[PilotMan]

5/1 7-5 L to the Cardinals
LA went down 4-0 and fought back to tie the game at 5 in the bottom of the 7^th. Dave Winfield went 2-3 with 3 RBI's and hit his 5^th HR of the season. Kelly Downs pitched another subpar game and the team had to rely on the bullpen to keep it close. That ended when the Cards catcher, Terry Kennedy, hit a 2-run homer off of Frank DiPino (1-3) in the 8^th to go up for good. It was Kennedy's 100^th career jack.


5/2 4-3 L to the Pirates
The losing streak continues. The Dodgers clung to a 3-1 lead behind Frank Tanana scattering 11 hits in 8 innings and took the lead into the 9^th. It was Pirate first basemen Larry Rush, hitting a 2-run HR, his 4^th of his career, that put the Pirates up. It's the first blown save for Franco (1-1) this season. Pete O'Brien hit #3 in the 6^th and went 2-3 with all 3 RBI's. LA slides to 5 games behind the Astros.


5/3 6-4 L to the Pirates
Dave Winfield got LA on the board in the first with a monster 3-run homer (6). With that Valenzuela (2-1) looked like he was going to play the stopper role for us again. That is until the 7^th, when bad, went worse and 5 runs later the lead was gone and so was Valenzuela. Inky lead off the 8^th with a pinch hit, solo-homer (3), but the offense couldn't find the rest. Jose Guzman (2-2) got the win.


Rumors are that Rickey Henderson is calling out people in the locker room. That he might have a specific beef with Jim Morrison.


5/4 3-2 W over the Pirates
Finally, a win. Bryn Smith (4-1) scattered 10 hits over 8 innings, and got out of a bases loaded, 1 out jam in the 8^th to break the Dodgers out of their losing streak. Winfield stayed hot going 2-3 and Ken Caminiti went 2-4 from the #2 slot. Caminiti has been getting more playing time at 2^nd lately. He's not a natural there, but Lasorda must feel like he's the better option over Morrison right now. Franco pitched the 9^th for his 5^th save.


5/6 8-1 W over the Cardinals
Very good hitting today, and a good start from Kelly Downs (4-2) pave the way for the LA victory. Winfield went 3-5 with 2 RBI's and Garry Templeton had a big day with the bat going 2-5, with 2 doubles and 2 RBI's. Ken Howell got the 3 inning save (1) to close it out. This is the first win against the Cardinals for LA this season.


5/7 3-0 W over the Cardinals
Frank Tanana (5-0) is lighting it up early this year. Undefeated and lowering his ERA to 1.56. Lasorda wouldn't let him get the complete game after 2 runners got on in the 9^th, but Franco was able to finish it for his 6^th save. The game was tied at 0 going into the 9^th. LA got 3 walks, then a bases loaded walk, a hit batsmen, and a wild pitch to score all 3. Rickey has 22 steals in 30 games now.


5/8 7-0 W over the Cardinals
With 15 hits, the Dodgers finally got the offense going. Helped along by a great pitching show from Fernando, who moves his record to 3-1. Valenzuela pitched a 5 hit shutout, striking out 6. The top of the order had all the production, with Hayes going deep in the 4^th (4), Surhoff going 3-5 and Henderson going 4-5. Every batter in the lineup got a base hit. It's Valenzuela's first shutout since '85.


5/9 4-2 W over the Cubs
Bryn Smith (5-1) goes 8, striking out 8 and Franco shuts the door in the 9^th for his 7^th save. LA scored first on a Templeton HR (2) in the 3^rd inning, then added 3 more in the 5^th. Templeton, Winfield and Caminiti all had 2 hits in this one.


The trade that brought Caminiti to LA for Sax is looking a little better these day. His offense is making up for his defense at the moment, even though he's a natural third basemen, he's just not going to get the time at third as long as Schmidt is healthy.


5/10 6-3 W over the Cubs
John Denny (1-1) worked 5.2 innings and was pulled after 111 pitches despite only allowing 1 run. LA stormed out to a 2-0 lead in the first on another Winfield 2-run HR (7). Rickey added a solo shot in the 6^th (2) and Larry Parrish had a pinch hit 2-run shot in the 7^th (1) to open the game up for LA. Ken Howell looked like he was on his way to another 3 inning save, when he had to leave due to a hand injury. The streaking Dodgers are on a roll.


Richard Dotson was given his unconditional release. His stat line was 1-3, 5.88 ERA, 26IP, 12K's.


5/11 5-2 W over the Pirates
The Dodgers continue to be road warriors. Ricky goes 2-2, with 3 RBI's and now has 24 steals in 34 games. He's almost halfway to his total from last season. Kelly Downs (5-2) pitches a complete game as he allowed 2 runs on 5 hits.


