[PilotMan]

6/1 9-2 W over the Mets
Finally a win to break another losing streak. LA went up in the first when Rickey doubled home Von Hayes. The Mets in typical fashion against Tanana, a known giver upper of gopher balls, got one from Glenn Davis (3) to go back on top. It looked like it would be a long day for Tanana against the Mets but he came alive and so did the LA bats. LA tied it in the 3^rd on a Smith triple and erupted for 5 in the 5^th. Tanana (8-2) went the distance, but set another kind of record, as he tied the record with 5 strikeouts in 5 at bats. Surhoff left the game after he legged out a double. Some sort of leg injury.


The word came fast and hard from the team doctor on Surhoff. A torn meniscus, will require surgery. He's done. He might be back before the end of the year, but it's doubtful right now. The team put him on the 60 day DL. The team called up former Braves farmhand, Ronald King, who was claimed off of waivers in April. In 35 starts for Albuquerque, he's hitting .358/.490/.458 and stole 15 bases. He's been up 3 times with the Braves, but never had enough to stick. Scioscia will now be the full time guy.


6/3 8-1 W over the Reds
This starts the first of a very important series with the #3 team in the NL West. LA will need to get the upper hand here if they want to stay in contention in the division. Bryn Smith (7-4) allowed 4 hits and pitched into the 8^th. Pete O'Brien finally had a coming out party this year. He's been dead silent. Not today. Two HR's (6,7) 4-5 with the stick and 6 RBI's.


6/4 7-6 L to the Reds
Kelly Downs (6-3) served up 2 HR's to Nick Esasky (12,13), but struck out 7, walked 4, gave up 8 hits. Really, he was all over the place. It was a struggle. It's all too bad. LA went up 4-0 in the first after Winfield bashed his 8^th dinger of the season. Dwayne Murphy added his first of the season when he came on during a double switch.


Bad news for former Dodger ace, Rick Rhoden. Rhoden is still with the Yankees after the trade that brought Von Hayes to LA. Anyway, Rhoden sustained a torn flexor tendon and he's done for the year. He won't be back until mid season next year. He was 4-5 with a 4.15 ERA and 1.25 WHIP on the year. Rhoden just turned 35. The recovery from this injury isn't an easy one.


6/5 5-3 L to the Reds
Former Dodger Ted Power (2-4) allowed 4 hits, and went 7.1 to get the win. He would have hung in there longer, but had some discomfort and had to leave the game. Pete O'Brien went 2-3 and got 2 RBI's. Fernando (4-5) went 7.2, allowed 11 hits and struggled with control again. His high pitch count cost him. Big news though. Winfield got hurt going for a catch, and had to leave the game.


Winfield's injury looks to be fairly nominal. It's a finger sprain and he's expected to play through it. Good break for us.


6/6 6-1 L to the Astros
On the heels of the Reds series loss, we start our first series with the division leading Stros. Dennis Martinez (7-4) throws a complete game 6 hitter. He got help from Kirk Gibson, who lead off the game with a HR (5) and Barry Larkin (3) who homered in the 3^rd. Tanana (8-3) took the loss as his stuff just didn't do the trick today.


Jim Morrison was given his unconditional release today. Ending his 2^nd stint with the team. His 100 at bats are the lowest total for any team he's played for. He batted .210/2/10 during his 2 stints with the team.


6/7 4-3 W over the Astros
Despite Kirk Gibson leading off the game with another HR (6), LA flexed it's own muscles and got strong pitching from John Denny (3-2) to grab a win against the Astros. Dave Winfield went deep in 2 the 2^nd and 6^th (9,10) and hit his 300^th career round tripper. Huge day for him. Von Hayes also went deep (8). LA saw plenty of ex Dodgers today too. Former Dodger top prospect, Cecil Espy started in center, and he hit a HR (2), only the 3^rd of his career. Alejandro Pena struck out 4 in 2 innings of relief. John Franco got the final 6 outs for his 8^th save of the season.


6/8 3-0 L to the Astros
Tom Candiotti (2-1) had the knuckler under control today and LA couldn't find it anywere. Candiotti throws a 4 hit shutout, walking only 1, with 5 K's. Rickey goes 2-4 with a double and triple. Houston got a HR from Fred McGriff (14) and Bryn Smith loses another one (7-5).


6/9 6-1 W over the Astros
Splitting a 4 game series leave hope for the season. Another former Dodger took the mound today, and although it's been a while, he was here once. Dave Stewart (8-4) got the start, but LA kept chipping away. An O'Brien HR (8) in the 4^th put the Dodgers on top, and in the 6^th LA got 3 more thanks to a Von Hayes 2-run single. Ozzie went 3-5. Henderson stole his 39^th base in 60 games. Kelly Downs (7-3) had a great start and struck out 9.


6/10 5-2 L to the Padres
Mike Schmidt hit his 500^th career HR in a Dodgers jersey tonight. It came in the top of the 9^th with nobody on against Mark Williamson. Aside from that hit, LA could only manage 5 other hits, 3 of which, came from Winfield. Valenzuela (4-6) got the start, went 6, struck out 5, walked 4, allowed 2 HR's. Steve Sax just torched us today. 2-4 and a 2-run blast in the 2^nd inning (4). Bob Ojeda picked up the W (8-5). Garry Templeton, who had started the game at 2^nd, left with an injury.


