BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : DODGERS : Lasorda Reaffirms Roles to Strawberry

Manager Tom Lasorda met with Darryl Strawberry on Friday night about Strawberry’s struggles and unhappiness about playing left field and said things went well. The outcome? “He decided he would play wherever I want him to play,� Lasorda said.

Strawberry said he is happy that Lasorda is happy, and that he has decided to do whatever Lasorda wants.

Eric Davis started in left field Saturday for the second consecutive game. “I want Davis to play,� is how Lasorda explained sitting Strawberry against right-hander Andy Benes.

Davis’ .350 batting average against Benes beats Strawberry’s .176.

“Darryl will play (today), but I don’t know where,� Lasorda said.

Davis says he doesn’t quite understand why Strawberry is playing left field instead of right. “What difference does it make?� Davis asked. “He’s never played left field and Cory (Snyder, who has been playing right of late) has. Why should (Strawberry) have to make the change when he is coming back from major surgery and trying to get his swing back too. Cory can play left field as well as he plays right field. It doesn’t take a ‘braniac’ to figure that out.�

But Snyder’s arm in right field has been a plus for the Dodgers, and Lasorda is reluctant to move him out of that position. “(Snyder) has done a good job there,� Lasorda said.

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Entering Saturday’s game, the Dodger bullpen’s earned-run average had swelled from a league-leading 2.54 to 3.44 in their last four games, in which it has given up 18 runs in 8 1/3 innings. “We need to regroup. We walk a tightrope when we are out there, and we can’t make a mistake,� said Jim Gott, whose 1.64 ERA and eight saves are team highs. It is also the most saves Gott has had since 1988, when he saved 34 games for the Pittsburgh Pirates. . . . Lasorda, on Todd Worrell’s struggles since coming off the disabled list: “He just needs innings so he can get his rhythm back and timing back and get in the groove.