Dodger Notebook : Leary Has Good Stuff in Warmup, but Game Is a Different Story

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. â€”  In the bullpen before Tuesday’s game here, Dodger pitcher Tim Leary was throwing the ball exceptionally well. His fastball had good speed and movement and his curveball did just what he wanted.

Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda insists those facts are true. He had made a special trip to the bullpen to watch Leary warm up.

The only problem was, Leary didn’t take that form into the game. The Montreal Expos pounded Leary for seven runs and nine hits in five innings in a 7-3 victory over the Dodgers. Leary’s was a performance that Lasorda said confounded him.

“Let’s put it this way, I’m very disappointed in the way he pitched,� Lasorda said. “You should have seen him down in the bullpen. He had great stuff. He threw the (bleep) out of the ball. He was breaking off outstanding curves.�

After his second straight poor outing--he gave up three earned runs in four innings last Tuesday against the Cincinnati Reds--Leary’s chances of being awarded the fifth spot in the starting rotation seem to have diminished.

Alejandro Pena, who has given up only one earned run in 18 spring innings, has to be the front-runner, since Leary and Jerry Reuss have both been adequate or worse.

Lasorda, however, remained noncommittal.

“We’ll decide on the fifth starter when the season starts,� he said.

Other than the first and third innings, when he retired the Expos in order, Leary consistently struggled. In Montreal’s four-run second inning, he gave up three straight hits and then a two-run home run to Floyd Youmans, the Expos’ pitcher. Granted, a strong wind was blowing out to left field, but Leary still made a bad pitch.

In the fourth inning, Leary gave up one run, and in the fifth, Tim Wallach hit a two-run home run.

Leary declined to comment on his outing.

“I’ve got nothing to say,� he said. “What is there to say?�

Both Lasorda and Al Campanis, the Dodger vice president, defended Leary as best they could.

“He drops that elbow and that’s what does it,� Lasorda said. “It’s just a matter of breaking a bad habit and developing a good one. Maybe he’s trying too hard. He just didn’t throw the same way he did in the bullpen. He threw outstanding in the bullpen.�

Said Campanis: “I still think he’s going to be a hell of a pitcher. He just needs to get in a groove.

“Don’t write off pitchers too early. They’ll spit in your face. Just be patient. He’s going to be a good pitcher.�

It will be interesting to see how long the Dodgers will wait. The season starts in less than a week, and the Dodgers have to decide whether either Leary, Pena and Reuss will be a starter or a middle- and long reliever or perhaps the odd man out.

Dodger Notes

Mike Marshall missed the game with a sore right shoulder. Trainer Bill Buhler said it is not serious. . . . Ken Landreaux aggravated his left hamstring while chasing a line drive in right-center field, but he should be ready for the Freeway Series against the Angels. . . . Fernando Valenzuela awoke Monday morning with stiffness in his neck and back, but he went through his normal workouts both Monday and Tuesday. . . . Brian Holton, Tom Niedenfuer and Ken Howell all pitched one scoreless inning of relief Tuesday after Tim Leary left the game. . . . Pedro Guerrero and center fielder Mike Ramsey each had two hits, while Landreaux, playing right field, had an RBI single. Landreaux leads the club in spring RBIs with 12. . . . The Dodgers play the Cincinnati Reds today in Vero Beach and fly to Los Angeles after the game.