5/12 5-1 W over the Pirates
Frank Tanana runs his record to 6-0 and lowers his ERA to 1.51 on the season. He allows 3 hits, in 8 innings of work. He is carrying this team right now. It's the best he's pitched in a long time. LA took the lead in the 4^th inning when Mike Schmidt hit HR #498, his 4^th of the year. Schmidt isn't the fearsome hitter he used to be, but he can still crack the ball a long way. Pete O'Brien went 3-3 and added his own HR (4) in the 8^th inning.LA's 8 straight wins are the best in the Majors.


5/13 5-0 L to the Phillies
Valenzuela (3-2) had a really rough first inning, giving up 4, and the team really couldn't recover. He hung around until the 6^th inning and struck out 7. LA could only manage 4 hits in the game.


Ken Howell was placed on the DL. He injured his hand a few days ago, and thought he could play through it, but it appears that it's more serious. Tom Niedenfuer (1-0, 2.70 in Albuquerque) was recalled to take his place on the roster.


5/14 4-1 L to the Phillies
The Phillies came out and jumped all over Bryn Smith (5-2) in the first inning. Before an out was even recorded Larry Walker had homered (2) and the Phills had all 4 of their runs in. Smith sort of cruised after that, but LA couldn't do anything against the craft Don Carmen (3-2). LA had 3 hits, and only scored because of a wild pitch.


5/15 5-0 W over the Phillies
John Denny (2-1) didn't get the chance to finish the game, but he was in form tonight. The Phillies only managed 3 hits off of him, and Franco finished the game. Rickey and Schmidt both had 3 hits, and Henderson stole 3 bases bringing him up to 28, in 38 games. Pete O'Brien cleared the bases in the 6^th (5) and Von Hayes did the same in the 7^th (5).


Greg Luzinski finally tagged HR #300. When 1983 finished The Bull had 296. He rode the bench for the Yankees and finally got that magical HR with the Royals.


5/17 7-3 L to the Expos
LA scored first and had the the ever hot Tanana (6-1) on the mound, but his stuff wasn't unhittable today. Von Hayes tried to help him out with his 6^th HR of the year, but it was an Andre Dawson grand slam (4) that undid the Dodgers today. Don Robinson came on to pitch the 9^th, but had to leave after 3 pitches with some kind of injury. Tough to say right now how bad it might be.


5/18 3-2 (12) L to the Expos
LA was down to the last strike in the bottom of the 9^th when Larry Parrish knocked in the tying run off the bench. Not sure if you remember, 1988 was the year that MLB decided that the balk was going to get called a lot more. Frank DiPino (1-4) ended up balking in the winning run in the 12^th. LA got out of a couple bases loaded innings, but it still wasn't enough. Charlie Hough walked 8 Dodgers, Pete O'Brien had 3 hits, Niedenfeur pitched for the first time this year, and Downs had a good start. Probably should have done better with this one.


5/19 4-1 L to the Expos
After a nice run, LA drops 3 straight to our old foe, the Expos. Not even former Expos starter Bryn Smith (5-3) could get the W for us today. A Gallaraga (11) 2-run HR gave the Expos all the offense they needed. LA smacked out 10 hits, but left 10 on base, which was 6 more then Montreal. Don Robinson came on and pitched through some shoulder discomfort. He threw 2 scoreless innings.


5/20 14-4 L to the Mets
The Mets just pounded LA into submission. Valenzuela (3-3) got the start and Kevin Mitchell homered early (11) to go up. Rickey answered with a lead off shot to tie it back up, but that was the last good news. The Mets would go deep 5 times in all. Another from Mitchell (12), Robby Thompson (5), Strawberry (13) and Bobby Bonilla (6). LA would get the first HR of the year from Caminiti (1). I guess no one got hurt. So there's that. Well, not exactly. Bud Black was an out away from a 3 inning save and had to leave because he got hurt. No LA injuries.


5/21 4-3 (11) W over the Mets
The Mets lead 2-0 for most of the game, but Inky came off the bench, with 2 on, and ended all that. He crushed the ball and put it into the left field seats (4). Franco came on for the 9^th, but blew his second save of the year, thanks to some careless pitching. Bottom of the 11^th saw Rickey smoke one over the left field wall for a walk off win for us (4).


5/22 11-2 W over the Mets
We get a little respect back from that white washing we took in game 1. Tanana (7-1) allowed 1 hit through 4, got into a little trouble, but still pitched into the 8^th. Rickey went 2-4, scored 3 times, and added 3 RBI's. Winfield, went 3-4 with 4 RBI's, and Ken Caminiti went 2-4, with 2 runs. A good game for the boys.