6/11 6-2 L to the Padres
Tanana (8-4) got roughed up and looked like his old self today. Kevin McReynolds tagged him for his 9^th of the year in the 5^th and broke the game open. Bo Jackson added a double and triple. LA got a 2-3 day from Rickey Henderson and some good work out of the bullpen from Ken Howell and Jim Beattie. Otherwise, it was Gary Mathews (3-4) that stole the show.


Good news on Templeton as it's a mild hamstring strain and he won't be going on the DL.


6/12 6-3 L to the Padres
LA commits 4 errors, only manages 4 hits, but draws 7 walks. Can't find home plate. John Denny (3-3) was touched for 10 hits, and 6 runs and Tony Gwynn hit a 3-run HR (3) that gave the Padres the lead. Rickey stole his 41^st base of the year. The Dodgers are in danger of falling back to .500. This is the closest they've been in a long while.


6/14 2-1 L to the Braves
Brook Jacoby went 2-4, had both RBI's and his HR in the 4^th (9) was the first hit of the game for the Braves. Smith (7-6) takes the loss, but it was his best game in a while. Scioscia went 2-3 with an RBI. The only bright spot for the teams hitting.


LA has dropped 4 straight, and 8 of the last 10. The team now finds itself 9.5 games behind the Astros. The biggest gap of the year. The team is still holding down 2^nd place. The Mets are 7.5 up in the East, and the 2 horse race for the NLCS is underway and it's not even the All Star break yet. If LA was in the AL East, they'd be in first place by 4 games.


6/15 5-4 W over the Braves
LA homered 3 times, and the bullpen did a great job over the final 3 innings, only allowing 2 runners. A Von Hayes lead off homer (9) in the top of the 9^th off of Braves closer John Mitchell (0-4) put LA in front. LA also got homers from Schmidt (7) and Henderson (5). Kelly Downs started, and walked 6 in just over 5 innings. Inky went 3-4 in a start, giving Winfield a day off.


6/16 2-0 L to the Braves
The Braves are, right now, the closest to the Dodgers in terms of talent on the field. On paper, LA has them beat all over. The Braves are also 8 games below .500. LA may be regressing. Tanana (8-5) went the distance in this one, walked 1, struck out 3. Should have gotten the win. He also allowed a HR to the opposing pitcher, Steve Ontiveros (1-0). Now, Ontiveros, a relief pitcher turned starter this season, only had 3 career at bats, and went down on strikes every time. Against our gopher ball hero, he hit one 391ft into left field. His first actual, career hit. LA got a couple of 2 hit games from Scioscia and Caminiti, but 0 hits from the 3-4-5 spots.


LA claimed Mets infielder Curt Wilkerson off of waivers. Wilkerson had been starting, batting .249/.295/.305, with 0 HR's and 19 RBI's. He was assigned to Albuquerque.


6/17 8-3 L to the Padres
Valenzuela (4-7) didn't even allow a hit until the 5^th inning. But the 6^th was one of the worst innings of the year as the Padres put up 6, including 2 bases loaded walks. Frank DiPino did the same thing in the 7^th inning, walking the bases loaded 2 times. Eight walks in all by Dodger pitching. Winfield homered early to put LA on top (11), but nothing else good happened. Von Hayes left the game after getting hurt on a diving play in center.


Hayes is on the DL with a strained stomach muscle. The team called up prospect Doug Jennings. Jennings is hitting .375/5/30 so far in AAA. Both he and Dwayne Murphy are lefties, but it looks like Jennings might have the starting edge. At least at first. Lasorda could also move Hendeson back to center and let Inky start in left, but that might make too much sense.


4/18 4-3 W over the Padres
Mike Schmidt hit a 3-run HR (8) in the first inning as part of a 4 run first. The Padres chipped away at it, but 8 strong innings by John Denny (4-3) kept us in it. John Franco pitched the 9^th for his 10^th save. Ozzie Smith went 2-2, with2 walks, getting on base every time up.


4/19 3-1 W over the Padres
Bryn Smith (8-6) pitched like we hoped that we would all season long. Seven innings, 3 hits. Picked up by Franco, who went 2 for his 11^th save. The Dodgers smacked 12 hits and drew 5 walks. You'd think that they would be able to get more across than 3. Smith, Winfield, and youngsters Jennings and King all had 2 hits each. Henderson was caught stealing for the 4^th time this year.


4/20 7-2 W over the Braves
Dave Winfield gave us a 3-run HR (12), as part of a 6-run 5^th inning. Scioscia and Jennings both added 2 more hits. Kelly Downs (8-3) threw a complete game to get the win.


4/21 4-3 (11) W over the Braves
The bats might be starting to wake up. Pete O'Brien and Mike Schmidt, two guys who are really underperforming, both went 3-5. Schmidt delivered the game winning bases loaded single in the 11^th to send the team home. Tanana went 8 in his start, allowed a HR, of course, but struck out 7 too. Kent Tekulve, who threw 1 pitch in the 11^th got the win (3-0).


