[PilotMan]

5/16 5-4 (13) L to the Mets
Oh boy. LA has some issues in the bullpen. Chuck Jackson is starting to play like a major leaguer. LA scored first with 3 in the 4^th thanks to something like 6 straight singles. The Mets got it all back in the 4^th. Helped by a Strawberry home run (7) off of starter Jim Beattie who pitched 5 innings. The it was silent until the 13^th. Jackson hit his 4^th HR of the year and topped off a 3-6 game, with 2 RBI's. It looked like LA was going to pull this one out. Brian Holton (0-3) came in to pitch and 2 pitches in Bobby Bonilla hit a solo homer (7) to tie it again. Then 6 pitches after that, Kevin Mitchell sent them home with his 3^rd. Tough, tough ending. Holton should probably be shown the door. Storm Davis gets the win (2-2).


5/18 8-4 L to the Mets
Up until the 6^th it was all pitching. Tanana (3-5) and Liebrandt (3-1) kept the game quiet. LA got to him in the 6^th with 2 on a Hayes double. But everytime LA scored, the Mets did too. The Mets answered with 1 in the bottom. Then LA scored in the 7^th, but the Mets scored 4 and got Tanana out. LA came back with another in the 8^th, but the Mets got 3 more. A truly losing endeavor. Mitchell and Bonilla both went 3-5. Mitchell had 3 RBI's.


LA's short rise up the division is now over as we fall back to 5^th.
5/19 2-1 L to the Expos
LA making average pitchers look good again. Today it was John Wetteland (4-2). Wetteland allowed 2 hits over 6 innings. Viola (4-5) got the start for LA today, threw a complete game, got his first career double and lost. LA had the tying run in scoring position when Guerrero hit a drive to the right field corner. Dawson was able to run it down and save the game for the Expos.


Former Dodger slugger, Fred Lynn, hit career home run number 300 tonight. Lynn's blast came as part of a 4-run, 6^th inning against the Brewers. Coincidentally, the pitcher on the mound was another former Dodger, Kelly Downs. Downs is 0-4 on the year with a 4.83 ERA for the Brew Crew.


5/20 7-1 L to the Expos
The Expos score in each of the first 5 innings, capped by a 3-4 game by Al Newman and a 2-3, 3 RBI game by Galarraga who hit his 6^th HR of the year. Bryn Smith drops to 1-5 with another poor game, and Ed Whitson (5-1) throws a complete game and was never in any real trouble. Henderson and Jackson had 2 hit games.


5/21 5-4 W over the Expos
LA fought back from down 3-0 and Ken Howell (2-4) helped his own cause today. Rickey went 4-5, but it was Howell, who went 2-4 with 3 RBI's, including the go ahead RBI in the 7^th. Franco came on in the 8^th when Howell got in trouble, and closed out the game for his 6^th save. Nice to get a win for a change.


LA makes a few changes to the roster. Brian Holton was optioned back to Albuquerque and the team promotes Scott Baker. Baker is a 26yr old righty who is making his MLB debut. He was originally a 35^th round pick (920^th overall) by the Expos back in '82. Since then he's been all over. He was signed by LA at the end of last season as a free agent. Prior to last season the highest he's played was rookie ball. With Albuquerque this year he's 0-1, with 7 saves and a 1.59 ERA in 10 games. He's been a prime closer everywhere and in 100 minor league games has a career 1.55 ERA with 56 career saves. He throws a fastball and slider and can reach the upper 90's. Who knows if he'll be worth anything, but he's a good story at least.


The other change was the team putting 2^nd baseman Marty Barrett (.204/0/10, with a .275 OBP) on waivers and designating him for assignment. A bit of a surprise for the team, who signed him to a 2 year deal and had high expectations for him. It is also a sign that the team is willing to recognize that things are not going well. The team recalled Ken Caminiti (.328/1/16 in Albuquerque) to take his place. Not sure if he or Jackson will play 2^nd/3^rd.


