[PilotMan]

9/17 6-4 W over the Reds
This is a rain out, make up game from earlier in the season. Tonight, they got good pitching from Downs (15-8) who despite allowing 4 runs, struck out 8 without a walk. Also, 2 of those runs were unearned. It was the 8^th inning HR by Canseco (35) that tied it up. LA got all it's offense tonight from 2 people. Pete O'Brien and Fred Lynn. O'Brien started off with a solo shot in the first (22). Lynn followed with one in the 4^th (41) that put LA up 2-0. The Reds tied it in the 6^th, but in the bottom half, O'Brien came through again (23) to give us a 2-run lead. After the Canseco HR tied it again, Lynn hit his 2^nd HR (42) that was the difference in the game. Robinson closed the 9^th for his 10^th save, lowering his ERA to 5.15. That's the lowest his ERA has been all year long.


Blue Jays first basemen Keith Hernandez got his 2000^th career hit against his former club that traded him, the New York Yankees. The Blue Jays magic number is down to 3.


The Mets number is down to 6, and LA and Houston are tied in the West.


9/18 7-3 W over the Braves
Valenzuela (16-10) finally throws a good game. He goes the distance, and gives the bullpen a little break. Along the way he struck out 11 and had the shutout until the 8^th. LA got another 3-run HR from Pete O'Brien (24) and every single starter got a hit except Phillips, but he walked twice. O'Brien's 4 RBI's lead the team. Houston also won.


9/19 14-4 W over the Braves
It's not that Rhoden (16-9) was great, but he did go 8, and 3 of his 4 runs allowed were in the 8^th. Every Braves starter had a hit, save the pitcher. But it was the LA offense, that didn't seem to miss. Tom Byers, who has been getting the starts in left with Henderson out, had the best game of his career, going 3-4, with 2 doubles and 3 RBI's. Phillips AND Knight also went 3-4, and Knight scored 4 times. Add a pinch hit 3-run HR for Roy Smalley (3) as the cherry to this big blowout sundae. On a side note, the Braves top prospect, and the #4 prospect in the majors, Randy Johnson got into the game. Johnson spent most of the year in AA. He threw 31 pitches, allowed 3 hits, a walk, a wild pitch and a balk and was responsible for 5 earned runs. He just turned 24. This appearance ballooned his career ERA to 7.88 in 8 games played.


9/20 7-2 W over the Braves
Frank Tanana (13-8) goes the distance (bout damn time) to complete the sweep of the Braves. Tanana allowed 6 hits, 4 of them to former Dodger, Candy Maldonado. The Dodgers got 1 big swing from Ray Knight (16) when he hit a deep drive to left center, for a grand slam that put LA up for 6-0. Pete O'Brien and Tom Beyers both went 3-4. This is the Byers that we saw in Albuquerque. He also stole his first career base, and he isn't fast. The Padres shut out the Astros, while the Dodgers extend the win streak to 5. LA opens a 2 game lead. The magic number falls to 12.


9/21 7-2 W over the Giants
Six in a row. LA started off the first with a 3-run blast from Inky (32) and that would have been all we needed. Instead they smacked 13 hits and got another HR from O'Brien (25) in the 3^rd. O'Brien went 3-5, while Sax, Lynn, Inky and Doug Jennings all added 2 hits each. Denny (17-10) got the win, pitching 8 and Robinson finished it off. Lowering his ERA to 5.04.


Blue Jays pitcher Allen Ripley won his 20^th game of the year. You might remember that he was signed by LA last year, and missed the entire year, never suiting up for us. Even though his ERA is 4.66, he would get my vote for comeback player of the year.


9/22 9-3 W over the Giants
Seven in a row. The run continues. Rob Deer homered (25) off of Downs (16-8) in the first to take a 2-0 lead. LA trailed 2-1 until Ray Knight hit a 2-run HR (17) in the 6^th to put LA back on top. LA would add a solo homer from Scioscia (6) in the 7^th and in the 9^th Roy Smalley electrified the stadium with a pinch hit, inside the park HR (4) off of rookie Bryan Harvey. Robinson lowered his ERA to 4.93. His first time below 5 all year long. Houston lost again. LA now has a 3.5 game lead on the West. The Reds are 4.5 back and the Padres 7.5.


9/23 5-3 W over the Giants
Eight in a row. Another sweep. LA got 4 runs in the 7^th inning to come back from a 2-1 deficit. Fred Lynn hit a 3-run HR (44) to cap a 2-5 game. Inky struck out 4 times. Valenzuela (17-10) pitched 8, while Alejandro Pena pitched the 9^th for his first save of the year, giving up a gopher ball and striking out the side. LA left 10 on base. Houston won, Cincy lost. Magic number is at 8.


The Blue Jays are the first team to clinch as they own the AL East. In other news, the surging Dodgers have take advantage of the slumping Mets and are now tied for the best record in the NL. There are 4 teams in the AL with better records than the Mets and Dodgers. Three of them are in a fight in the AL West.


