Glory of ’88 Growing Dim for Dodgers

SAN DIEGO —  On nights like Friday, it’s impossible not to notice how far the Dodgers have fallen.

Mickey Hatcher homered. Orel Hershiser pitched splendidly. The last time these two things happened at the same time, the Dodgers were clinching the World Series with a 5-2 win over the Oakland A’s on Oct. 20.

But this time, all they got for their trouble was a 2-1 loss to the San Diego Padres before 33,032 fans at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

The bottom line was Chris James’ one-out RBI double in the eighth inning off Hershiser, breaking a 1-1 tie. James, who also doubled in the sixth and scored the other Padre run, had entered the night a 1-for-11 career hitter against Hershiser.

Marvell Wynne started the Padres’ winning rally in the eighth with a one-out single; it was followed by James’ drive to the right-field gap.

But don’t blame Hershiser (12-8), who gave up seven hits in eight innings, lowering his earned-run average to 2.36. The Dodgers wasted two opportunities in the first three innings because of a failed slide by Hatcher and a failed bunt by Willie Randolph.

And then, with Randolph on third base and one out in the eighth, Hatcher struck out, and Eddie Murray grounded out.

“I cost us the game. . . . Everything we do this year is wrong,” Hatcher said.

“We are in a position where we can turn things around . . . and we can’t turn them around.”

Dodger opportunities started in the first inning off Padre starter and winner Bruce Hurst. Alfredo Griffin led off with a single to left field, then one out later, Hatcher drove the ball into the right-field gap. Tony Gwynn backhanded it off the ground, spun and threw to second base. Hatcher beat the throw but slid past the bag and was tagged out by shortstop Bip Roberts. Griffin was stranded on third after a strikeout by Eddie Murray.

“I was just trying to get things going for us; I thought I had the base; I thought he pushed me off the base,” Hatcher said.

“He did push him off the base,” said Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda, who argued the call with second base umpire Bill Hohn. “You can’t do that; once the runner is on the base, it belongs to him.”

There were more problems in the third inning.

Mike Scioscia led off with a walk and was bunted to second by Hershiser. Griffin singled Scioscia to third. With Randolph batting, the Dodgers tried a squeeze bunt. But Hurst threw an inside curveball, Randolph couldn’t get his bat on the ball, and Scioscia, trapped between third and home plate, was easily tagged out.

“He threw the kind of pitch you are supposed to throw when a guy is squeezing,” Randolph said. “I couldn’t touch it.”

“We get that run,” Lasorda said, “and it changes everything.”

Finally, after Randolph had hit a one-out double in the eighth and moved to third on a Hurst wild pitch, Hatcher and Murray put the finishing touches on a night of frustration.

“That’s my situation, I love that situation,” said Hatcher, who has struck out only 10 times in 152 at-bats this season. “I’ve got to do the job there.”

Hershiser said that after the game, many teammates looked as if they felt they had not done the job.

“Some of us are sitting on the bench, and it’s like they were afraid to look at me,” Hershiser said. “But that’s OK. I’ve let them down sometimes, too.”

The Dodgers had struck first in the sixth with Hatcher’s first homer since he hit the game-winner in the Dodgers’ final victory over Oakland.

Hatcher had started at three different positions in two days. Thursday in Houston, he was at first base. When he arrived at the park Friday, he found himself in the lineup at third base. But when Kal Daniels couldn’t play because of a sore knee, he moved to left field.

He has started only 14 games this season, compared to 41 in 1988, even though he hit .293 last season compared to .316 now.

“As much as it hurts me, I know my role,” Hatcher said. “Nights like tonight, I’ve got to live up to that role. And I didn’t.”

The Padres came back in the bottom of the sixth with a run on one hit, and it wasn’t a homer. James led off with a bouncer down the third-base line that hit the bag and flew into left field, good for a double. Mike Pagliarulo grounded out as James went to third, and Mark Parent’s fly ball to center field scored James. For Parent, starting in place of sore-handed Benito Santiago, it was only his 12th RBI of the season.

Dodger Notes

Outfielder Kal Daniels was scratched from the Dodger lineup because of swelling in his right knee, which was surgically repaired May 16. He will see Dr. Frank Jobe Monday in Los Angeles but could play in the meantime. “Because it was operated on just in May, the swelling is not uncommon,” said Bill Buhler, team trainer. Daniels has hit in six of his eight games since being traded by the Cincinnati Reds July 18, going 3 for 7 with runners in scoring position. . . . Shortstop Alfredo Griffin rejoined the lineup for the first time since Monday, when he was sidelined because of a bruised thumb. He led off the game with a single to left field, then singled to right in the third. That made him 28 for 95 (.295) as the Dodgers’ leadoff hitter.

Outfielder Mike Davis rejoined the Dodgers Friday after missing the trip to Houston and Pittsburgh. He had stayed home to rehabilitate his knees, which underwent arthroscopic surgery July 7. “I can climb the steps at my house now,” he said. “I couldn’t do that before.” He said he is not counting out returning before the end of the season. “I’m going to be patient, but I could still be back in a couple of weeks,” Davis said. . . . Outfielder Chris Gwynn, sidelined July 16 because of a stress fracture in his right foot, is due to come off the disabled list Monday. But while he is swinging the bat well, he still can’t run well. “I’m still not completely back yet, I’ll just have to see,” said Gwynn, who probably will be sent to triple-A Albuquerque on a rehabilitation option.

Outfielder Kirk Gibson, who left the team Wednesday for his home in Michigan, had not returned as of Friday night. Gibson is on the disabled list because of sore legs that could keep him out for the rest of the season.