5/23 9-8 W over the Phillies
Hard to finger this one. LA blew a 7-1 lead, and needed 2 in the 9^th to win it. Frank Tanana left the game in the first with a hand injury. Tough to say how bad right now. Caminiti got us going right with a 3-5 day and 3 doubles. He was responsible for the tying run in the 9^th. LA bashed out 14 hits, 3 from Henderson and 3 from Guerrero. Guerrero also blasted a solo shot in the 4^th (7). Lee Smith, normally rock solid, walked 4 batters in just under 2 innings, and walked 2 in. Of his 40 pitches, 16 were for strikes. In the 9^th, with 2 out, Bruce Fields grounded out to the closer Mike Schooler, but Schooler threw it away and allowed Henderson to score the winning run.


Tanana's injury is minor and that's good news. He shouldn't miss a start and isn't going to the DL.


5/24 5-1 L to the Phillies
Greg Maddux (7-2) is having the best year of his career. He leads the NL in wins with 7 and today shut us down over 8 innings. Viola (4-6) pitched 7 good, but not good enough. Juan Samuel got 2 hits today, and Armando Moreno left the game with an abdominal strain.


5/25 3-0 L to the Phillies
Mark Grace went 3-4 and former Dodgers Kurt Stillwell and Floyd Bannister (5-4) put the hurt on. Bannister pitched 7 scoreless against LA, while Stillwell knocked in 2. Bryn Smith (1-6) took another tough loss, but pitched into the 8^th. He has a 3.68 ERA to go with his stellar record.


5/26 6-5 W over the Mets
LA struck first with a couple in the first inning, but by the 4^th the Mets had tied the game. Neither Bud Black nor Ken Howell figured into the final, although both pitched 7. In the 8^th Rickey lead off with his 6^th HR of the year, against Roger McDowell (4-3) and Mike Scioscia added his 5^th a 2-run homer, later on. The Mets made Franco look bad today with 2 off of him in the 9^th and the tying run on first, before Franco locked it down for his 7^th save. Lee Smith got the win (1-1).


5/27 4-3 W over the Mets
The Mets get 2 cheap runs early in the game off of Jim Beattie (3-3), but he settled down and pitched well enough. LA tied that game on a Schofield HR (4) off of Mets starter Brian Holman (0-1), in his first career start. Scioscia went 3-4 and Pete O'Brien and Rickey added 2 more. We got to see the debut of Scott Baker, who got 4 outs, 2 K's on 11 pitches. Franco closed the 9^th for his 8^th save.


Armando Moreno was placed on the 15 day DL, and taking his place on the roster was Marty Barrett, who was reinstated after clearing waivers.


5/28 5-1 L to the Mets
Strawberry hammered a ball in the first inning off of “Gopher Ball” Tanana (3-6) and the Mets went up for good. Liebrandt (4-1) owned LA today, except for Juan Samuel who went 2-4 with a solo homer (6) . Robby Thompson homered in the 8^th (6) off of Lee Smith to pour on the misery.


5/29 2-1 W over the Expos
Frank Viola (5-6) looked like the real deal tonight. He simply owned the Expos, allowing 1 hit through 7 innings, before he allowed a run off a couple walks. Von Hayes hit his first HR of the year, which is way longer than he should have. Franco pitched another 9^th for his 9^th save this year.


5/30 9-4 L to the Expos
Von Hayes saw his batting average bump by about 70 points today as he put together a 5-5 showing, including 2 RBI's. Both Caminiti and and Schofield added 2 hit games, but it didn't really matter. An error by Schofield in the first, lead to a 5 unearned run outburst, that put the Expos up for good. Bryn Smith loses again, dropping to 1-7, while Ed Whitson won again (6-2).


5/31 4-3 (10) L to the Expos
Former Dodger, Willie Randolph put it to us going 3-5 today, and knocking in 2 runs. Raines came around to score in the 10^th on a Yount flyball to center. LA had 6 hits, 4 from Guerrero and Rickey. Ken Howell took a no hitter into the 6^th before the Expos pitcher Rodney Imes got his first career hit, and that opened the door to a 2-run inning. John Franco (2-2) took the loss in the 10^th.