Shades of Welch: Leary Strikes Out 11, Shuts Out Padres

In the proper light and with a little imagination, you might have thought that was Bob Welch, not Tim Leary, on the mound Monday night for the Dodgers. The style and appearance certainly were different, but the result was strikingly familiar to some of Welch’s Dodger masterpieces.

With Welch wearing Oakland’s green and gold uniform after an off-season trade, Leary has tried to lessen that loss, providing the Dodgers with his second win in as many decisions almost effortlessly. He did a pretty decent Welch imitation Monday, shutting out the San Diego Padres, 6-0, on a three-hitter and striking out a career-high 11 at Dodger Stadium before a crowd of 24,357.

“He pitched just like Bobby out there,” Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda said. “He had that good fastball. He had good control. He had that forkball or split-fingered (fastball) working. You like to see that.”

Lasorda must have especially liked what he has seen from the Dodgers’ pitching staff. Even without Welch, the Dodgers (9-4) have the lowest earned-run average in the National League at 2.27. Depth in the starting rotation was supposed to be a question mark but, so far, the combination of Leary, Tim Belcher and even Don Sutton has pitched capably.

Optimism over Leary’s shutout was tempered by the Dodgers’ first injury siege of the season. Kirk Gibson (strained left hamstring) was scratched before the game.

Gibson was soon followed on the injury list by Steve Sax, who sprained the fourth finger on his right hand on a headfirst slide into third base in the second inning. Sax left the game in the fifth inning and was taken to a Centinela Hospital Medical Center for X-rays. Results were not known Monday night. Later, John Shelby strained an abdominal muscle on a check swing and had to leave the game.

Fortunately for the Dodgers, the offense accumulated more than enough early runs for Leary against loser Eric Show (0-3), who did not make it out of the third inning.

“Leary was great tonight, the best we’ve seen him,” Padre outfielder Tony Gwynn said. “No one hit him, and now it doesn’t get any easier. We have to face Fernando (Valenzuela) and (Orel) Hershiser the next two games.”

That’s what teams used to say when they had to face the Dodgers’ erstwhile Big Three of Valenzuela, Hershiser and Welch. Though one 3-hit shutout by Leary does not erase memories of Welch, it is at least an encouraging sign.

“When (Welch) got traded, I felt that here was a chance for me,” Leary said. “There were 250 innings out there for somebody on our staff. We’ve got a deep staff, and I think we can make up for (Welch).

“I think the key for any starter is to settle into the game and get a few runs. I got six runs early tonight and I could relax.”

Leary yielded only a second-inning double to catcher Benito Santiago, a third-inning single to Tony Gwynn and a ninth-inning single to Randy Ready.

Leary also eclipsed his previous strikeout high of nine, which he had in 1985 with the Milwaukee Brewers against the Yankees in New York. Leary was most dominating Monday night during the fourth and fifth innings, when he struck out five of the sixth batters he faced. He had 10 strikeouts by the end of the fifth and breezed from there.

Leary struck out Chris Brown three times, Keith Moreland and Garry Templeton twice and made John Kruk look so bad in a first-inning strikeout that Kruk left the game with an irritated right shoulder injury.

No wonder Padre Manager Larry Bowa called a brief team meeting afterward, the subject of which he would not divulge. Given the Padres’ 4-9 record and .216 batting average, subject matter was plentiful.

Show’s poor performance was almost as surprising as Leary’s domination. Last season, Show had recorded two shutouts at Dodger Stadium and posted a 1.24 earned-run average in four starts.

But the Dodgers’ offense produced a run in the first on Pedro Guerrero’s run-scoring single, two runs in the second on a single by Sax and three in the third on a double by Scioscia and a 2-run single by Leary.

Leary’s single came off reliever Candy Sierra, but the runs were charged to Show, who gave up 7 hits and 4 walks and had no strikeouts in 2 innings. Every Dodger regular, except for Mike Davis, had at least one hit--Sax, Guerrero and Mike Marshall each notching two.

Dodger Notes

Dodger utility player Jeff Hamilton had an unusual wake-up call Monday morning. He awoke to the sound of his 1987 Camaro crashing through the garage of his Azusa condominium and breaking a gas pipe in his living room. “The garage was cement that they had just recently poured and the car was sitting on wood planks,” Hamilton said. “The car fell about 4 1/2 feet and ended up tilted at an angle in the dirt. Hamilton, his wife, Shelley, and his dog were forced to leave the complex because of the gas leak. Tim Belcher, who also lives in the complex, also has moved out. “I had only been there two days, and my wife had just come into town,” Hamilton said. “I don’t know where I’ll sleep tonight (Monday), some place that will take a dog.” As for Hamilton’s car, he said it has front and rear damage. . . . Padre pitcher Jimmy Jones, who shut out the Dodgers through 6 innings last week in San Diego and drew no respect from several Dodger hitters, opposes Fernando Valenzuela (1-2) tonight. Jones (1-1) said he feels no extra motivation, even after reading the derogatory quotes about him from Guerrero and Kirk Gibson. “They can say whatever they want, and it shouldn’t bother me,” Jones said Monday. “I’d rather beat them again and have them say I was unimpressive than lose and have them say that I looked OK. I’m not out there to impress them, just get them out.” . . . On the day after Tony Gwynn’s first major league ejection, the Padre outfielder said he regrets the incident and hopes to learn from it. On Sunday, when the Padres played the Giants in San Diego, umpire Joe West ejected Gwynn for vehemently arguing a strike call. Said Gwynn Monday: “I hope this won’t hurt me (with umpires). I’ve never been one to hold grudges, and I was hoping Joe would be working this series (against the Dodgers), so I could talk to him. It doesn’t make sense to lose control like I did there. I’m not really proud of what I did, but hopefully I can learn something from it. I think I was worrying too much about hitting .238 and took it out on him. I’m not going to worry anymore.” . . . Dodger relief pitcher Alejandro Pena received treatment before the game for lower back pain--a malady that dates to spring training--but assistant trainer Charlie Strasser said Pena would be available to pitch in the series. . . . Stan Jefferson, the Padres’ struggling outfielder (.108), was given the night off. Marvell Wynne replaced Jefferson as the leadoff hitter. . . . Chris Gwynn, Tony’s brother and an outfielder for the Dodgers’ triple-A team in Albuquerque, went 4 for 6 with 3 runs batted in and a home run in a doubleheaders Sunday against Edmonton, the Angels’ triple-A affiliate. Shawn Hillegas won the first game for Albuquerque.