Dodgers Go 4-0 Without Guerrero : They Miss His Bat, but Do Other Things to Beat Expos, 5-2

Four games without Pedro Guerrero did not turn out to be so bad, after all. It was quite pleasant for the Dodgers, in fact. They did not lose a game, and Guerrero seemingly approached his suspension as a welcome respite from the long season.

Don’t think for a minute, however, that the Dodgers did not miss Guerrero, their best hitter. But they showed enough versatility to win four straight games.

Friday night, the Dodgers relied on quality relief pitching from Jesse Orosco and Alejandro Pena and sufficient offensive support to beat the Montreal Expos, 5-2, before 18,113 at Olympic Stadium.

With Guerrero’s sole contribution coming after the game, when he helped reduce the generous mound of food on the buffet table, other Dodgers feasted on the Expos. Left fielder Kirk Gibson went 3 for 5 with 2 runs batted in, while shortstop Dave Anderson continued his hot hitting in place of injured Alfredo Griffin with 2 hits and an RBI.

Most notable, however, was the effectiveness of the Dodger relief corps, rocked Thursday night in Philadelphia. Orosco, who threw 8 straight balls against the Phillies and lost a lead, bailed starter Tim Belcher out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh inning and eventually was credited with the win.

An inning later, Pena bailed out Orosco and allowed only a ninth-inning home run to Andres Galarraga over the final 1 innings for his third save.

So, even without Guerrero’s offense and Griffin’s defense, the Dodgers carried on and, in fact, picked up two games on the Houston Astros in the National League West. The Dodgers (26-17) are 1 1/2 games ahead of the second-place Astros.

Was Tom Lasorda, the Dodger manager, worried about life without Guerrero?

“If I were, I wouldn’t tell you,” Lasorda said, cackling.

A similarly curt response was issued by Guerrero when asked how he handled his four-day suspension.

“It was only four days,” Guerrero said. “You act like it was a month. Geez. What a stupid question. Of course, I’m ready. It (the suspension) was all right. It’s over. I’m just glad to (be) back here tomorrow.”

Actually, Guerrero’s teammates responded well in his absence. Granted, the offense wasn’t as productive without Guerrero--one of the league’s top hitters--in three of the four games, but the Dodgers had been slumbering at the plate even before he left.

But the play of Guerrero’s replacement at third base, Jeff Hamilton, impressed Lasorda and many Dodger players. Despite going 0 for 4 Friday night, Hamilton had 5 hits and 4 RBIs in the four games.

“He’s really impressed me,” Lasorda said of Hamilton. “I found out (Hamilton) is going to call the president (of the National League, Bart Giamatti) and ask for an extension.”

Lasorda said Friday he has given thought to the idea of extending Hamilton’s playing time even after Guerrero’s return. He said he has considered sitting high-priced but slumping right fielder Mike Davis against left-handers and putting Guerrero in right field and Hamilton at third.

Lasorda indicated Friday that no such move is immediately forthcoming. But, he admitted, he has considered it.

“I consider a lot of things,” Lasorda said. “There are many avenues open to us.”

When Davis, hitting just .218 after signing as a free agent for $987,500, heard what Lasorda is considering, he headed directly to the manager’s office to talk about it.

Later, Lasorda added this clarification: “Listen, Mike Davis is my right fielder, and Pete is my third baseman. There’s always an option everywhere.”

Said Hamilton: “I’ll just have to wait and see what happens. I mean, who knows? They make the decisions. I won’t be mad if I’m back (on the bench).”

Lasorda, in perhaps the most startling change from last season, also has plenty of options when it comes to selecting a relief pitcher. He has, at least so far, successfully juggled Orosco, Jay Howell and Pena, who gave the Dodgers their 12th save in 43 games. Last season, it took 80 games for the Dodgers to get that many saves.

Friday night, with the teams tied, 1-1, in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Expos had loaded the bases with one out against Belcher. Lasorda called on Orosco, who failed to retire any of the three batters he faced Thursday night.

Perhaps spurred on by Lasorda’s show of faith despite that bad outing, Orosco got pinch-hitter Wallace Johnson to pop up to second baseman Steve Sax and pinch-hitter Dave Engle to fly out to right.

“As wild as I was (Thursday night), it was important to get back in again,” Orosco said. “That tells me that the manager has confidence in me. I’ve had situations sometimes when I just can’t get the ball over the plate. That happened (in Philadelphia.) But I knew it wouldn’t last.”

With a runner on first and one out in the eighth, Lasorda opted to pull Orosco for Pena, who has been the Dodgers’ most-effective reliever. Pena easily retired the next two hitters and, except for Galarraga’s home run, worked a solid ninth inning.

The Dodgers broke a scoreless game in the seventh inning against Montreal starter Floyd Youmans, with Anderson’s fly ball to center scoring John Shelby.

In the eighth, the Dodgers broke a 1-1 tie. Steve Sax, who later left the game after being spiked in the right leg at second base by Tim Raines, scored on Gibson’s single to right field for a 2-1 Dodger advantage. Sax did not require stitches and said the injury is not serious.

Then, in their most impressive show of offensive force in an otherwise tepid night, the Dodgers added three runs in the ninth for a 5-1 lead. Rick Dempsey and Gibson had RBI doubles, and pinch-hitter Mickey Hatcher had a run-scoring fly ball.

“I think it says a lot about the team, plain and simple, that we won without Pete and scored some runs,” Gibson said. “It’s important for everybody to contribute if we’re going to win this thing.”