[PilotMan]

7/1 6-1 L to the Reds
We drop game 1 against the West leader. Jack Morris (8-5) went the distance and would have had the shutout if not for Mike Marshall hitting his 10^th of the year. It was our only bright spot in an otherwise dim game. Denny (6-7) took the loss in his worst performance in a month. Pena did pitch 3 good innings in relief. Maybe there's hope he'll get to the rotation sooner than later. Randolph had 2 hits.


7/2 2-1 L to the Reds
We came so very close, but we just couldn't get that single run. Charlie Liebrandt (6-2) outdualed Valenzuela (8-4). LA only had 3 hits, Toby Harrah had 2 of em. Ex Dodger, Dave Anderson, bagged a couple of hits to help make our day miserable. Ex Dodger, Ted Power, picked up his 18^th save. This is not how we wanted to start July.


7/3 9-4 W over the Cardinals
Rick Rhoden (10-5) was on but his control wasn't. He walked 6 against 4 hits 1 out shy of a complete game. The offense showed up today though, drawing 6 walks of our own and getting a couple of big hits in the 2^nd, when Roy Smalley hit a solo shot (9) early on, and Mike Marshall getting a grand slam (11) later on. That blew the game open at that point. We had 5 unearned runs. Both Randolph and Scioscia got on base 4 times in 5 plate appearances.


7/5 4-1 L to the Cardinals
If not for a Dwight Evans solo shot (12) in the first Dave LaPoint would have carried the shutout all the way. Our batters were off balance and wasted a really good outing by Frank Tanana, one of his best of the year. He gave way to Ken Howell (0-3), the rookie, and the Cards put some hits together and broke the tie. Evans went 2-4.


7/6 4-3 L to the Cardinals
LA took a 3-1 lead in the 5^th and John Denny (6-8) had been pitching pretty good, but it all fell apart in the 6^th. Control became an issue and a Terry Pendleton (3) home run put the Cardinals in the lead. The Cards bullpen kept us in check in the last innings. Dwight Evans went 1-1 with 3 walks.


7/7 2-1 W over the Cardinals
We had to count on Valenzuela (9-4) to play the stopper yet again. He went 8 and struck out 6. But once again run support was an issue. A solo home run from Nettles gives him 5 on the year, but we could barely get any more. Niededfeur pitched the 9^th for his 20^th save. Randolph, yet again, did his thing. 2-3, 2 walks and a run. Last year Fernando was getting 4.74 RS/gm, this year it's down to 3.67.


7/8 5-4 L to the Pirates
Jim Beattie (0-5). Sid Bream hit a grand slam off of a left handed pitcher. He's been batting .236 against southpaws, and his homer gave us a 4-3 lead. Beattie probably should have been yanked then, just to keep him from blowing it, but he wasn't and he did. Beattie is not even getting 2.5 RS/G this year. Last year with the Yankees, when he won 19 games, he got over 5. That's not his fault, but perhaps it explains why he looks so bad. Mike Marshall went 3-4. Ironically, Frank White, came within 5 feet of tying the game up in the 9^th, but ended up on second. It was Willie Randolph, our most reliable weapon, who made the last out.


7/8 10-4 W over the Pirates
We split the double header and this was over well before the end. Rick Rhoden (11-5), pitching on 3 days rest took a no-hitter to the 7^th. He was gassed when it ended, but it was Ron Cey with double, then thrown out going to third that broke it up. Milt Wilcox had some sketchy relief pitching, walking 4, and giving up 2 hits on 37 pitches in 1/3 of an inning. Roy Smalley hit his 10^th, a 2-run shot and Ron Kittle, getting a rare start went 2-4, and hit his first of the year. Randolph went 3-4 with 2 RBI's.


7/9 5-4 (10) W over the Pirates
Weird game. Jose DeLeon gassed out early against our picky lineup and the Pirates ended up emptying their bullpen. Tanana had a great outing, but Niededfeur (3-3) blew it allowing a game tying homer to Dan Gladden (2). In extras the Pirates, instead of sending out a tired starter turned to veteran outfielder Ron LeFlore. He got in trouble right away loading the bases with nobody out. LA squeaked 1 run home before he struck out Randolph and forced a double play to get out pf the inning. Ken Howell pitched the 10^th for his 3^rd save.


7/10 3-0 L to the Pirates
You'd think that going against a team whose bullpen is just exhausted, who starter is going on 3 days rest, even on the road, that we'd be able to score some runs! Mike Scott (11-5) allowed 2 hits over 7 innings and I thought that once we broke into the pen, we'd open up. Nope. Didn't happen. John Denny (6-9) served up 2 homers, and took the loss. Everyone sucks.


7/11 7-6 W over the Cubs
Stubbs hit a late home run (11) in the 9^th that looked like it was just icing. Valenzuela (10-4) struck out 7, but control issues plagued him again, he did go 2-3 at the plate too. Nettles went yard for #6. Niedenfeur came on in the 9^th and struck out the first batter, but left immediately with some kind of injury. Oh boy. Ken Howell came on (4 S)and served up a gopher ball that cut the lead to 1, making Stubbs HR in the 9^th the difference.


7/12 3-0 W over the Cubs
We need to play the Cubs more often. Rick Rhoden (12-5) pitched another great game, allowing 2 hits in 8 innings without walking anyone. The Cubs sent rookie David Cone (4-5) to the hill and he walked 8 in 5.1. 113 pitches. Gary Maddox got the start in RF and had a couple hits. Our only extra base hit was Scioscia. Rhoden had another bases loaded double. With no Niedenfeur, Lasorda turned to Howell again. He struck out 2 and picked up his 5^th save.


Blue Jays pitcher Danny Darwin threw a no-hitter against the Angels. He walked 3, struck out 8.


LA dropped a press release on Niedenfeur. He's got an elbow strain and is heading to the DL. He's going to be out until September at least. Damn. This is bad news. John Franco was recalled to take his place, and looks to be taking the closer role too.


7/13 13-9 W over the Cubs
This is the biggest WTF game of the year so far. The starters were Jim Beattie and Cubs prospect Mark Vaji, who was getting his second career start. Both sucked, neither figured in the end. Beattie allowed 9 in 5.2, and Vaji 5 in 5. Dodgers walked a total of 10 times and Beattie had a game score of 10. Good grief. LA went up 2-0, Cubs get it back go up 3-2. LA goes up 5-3. Cubs answer with 6 to make it 9-5. LA goes and scored 8 unanswered the next 2 innings. Just WTF? No homers, everyone except Marshall and Beattie got a hit. Wow.


7/14 12-5 W over the Cubs
Greg Nettles was the only starter to go hitless. Frank Tanana (5-4) finally got some run support, struck out 7, but wasn't exactly stellar. Mike Marshall and Sid Bream were the big boys in this one. They combined to go 5-10 with 2 HR and 8 RBI. That was Marshall's 12^th and Bream's 8^th. Even Tanana got into the act with a single and 2 RBI's. Mr Reliable went 3-5.