[PilotMan]

8/1 4-1 W over the Reds
Fernando Valenzuela (8-7) was in old form today. He went the distance, struck out 9 while allowing only 4 hits. LA scored everything in the first 2 innings and relied on Valenzuela's arm after that. Sax had a 2 run single in the 2^nd to open the game up.


I always love the cup of coffee player. The guys that bust their asses for years just to get that moment they can hold onto for life. Once such real life player was a guy with one of the most unique names was Razor Shines. I must have 50 of his baseball cards. Well, seems like 50 anyway. Real life he had 81 career at bats, and a .185 avg. He had 15 career hits, 1 extra base, no HR's. So, Razor just got his first call up to the majors. He just turned 30. He's been hitting .332 at AAA and he has 74 career minor league home runs. He just got his first major league hit, in his second game starting at catcher for the Expos. Leading off against Ron Darling he hit a 368ft, 1-0 pitch to left field for a HR as his first ML hit. You go Razor.


8/2 7-3 W over the Reds
Two guys did it all, well 3. Tanana (13-3) did it on the mound yet again. He went another 8 innings with 0 walks and 7 K's. He allowed all 3 runs, but only 1 was earned. A gopher ball. The other 2? Stubbs went 2-4, with 3 RBI's and the other was Sid Bream, who went 1-1 with 3 walks, and a 3-run homer (10). Breams homer put LA on top, after the Reds had taken the lead in the 5^th. Franco got work in the 9^th and put them down in order.


8/3 5-3 W over the Reds
LA completes the sweep of the former first place Reds. John Denny (7-7) got the start and looked rough early. He allowed a 2-run homer to Danny Tartabull (19) in the first, and we went down 3-0 early. But LA rallied for 2 in the bottom off of Vida Blue (3-9). Bream put LA in front in the 4^th on a 2-run homer (11) and Ron Kittle added a pinch hit homer in the 8^th (4). John Franco pitched a good 9^th for his 18^th save.


8/4 3-2 (10) L to the Astros
Rick Rhoden pitched 8 innings, 0 walks, and 7 K's, but it was wasted. Tony Phillips went 4-5 and hit his 7^th HR of the year to put LA up 2-0 early. The game ended in the 10^th when Astros rookie catcher Benito Santiago hit for the pitcher and cracked his 4^th HR off of Niedenfeur (3-8). Tough loss.


8/5 5-3 W over the Astros
Kelly Downs (6-4) started today and the Astros scored first in the first. Bottom of the 2^nd Stubbs tied it up with HR number 21, a solo shot. Bottom of the 3^rd LA put a 4 spot on the board, with 3 of them coming from a big Sid Bream bomb (12). Franco pitched the 9^th for his 19^th save.


8/6 5-4 (10) W over the Astros
Valenzuela pitched great through 5. We held onto a 1 run lead until the 6^th when 3 extra base hits by the Astros resulted in 3 runs and put Houston on top. In the bottom of the 6^th LA got one back when Stubbs went deep again (22), then in the 7^th, for the second game in a row, Bream blasted a HR (13) and tied the game. Fred Lynn also went deep, for his 14^th. John Franco (3-5) pitched 2 scoreless for the win.


8/7 9-8 W over the Reds
Tanana pitched 6.1 and allowed 3 HR's today. The Reds scored in the 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th. That was after we put up 3 in the first and 2 in the 3^rd (courtesy DeCinces's 22^nd). By the 8^th inning LA put up 3 in the top to take the lead again. Franco came in to pitch the 8^th and it looked like his 3^rd game in a row. He blew his 5^th save of the year. In the 9^th a pinch hitting Ron Kittle cracked his 4^th pinch hit HR of the year . Franco came back in the 9^th and survived, yep, survived. He runs his record to 4-5.


8/9 9-1 W over the Reds
Rhoden and Blue (3-10) got the start and after 1 it was tied at 1. Neither pitcher would give anything up. Mike Scioscia went 3-4 tonight, and for the first time all year, his batting average is .200. In the 8^th LA went nuts, scoring 8 in the 8^th and burying the Reds. Ken Howell (4-4) got the win to even his record.


8/10 9-2 W over the Reds
Holy offensive explosion Batman! Three straight games against the Reds scoring 9 runs?!?!?! Sid Bream is a man on a mission. He homered again (14) and went 4-5. The Reds scored first in the first off of starter Denny (8-7), but he would lock it down and pitch 7. In the 3^rd, Lynn homered to put LA on top (15). The horses were off then, with runs in the 4^th, 6^th, 7^th and 8^th. Jim Beattie and Steve Howe pitched scoreless innings to close it out.


8/11 3-1 W over the Astros
Stubbs put us on the board in the 2^nd with his 23^rd of the year. We added 2 more on a Scioscia 2-run single in the 7^th. Fernando did the rest going 8 and allowing 1 run, a pinch hit, gopher ball to Barry Larkin. He improves to 9-7, while Franco came in to pitch the 9^th and made it interesting again. He allowed a walk and a single before forcing a game ending double play for his 20^th save.


8/12 7-6 (10) L to the Astros
Fred Lynn homered in his first 2 at bats and LA went up 2-0, but in the bottom of the 5^th our luck ran out and Kelly Downs was chased after allowing 5 runs. In the 7^th LA got 2 back on a Marshall HR (13). Houston pulled ahead again in the bottom, but LA got 2 in the 8^th to tie the game up again. In the 10^th it was Franco (4-6) who came on and 2 walks, a K, and 2 hits later it was over. Sid Bream has a 15 game hitting streak, and our 5-game win streak is done.


8/13 6-5 (11) L to the Astros
LA put up a 3 spot in the first thanks to 2 HR's. One by Marshall (14) and one by DeCinces (23). That couldn't save LA from old school Frank Tanana. Tanana gave it all right back on 2 HR's of his own in the 1^st and 2^nd. By the 7^th the Astros had pushed the lead to 5-3 and LA was deep into the pen. Tired from all the extra work over the last few days the options were few. In the 9^th, on an 0-2 count with 2 outs, Mike Marshall tied the game with a single, scoring Phillips. We had to turn to Beattie (1-1) in the 11^th and like Franco, 2 hits, a K and 2 walks and it was over. Bream went 0-5.


Three time All Star Steve Rogers was signed by the team to a major league contract. Rogers has 170 career wins and a 3.30 ERA. He's just a handful of days prior to his 37^th birthday and was cut from the Yankees about a month ago. He's 1-0 on the year with a 3.67 ERA in 27 innings of relief. He is clearly on the backside of his career right now.


8/14 6-2 W over the Astros
Rick Rhoden (15-5) gave the bullpen a huge break. The big man went the distance and struck out 7. He was helped along by Sid Bream, who really only took 1 game off. Bream earned POG status going 2-3 with a massive 7^th inning 3-run shot (15). Mike Marshall also cracked his 15^th and went 2-5. Fred Lynn shocked the world with his 3^rd stolen base. Steve Sax missed the game with a stomach bug. He's day to day.


8/15 10-2 W over the Giants
Steve Sax missed his 2^nd game and it was Larry Parrish getting the start. He might have cost us with a couple of errors in the field, with the bat, he was dangerous. Parrish went 3-6 with 4 RBI's and his first HR of the year. John Denny started and pitched into the 8^th, but it was his bat that was shocking. Denny went 3-4 with a double. Crazy. Fred Lynn left the game in the first after a busted play in the field. No word on the severity.