Shelby Delivers Blows That Down Expos Again, 4-3

The final month of a forgettable season is nothing more than a salary and/or survival drive for many Dodgers.

For John Shelby, with his contract up and his career threatened by a strikeout siege that resulted in his midseason exile to Albuquerque, it is a little of both.

In Saturday night’s second game of September, a still sputtering Shelby put the drive in gear.

He tripled to drive in the third and tying run of the sixth inning, then singled and scored the decisive run in the ninth as the Dodgers, attempting to spoil someone else’s season now that their own has turned rancid, made it two consecutive victories over the Montreal Expos, 4-3.

The loss dropped the fourth-place Expos four games behind the Chicago Cubs in the National League East.

A Dodger Stadium crowd of 30,580 saw Fernando Valenzuela overcome a struggling start and enhance his second-half turnaround by retiring the last 11 Expos he faced.

Jay Howell pitched the final two innings for his fourth victory in seven decisions. Howell has given up only two runs in his last 39 1/3 innings.

It was an improbable victory considering that the anemic Dodgers trailed Bryn Smith, 3-0, in the sixth and were faced by Montreal relief ace Tim Burke in the ninth.

Shelby opened that inning with a single, was sacrificed to second base by Mike Scioscia and scored on a slicing single to left field by Alfredo Griffin.

The Dodgers had rallied in the sixth on singles by Willie Randolph and Eddie Murray, an RBI double by Mike Marshall, a sacrifice fly by Jeff Hamilton and the game-tying triple into the right-field corner by Shelby.

Shelby went to the plate in the sixth two for 19 since his Aug. 25 return from Albuquerque, where he had hit .286, a vast improvement on the .153 Dodger season’s average he took into Saturday’s game.

That average slipped even further as Shelby grounded to the pitcher in the second and struck out for the 71st time in 263 at-bats in the fifth.

Later, dwelling on his triple and single, Shelby called it a confidence boost but also said: “I’m going to have a good time here regardless of my average. I went down with a good attitude and feel that’s part of the reason I’m back.

“The average is not a reflection of the player and person I am, and I can’t let it change me. I still believe I can hit and I approach each game as if it’s a new start.”

Said Manager Tom Lasorda: “It’s been a tough year for John, but it was like old times watching him tonight.”

With outfielders Kirk Gibson, Kal Daniels and Mike Davis all coming off surgery, Jose Gonzalez looking impressive at times, and Mike Marshall under contract for two more years, Shelby’s status seems to be uncertain.

Valenzuela’s, on the other hand, continues to improve.

He has given up three or fewer earned runs in 15 of his last 16 starts and only 13 earned runs in his last 49 innings.

He exhibited characteristic tenacity in this one, finding a groove after the Expos had scored twice on a walk and four singles in the first and a walk and two singles in the third.

Valenzuela had yielded seven hits and four walks at that point but he was virtually flawless for the remainder of a seven-inning stint, providing the groundwork for a rare Dodger comeback that was sparked by a rare offensive source.

Dodger Notes

The Dodgers activated John Tudor, who went on the disabled list July 8 with tendinitis in his left shoulder. Vice President Fred Claire said Tudor thought he had seen recent physical progress and asked for the chance to pitch. “If the opportunity is there and John feels he’s ready, we’ve cleared the decks,” Claire said, adding that Tudor will pitch in relief and is not scheduled for a start. . . . Asked if he felt it was necessary to see Tudor pitch before making a decision on his contract status for next year, Claire said: “We have a lot of evaluations to make, but we haven’t put it in that light. We’ve said only that the important thing is for John to be health y. If he’s healthy and has the desire, he’s going to pitch for somebody and help somebody.”