Dodgers Rally--Really, 7-6 : Baseball: Four-run ninth gives them their first victory of the season in a game in which they trailed after eight innings.

Tuesday was a night of firsts for the Dodgers.

Rookie Terry Wells started his first major league game. Mike Hartley got his first major league victory. Kirk Gibson provided his first big dividend of 1990.

It all added up to the Dodgers winning for the first time when they trailed after eight innings, 7-6, before a Dodger Stadium crowd of 40,239.

The Dodgers gave Wells a 3-0 lead in the first, but then were shackled by Mike Bielecki until the ninth. The Cubs scored in the second--aided by Wells’ errant pickoff attempt--tied the score in the third on rookie Hector Villanueva’s two-run home run, and took the lead in the sixth on Luis Salazar’s homer.

Wells left in the seventh after Joe Girardi doubled and the rookie pitcher threw Bielecki’s sacrifice attempt away, putting runners in scoring position. They both scored against Jim Gott, and Bielecki breezed into the ninth inning with a 6-3 lead. The 1990 Dodgers were 0-34 in similar circumstances.

But Bielecki walked Mike Scioscia to open the inning and Juan Samuel homered into the left field pavilion. That brought on Paul Assenmacher, who walked Alfredo Griffin and saw pinch-hitter Mike Sharperson bounce a single through the infield. Lenny Harris’ sacrifice down the third base line got the runners into scoring position.

Up came Gibson, who had not swung well all night but had an infield hit. He battled to a 2-2 count, then dribbled a grounder through the right side to score the tying and winning runs.

“I haven’t had a lot of luck and that was a lucky at-bat,” Gibson said.

“I wasn’t swinging good but I battled. It’s a lot easier to win those type of games than to lose them.”

Assenmacher fell to 2-2.

The Dodgers got to Bielecki quickly, getting three runs on five consecutive singles after two were out in the first. After Hubie Brooks singled home the first run, Scioscia fought off a handful of pitches before singling in the second run, and Samuel fought back from an 0-and-2 count to drive in the third run.

Wells, a 26-year-old rookie making his major league debut, looked unhittable in the first inning, getting a weak popup and striking out Ryne Sandberg and Shawon Dunston.

He opened the second inning by walking Andre Dawson, nearly beheaded Luis Salazar before striking him out and worked out of a first-and-third situation.

Wells’ wildness caught up with him in the third when Doug Dascenzo singled and went to third on Sandberg’s single. Wells tried to pick off Sandberg but threw the ball away. Dascenzo scored.

The Cubs didn’t need any help in tying the score the next inning. Salazar smashed a double down the left-field line and Villanueva followed with his sixth homer in 22 games.

The game remained tied into the sixth, when Salazar hammered a 2-2 pitch into the left-field bullpen.

Bielecki, meanwhile, who hasn’t won since May 27, settled in after the first inning, allowing only two more hits, one an infield single, through the eighth inning to protect the lead and retiring 20 of 21 batters in one stretch.

Wells’ undoing came in the seventh, again by his own hand. After Girardi opened with a double, Bielecki sacrificed. Wells fielded the bunt and fired the ball past first, putting runners on second and third. Wells was replaced by Gott, who gave up a run-scoring single to Dascenzo past a drawn-in infield and a sacrifice fly to Sandberg to build the Cubs’ lead to 6-3.

“I battled,” Wells said. “I didn’t have good stuff--I only had one pitch today, my fastball. I don’t feel too bad about it, I made some mistakes but I’m looking forward to the next time out there.”

Hartley (1-1) pitched the ninth and ended up with the victory, which pulled the Dodgers to within a game of .500 and left them 10 1/2 games behind the Reds.

Samuel, who had three runs batted in and has a five-game hitting streak, said, “Hopefully this will give us some momentum. I don’t think Cincinnati is that far away.”

Dodger Notes

Outfielder Stan Javier missed his second game in a row Tuesday with an injured left index finger. He’s listed day to day. . . . Kal Daniels, who missed eight games with a back sprain, resumed an eight-game hitting streak Monday when he returned to the lineup with two line singles. He extended it to nine with a first-inning single Tuesday. He is 12 for 30 (.400) in his streak. . . . Shortstop Alfredo Griffin knocked in his 25th run Monday. His best as a Dodger was 29 last year. . . . Catcher Rick Dempsey is four runs short of 500 for his career.

The Dodgers are 18-5 when they have scored in the first inning. . . . Dodger pinch-hitters are 26 for 122 (.213) with 14 runs batted in. The most effective pinch-hitter has been Mickey Hatcher, seven for 18 (.388) with five RBIs. . . . With his league-leading 24 home runs, second baseman Ryne Sandberg is on target to become the sixth Cub to hit 30 or more home runs in consecutive seasons. The others: Hack Wilson (1927-30), Hank Sauer (1950-52), Ernie Banks (1957-60), Ron Santo (1964-67) and Billy Williams (1964-65). . . . The Cub bullpen has allowed 50 of 131 inherited runners to score.

The Dodgers are holding fan balloting through Aug. 1 to select the team’s all-time greatest moment and greatest players. Candidates include Steve Howe as left-handed reliever and Nap Rucker as left-handed starter. The nominees for greatest moment include April 10, 1962--the day Dodger Stadium opened.