[PilotMan]

9/1 5-0 W over the Phillies
We sweep and outscore the Phillies 21-3 in the 4 games. Rick Rhoden (17-8) throws 8 scoreless and Ken Howell finished. The big swing was Franklin Stubbs 19^th HR of the year. This was a 3-run shot in the 5^th off of Charles Hudson (0-4). That gave us the breathing room we needed to get the W. Scioscia, Randolph and Bream all added 2 hits, and Kittle had a pinch hit, 2-rbi single.


Niedenfeur was activated and sent to Albuquerque for rehab.


9/2 3-1 L to the Expos
Jim Beattie (1-7) went 8 and pitched well except for the 1 bad inning. Sid Bream hit a solo shot, #13, for our only run.


9/3 4-3 (10) W over the Expos
Willie Randolph went 3-3, scored 3 times, walked twice. He also scored the winning run when he tried to steal third, then went home on a throwing error. Dwight Evans hit his first dinger since his return. That was his 13^th on the year. Tanana pitched great, but John Franco blew his 5^th save when the Expos tied it up in the 8^th. Ken Howell (2-6) got the win instead.


It doesn't look like LA is going to call up Sparky Lyle. At 41, he's been playing in Albuquerque this year. In 17 games, he's thrown just under 30 innings of work, and has a 2.43 ERA.


9/4 4-3 (12) L to the Expos
Tight series, but another loss. Ugh. Wasted good start by Fernando. Tony Phillips hit his first HR of the year in the 8^th to tie the game, then Dewey threw a runner out at home to end the 9^th. Stubbs hit his 20^th HR of the year earlier. Only the 2^nd Dodger player with 20 HR's. Still, Ken Howell (2-7) couldn't keep the Expos from taking the lead. The Candyman shut us down in the bottom half easily for his 3^rd save of the year.


9/5 2-1 W over the Mets
Rhoden (18-8) and Darling (12-10) in another pitchers dual. Dewey got us on the board in the first with a solo shot, his 14^th. LA put another up in the 2^nd, then Rhoden took care of the rest. Scioscia went 2-2 and Steve Howe pitched the 9^th for his 2^nd save.


9/6 4-1 W over the Mets
Time to cool off these Mets. Mike Scioscia tied the game in the 5^th with a solo-homer, and even John Denny got in the action with an RBI single later on. Denny (10-13) kept his August run going going 7.2 allowing 1 run. John Franco got the last 4 outs for his 11^th save.


Niedenfeur got 1.1 innings and a save in a night of work in Albuquerque. After the game, and the good result he was called up to the main roster. is expected to take over the closer role from Franco, with Franco moving to the set up role. Eckersley went another 7.2 innings the night before, to less success than he had previously, but he still picked up the win. He remains in Albuquerque.


9/7 10-0 L to the Mets
Jay Tibbs (13-8) pitched a complete game, 2-hit, shut out. The Mets scored in each of the first 5 innings. Strawberry hit 2 home runs. Mitchell added another. The Mets had 7 extra base hits in total. Kelly Downs saw his first game action of the year. It didn't go well for him. Alejandro Pena struck out 5 in 2.2 innings of work.


Dave Dravecky pitched the game of the day. He threw 8 innings of no-hit ball, but allowed an unearned run in the 3^rd. The Padres couldn't get a run and he was pinch hit for in the 9^th. The Padres went on to lose 2-0 on 1 hit, a Pedro Guerrero home run (13) in the 9^th.


Eckersely was called up to the main club last night. Right now, he's slotted in as the #5 with Jim Beattie heading to the bull pen. Dwayne Murphy also was activated from the DL and sent to Albuquerque for rehab.


The Yankees have opened up a 3.5 game lead on the Blue Jays. The Royals are 2.5 up on the M's and 4.5 on the White Sox. The Twins and Angels are nearly out of it. The Expos are red hot, and have a 9 game lead on the Mets and 9.5 on the Cardinals. They are a 99% probability to clinch the East. LA is riding in first a scant 1.5 game lead on the Padres and 4 up on the Reds. First is first though.


9/10 5-3 W over the Braves
Fernando Valenzuela (16-4) struck out 10 in 8 shut out innings. Tom Niedenfeur made his first appearance since his injury and allowed 3 hits, a walk and 3 unearned runs, courtesy of a Tony Phillips error. LA got a 2-4 game from Mike Marshall and drew 5 walks on starter Jose Rijo (4-16).


9/11 5-2 L to the Braves
Rick Rhoden (18-9) was alright, but not good enough. Larry McWilliams (10-14) was in charge of the game with his only real mistake being a pitch to Mike Marshall that he took out of the park for his 22^nd home run of the year. Dwight Evans left the game early in the 8^th. No work on why he was removed.


Freaking Dwight Evans strained an oblique on a defensive play. He's back on the DL. Fuck.


9/12 6-5 L to the Braves
Losing to a bad team isn't going to get this done. John Denny (10-14) pitched like shit, although he did strike out 6 in 5.2 innings. Frank White hit his 7^th homer of the season in the losing effort. LA brought the tying run all the way to 2^nd base before the final out was made.


Keeping an eye on Dwayne Murphy in AAA. He's 1-15 in his first 4 games in rehab.


9/13 13-7 W over the Braves
Frank Tanana (10-8) missed the extra point, allowed 6 in 5 innings, and still got the win. LA hammered 16 hits and 5 home runs. Tony Phillips started the game off with his 2^nd home run of the year. Both Mike Scioscia and Franklin Stubbs cracked 2, count 'em 2 homers each. That's 13 for our catcher and 22 for our center fielder. Bream, Randolph and Stubbs had 3 hits each. Stubbs knocked in 6. I wish we could have banked some of this offense for when we needed it.


9/14 8-7 (11) L to the Reds
This game was back and forth all throughout, but lets skip to the bottom of the 8^th when a bad performance from Niedenfeur blew his first save since coming back. Jose Canseco plopped a 2-run shot to put the Reds in front. Frank White tied it back up in the 9^th with his 8^th. He was 4-5 in the best game of his year so far. LA scored again in the 10^th, but Ken Howell (2-8) blew a save when Dave Kingman hit a pinch hit homer to tie it again. The Reds took it home in the 11^th thanks to a single by former Dodger prospect Dave Anderson. Ron Kittle hit his 4^th earlier, then he left with an injury later. WTF? Brewer finished the game in left. Now we need Murphy back.


9/15 7-4 (10) W over the Reds
John Franco (3-1) blew his 6^th save of the year, but came back after Stubbs hit his 2^nd home run of the game and 24^th of the year. This was a 3-run shot that gave us the win. Franco came back and struck out the side in the 10^th. Both Valenzuela and Jack Morris went deep, but neither factored in the final decision.