5/24 9-7 W over the Phillies
LA ends the Phillies 6 game win streak. Ken Caminiti is starting to look like a real ball player. He's gotten much more comfortable playing 2^nd and with the bat. He went 3-5, with 2 HR's (2,3) and had 6 RBI's. There were 7 lead changes and not a lot of pitching. Bryn Smith (6-3) started, but only went 5 hard innings. Franco came on in the 8^th, but really struggled again and it was Tekulve who had to finish it off for his 1^st save of the year.


5/25 11-6 W over the Phillies
You'd never know that Kelly Downs (6-2) pitched into the 9^th inning in this one. He was shelled in the first, allowed 3 HR's by the third, then didn't allow another hit until the 9^th. Thankfully for him, his teammates picked him up. LA bashed out 15 hits, with Downs himself getting 2 doubles. Caminiti and Templeton both went 2-5 with 3 RBI's to lead LA. Jim Beattie finished the game in unspectacular. Rumor is he left the game after the last out and went straight to the trainers office.


5/26 4-2 W over the Phillies
Valenzuela (4-3) went the distance, struck out 8, and the Dodgers were able to best a 9 strikeout performance from Greg Maddux (2-5). Surhoff and O'Brien both went 2-4, while O'Brien added a couple of RBI's. The Phillies have a lot of talent, and one of the oldest benches I've ever seen. Having lost Pedro Guerrero in spring training, the Phillies have Jim Sundberg (37), Cliff Johnson (40), Don Baylor (38), Ken Griffey Sr (38) and Jim Rice (35). This team could have been something about 8 years ago.


Jim Beattie has some tenderness in his forearm and will miss a few days, but isn't on the DL yet.


Ozzie Smith was activated from the DL while Jim Morrison was designated and placed on waivers again. Templeton did very well playing in Smith's absence. While he is only batting .234 with a .250 OBP, his defense was fantastic. Templeton only has committed 2 errors in 33 starts at shortstop, which amounts to about 10 errors over the season. The lowest that Gold Glover Smith has is 14 in a season. Templeton also lost his starting job at 2B. The emergence of Caminiti offensively and defensively has locked him in as the starter.


5/27 3-2 L to the Expos
Tanana (7-2) went the distance, thew only 83 pitches, 61 for strikes, generally was in command all day, and lost. Why? Gopher ball problems. Today it was a 2-run shot from Robin Yount (7) that did him in. Tanana even got an RBI double today, which is amazing when you know that his career average is .099. Rickey stole his 35^th base in his 48^th game. The Expos Joe Hesketh stuck out 4 of the 5 guys he faced for his 7^th save.


5/28 3-2 L to the Expos
At one time, John Candelaria (3-3) was the single most feared pitcher in baseball. His recent move to the bullpen in the last couple years dried that up, but he looked in old form today. John Denny (2-2) pitched well. The game was tied until the 7^th when Hubie Brooks broke it with a left field dinger (9). Rickey did not steal a base despite going 2-4. LA is still winless aginst the Expos this season.


Ken Howell has returned from the DL. Niedenfuer was optioned back to Albuquerque.


5/29 9-2 L to the Expos
That makes 6 in a row lost to the Expos and destroys any momentum we had after the Phillies sweep. Mike Schmidt went 3-4 with his 5^th HR and that was it. The Expos went deep twice in the first off of Bryn Smith (6-4) who was shelled by his former team for the second time this season. Gary Carter went deep twice (9,10) and Brooks hit a grand slam (10). It was pretty much done at that point.


5/30 4-2 (15) L to the Mets
Ugh. That's all I can say here. Lots to talk about. Kelly Downs and Ron Darling both went 8, allowed 1 each and left with the game tied at 1. It goes to extras, where Von Hayes is eventually ejected because he was arguing a strike call. At this point though, LA was out of bench players so Bryn Smith came in to play center. LA managed to grab a run in the top of the 15^th to take the lead. Kent Tekulve had pitched 4 scoreless, but Lasoda elected to sent him out again. The leadoff hitter got on, then Don Robinson (0-1) came in. The Mets tied it up, then Bobby Bonilla ended it with a powerful drive that left the yard (9).


5/31 5-0 L to the Mets
Edward Lindsey (6-2) combined with Aguilera and Gullickson to throw a 1 hit shut out. Only Winfield could manage a hit off of any Mets pitcher. Only 29 batters came to the plate for LA. Valenzuela (4-4) gave up 5, walked 5 and stuck out 4. His control issues are alive and well. Rickey stole his 37^th base.