Harris' Hit in 10th Is a Winner : Baseball: Two-out single with bases loaded gives Dodgers their eighth victory in a row, 10-9 over San Diego Padres. - Los Angeles Times
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Harris’ Hit in 10th Is a Winner : Baseball: Two-out single with bases loaded gives Dodgers their eighth victory in a row, 10-9 over San Diego Padres.

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

Manager Tom Lasorda has been saying for weeks that he needed a winning streak, that his team would get a winning streak, and he even predicted the number of consecutive victories.

“I said eight, didn’t I?†Lasorda said a few days ago.

The Dodgers got their eighth consecutive victory Tuesday night when they beat the San Diego Padres in 10 innings, 10-9, when Lenny Harris hit a flare to left field that scored Brett Butler.

The victory gives the Dodgers a 22-22 record, putting them at .500 and keeping them in fourth place, eight games behind the San Francisco Giants. It’s their longest winning streak since July 27-Aug. 4, 1986.

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But there’s another anecdote, or maybe antidote, worth mentioning.

This one involves Lasorda’s wife, Jo.

The first game in the home stand, Jo Lasorda wore a royal blue jacket to the game, hoping it would add some luck to a team that was sinking fast. That night, the Dodgers put together their first ninth-inning comeback and beat the Cincinnati Reds.

She has worn the jacket at every game since. Even when she couldn’t attend the game Sunday, she wore it to church. And she wore it for about four hours Tuesday night when she was part of the remaining few from a crowd of 33,790 at Dodger Stadium.

Butler led off the 10th inning with a double off reliever Roger Mason and moved to third on a single by Jose Offerman. With the crowd on its feet, Mason walked Eric Davis intentionally to load the bases, and then struck out Tim Wallach and Mike Piazza.

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Then Harris had his single to left that dropped close to the line and scored Butler.

The Dodgers blew leads of 5-1 and 7-4. There were so many pitchers--the teams combined to use 13--that it was difficult to remember the starters, Bruce Hurst and Tom Candiotti.

Hurst, who made his first appearance of the season after shoulder surgery, left after three innings with the Dodgers ahead, 5-1.

Candiotti left after five innings after the Padres had closed to within 5-4.

In the eighth inning, with the Dodgers ahead, 7-4, the Padres scored four runs, three on a homer by Fred McGriff, to go ahead, 9-7.

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But the Dodgers scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth, one on a solo pinch-hit home run by Mike Sharperson and the other on a wild pitch by Gene Harris that scored Butler and, entering the ninth inning, the score was tied, 9-9.

By the time Roger McDowell relieved Omar Daal, the Dodgers had moved ahead, 7-4. But the Padres had loaded the bases with a walk by Rick Trlicek--who had relieved Candiotti--and a walk and a single off Omar Daal, who relieved Trlicek.

With one out, McDowell hit Derek Bell in the shoulder to score a run before turning Kurt Stillwell’s grounder back to the mound into a double play to end the inning with the lead cut to 7-5.

It might have been worse for the Dodgers if Cory Snyder wasn’t in right field. Twice, on Fred McGriff’s single to right and Phil Plantier’s fly, the Padres didn’t run on Snyder.

When it got worse, it was against Jim Gott, who gave up the eighth-inning runs. When it got better, Pedro Martinez (2-2) was the beneficiary, pitching the final inning for the victory.

Behind Hurst the Padres made three errors--two by Gary Sheffield. Hurst, who left the game with his team losing, 5-2, was charged with five earned runs and six hits. He had two strikeouts and walked two batters.

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The walks proved costly.

The first batter Hurst faced with a 1-0 lead was Butler, who walked. Hurst struck out Jose Offerman, but Eric Davis hit a grounder to short that Stillwell back-handed, but was too late with the throw. Butler and Davis executed a double steal, giving Butler his 13th stolen base and Davis his 15th.

The steal proved fruitful when Wallach grounded inside the third base line and Sheffield bobbled the ball for an error, Butler scoring.

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