4/22 11-2 L to the Braves
My, oh my, oh my. This might be Valenzuela's worst start of his career. Two more, bases loaded walks, 8 hits, and 11 runs allowed in 5 innings. The loss moves him to 4-8. Something is very wrong with our beloved ace. I just don't know what it is. His game score today was 6. Rickey went 2-3 and hit a 2-run HR (6), and stole his 43^rd base this year. In even worse news, Mike Scioscia was hurt in a play at the plate, and Ken Howell had to leave the game with an undisclosed injury. Will Fernando come around?


The ballad of Jim Morrison continues. He waited 10 days to sign a minor league deal with the Indians. They've been using him as a DH. Today, he hit 2 HR's (3). That game alone exceeded his entire career with LA.


Scioscia's injury isn't serious. He'll be day to day with a tight back and some soreness. Ken Howell is a different story. He was sent to the DL with a muscle strain in his side. No timetable for his return. This is the second time he's been out this year. LA brought up the Albuquerque Dukes closer, Brian Holton to take his place. Holton has been in the Dodgers system since he was 19. He pitched in 14 games last year and posted a 6.95 ERA as a 27 yr old, and now at 28, putting up a 1.23 ERA in 21 games and 11 saves. His control is still an issue, but here's another chance for him to get it done.


6/24 11-1 L to the Reds
Outscored 22-3 in 2 games. Everything I said about hitting, forget it. Just let it go. It doesn't exist. Bryn Smith (8-7) had another good game going, but an awful 6^th sent him to the showers. Brian Holton came on with his chance and threw 48 pitches....in 1 inning. Allowing 5 more runs. Jack Morris (10-4) struck out 9 and threw 135 pitches.


6/25 6-2 L to the Reds
The Reds pitching staff, once again, held LA in check. Ten hits spread out, only 1 extra base hit. Ozzie Smith with 3 of them from the leadoff spot, but he didn't score once. Kelly Downs got the start, takes the loss, to drop to 8-4. Henderson stole base #44. Mike Scioscia, playing hurt, had to leave the game after a big hit. No update yet.


6/26 3-2 L to the Reds
We can't even win one from them. The Reds knock us off and we fall to 3^rd in the NL West. We needed a hero and the thought was that maybe it would be Tanana (8-6) after all, he's picked us up before. LA had gone down 2-1, but they had fought back to tie the game in the top of the 7^th. The leadoff hitter, Dave Valle, had been hitting the ball well all day long. He took the second pitch he saw and put it in the left field stands (9). That shot was all the Reds needed. The pen closed it out and despite 11 hits, and drawing 4 walks and another error, all LA could manage was 2 runs. I wonder, will the Dodgers sell in a month? Cause this season...it's over.


Mike Scioscia was sent to the DL. He's pulled a hamstring and will miss a month. That's 2 catchers that we are down. Ronald King is still on fire, and he's taking over the starting catcher job. Taking Scioscia's spot on the roster is Larry See. Quite the road he's had. Back in '82, when this whole thing started, See was traded from LA, along with IF Mark Bradley, to the Expos, for SP Ray Burris. He would win a World Series with the Expos in '85 and his last ML experience would be in '86. He's a .213 hitter in 47 at bats for his career. He was claimed off of waivers by LA in April and has a .250/.322/.332 line. He has some gap power, better than average speed, for a catcher, and a decent arm. At 28, it's got to be a dream come true.


6/27 4-3 (13) W over the Astros
We break the streak, cut the Astros lead by a game, but it really means nothing. Valenzuela started, and he was his old self again. He did work out of a big jam in the 7^th. It could have gone very differently. Houston did tie the game then, and that's what sent it to extras. In the 9^th and 10^th both teams got the bases loaded with 1 or less outs. Neither team scored. LA got an RBI single from Doug Jennings in the 12^th to go up, but Brian Holton (1-0) couldn't hold the lead and the Stros tied it up again. LA did it again in the 13^th though, this time on a Pete O'Brien single. Holton walked the leadoff hitter again, but was able to keep the Astros from scoring, sealing the win.


6/28 2-1 W over the Astros
Kirk McCaskill took a no-hitter into the 7^th and I really thought he might get it. Until Ken Caminiti blasted one over the right field fence (4). LA added another on a Schmidt single. Those were the only 2 hits of the game. HR and single. The Astros had 10. John Denny (5-3) went 8 and Franco locked down the 9^th for his 12^th save. We needed some kind of good luck.


Holton back to Albuquerque. Niedenfuer back up.


6/29 2-1 W over the Astros
A sweep of the best team in baseball? On the road? We'll take it either way. The teams traded runs in the first inning and then it was on the pitchers. Bryn Smith (9-7) and Tom Candiotti went head to head. Smith only allowed 3 runners. Top of the 9^th and Astros closer Scott Garrelts (and his league leading 24 saves)(1-4) came on. Rickey lead off with a deep HR (7) to left field that was the game winner. Franco closed out another for his 13^th save.