitter Franklin Stubbs and right-handed hitters Mickey Hatcher and Tracy Woodson. . . . Mike Davis, looking for a place to play, said the Dodgers are at their strongest with Marshall at first base and Davis in right field. But Marshall has said that playing first base aggravates his chronic back problem. Said Davis of his future with the Dodgers: “I’ll tell you one thing. I won’t be sitting on the bench next year. I told Tommy Lasorda that I’ll play in Egypt first.” . . . Lasorda on Guerrero’s departure: “I’m going to miss Pete. He’s been around for a long time. I love him. I love Denise (his wife) and Ashlee (his daughter). But we needed an experienced left-handed pitcher.”

Tudor, who will make his pitching debut for the Dodgers tonight, has an 0.37 earned-run average against the Phillies in three starts this season. He is 2-0.