9/25 3-1 L to the Padres
It had to end somewhere. Just didn't figure it would be at home. Rhoden (16-10) got in trouble early on. He had control issues and that lead to the Padres building a small lead. Credit Padres starter Greg Mathews (15-9) who allowed 3 hits over 8 innings, while striking out 6. LA loaded the bases in the bottom of the 7^th and nobody out, but could only push 1 run across. The Reds beat up on the Astros and the magic number drops to 7.


The Mets have won the NL East. They have a 2 game lead on LA for home field. LA has an 86.9% probability to hang on and win the NL West. The AL West is nuts. The M's are currently in front (93-60), and a half game back are both the Angels and White Sox (93-61) . With the magic number being 9.
Even though the M's are in front the Angels are at 38.9%, followed by the White Sox (33.8) and then the M's (27.4) to win the division. I'm guessing because the White Sox and Angels still have to play one another. The Brewers, at one point, were closing in on the ML loss record, but they've done alright, only now did they drop their 100^th game of the year. Still the worst in the Majors, but a .351% is better than the sub .250% they had.


I didn't even notice this, but back in August, Gary Templeton signed a minor league contract with the team. He's been starting in Albuquerque. He was last with LA in '84 and released (after signing a 3 year deal) because he's a pain in the ass. He's played for the Yankees, Tigers, Braves, Indians and Giants since then. The 2-time All Star is still a good fielder and he has speed. He's pretty far down the depth chart in LA though.


9/26 4-1 W over the Padres
Pete O'Brien opened the scoring up with his 26^th HR in the 4^th inning. Phillips added a 2 run single to put LA up 3-0. O'Brien and Byers had a couple hits. Denny (18-10) was in charge, allowing only 3 hits in 8 innings of work. He left only having thrown 89 pitches. Robinson came in and closed out the 9^th for his 11^th save of the year. He lowered his ERA to 4.82. The magic number is down to 6.


9/27 7-4 L to the Padres
Downs (16-9) did not bring his A game for the first time in a long while. Even though he struck out 8 Padres, he allowed 11 hits over 6.1 innings. The Padres scored 2 in the first, but LA answered when Inky drove one into the left field pavillion (33). That tied it at 2, but the Padres would add 2 more unearned runs in the 4^th and another pair in the 5^th. LA couldn't answer those and missed some opportunities to tie it up. After the Inky HR, Bob Ojeda hit Fred Lynn, words were exchanged and Lynn charged the mound. Both players were ejected.


Lloyd Moseby hit for the cycle in an 11-0 thrashing of the Indians. Moseby is in the first year of his 5 year deal with the Angels. He has answered a lot of questions about whether or not he'd be able to keep his performances up. This is Moseby's best year since '83 and his 50 SB's are a career high.


The league has come down on Lynn and suspended him for 4 games for his role in the brawl with Ojeda.


9/28 4-3 (10) L to the Astros
Blew it. Just blew it. LA had a 3-1 lead after the 7^th. Houston just kept chipping away with a run in the 8^th, and in the 9^th off of Don Robinson, they tied it up. That was Robinson's first blown save of the year. LA didn't get a hit after the 6^th inning. Credit to the Astros bullpen. Robinson allowed 4 hits and 3 walks in less than 2 innings and his ERA ballooned to 5.06. He immediately got in trouble in the 10^th and when he left for Pena it was too late. A deep flyout to right, ended it. Our lead is down to 1.


9/29 6-2 W over the Astros
This was huge. It got that game back and shortened the season in our favor. LA hammered out 14 hits, and despite falling behind put up 5 in the 5^th to take the lead for good. Two of those were from Inky, who blasted a HR (34). Only Knight, Scioscia and Doug Jennings went hitless and every other starter had 2 hits or more. Even Tanana went 2-3 with an RBI and a run. Tanana (14-8) also bailed the starters out and went the distance to get the big win. Houston's Greg Swindell (15-7) struck out 8 in 5.2, but allowed 12 hits and 6 runs. This win, boosted the lead back to 2 games, dropped the magic number to 4 and completely eliminated both the Padres and the Reds. It's a 2 horse race now.


The Mets are up 3 for homefield with 4 games to play. The Dodgers are 84.9% to win the West. In the AL, the Angels a game in front of the M's, and are 83.4% to win the division.


9/30 4-3 W over the Giants
Rhoden went 8 (17-10) but surrendered a 2-run HR to Rob Deer (27) that put the Giants in front 3-1 in the 8^th inning. It had been a big dual between Rhoden and Hammaker (11-18) all night long. LA wouldn't go down though, and Larry Parrish, who had pinch hit and stayed in the game at first, for Byers hit his own 2-run HR (4) to put LA up for good. Pena pitched the 9^th for his 2^nd save. The Astros scored 3 in the bottom of the 9^th to steal a win from the Braves. The magic number to clinch the West is 3.