[0] PADRES DIAL DODGERS' NUMBER : SAN DIEGO 7 DODGERS 5.Byline: Kevin Acee Daily News Staff Writer In the subject of timing, the Dodgers receive a failing grade. They have been uncharacteristically productive with the bats lately, but that upturn has frequently - if only recently - been negated by poorly pitched games. ``If we're going to play good baseball any time this season, the next month would be as good a time as any to do it,'' first baseman Eric Karros Friday against the Padres at Dodger Stadium • • [ , the Dodgers put together the pitching and hitting - bad pitching and bad hitting. Well, untimely hitting. Dodgers starter Chan Ho Park, suddenly afflicted af·flict tr.v. af·flict·ed, af·flict·ing, af·flicts To inflict grievous physical or mental suffering on. [Middle English afflighten, from afflight, by the wild bug, lasted just five innings. Tony Gwynn
Sound familiar? ``We got 12 hits and five runs,'' Dodgers manager Bill Russell Noun 1. Bill Russell - United States basketball center (born in 1934) William Felton Russell, Russell said of his team stranding runners in scoring position In the sport of baseball, a baserunner is said to be in scoring position when he is on second or third base. The distinction between being on first base and second or third base is that a runner on first can usually only score if the batter hits an extra base hit, while a runner on all night. ``We just seem to rally, and it's always a little bit short. We didn't lose this game in the ninth inning. We lost it earlier. Chan Ho walked four guys, and Tony Gwynn continued to hit.'' Gwynn, who hit an inside-the-park grand slam grand slam n. 1. The winning of all the tricks during the play of one hand in bridge and other whist-derived card games. 2. Sports The winning of all the major or specified events, especially on a professional circuit. in the Padres' 9-7 victory on Thursday, hit a bases-loaded double Friday to extend the Padres' lead from 4-2 to 7-2 in the eighth inning. As they did Thursday, the Dodgers grappled for a mini-comeback that included Mike Piazza Michael Joseph Piazza (born September 4, 1968 in Norristown, Pennsylvania) is an American Major League Baseball player who currently plays for the Oakland Athletics. He began his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers and played for the Florida Marlins, New York Mets, San Diego Padres hitting a home run for the third straight game. But after his one-out solo shot in the eighth was followed by Karros' second double of the game and a Raul Mondesi walk, Todd Zeile And after Piazza singled in two runs in the ninth and Karros walked to bring the winning run to the plate, Mondesi struck out looking to end the game. Because of all this, the Padres ran their streak of victories to nine in this natural rivalry. In all likelihood no longer a factor in the NL West this season, given they are 11 games back and working with a patchwork pitching staff, the Padres have nonetheless continued their spell over the Dodgers, sweeping them last month in San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. and winning the first two games of this four-game series. Before haunting them this season, the Padres beat the Dodgers in the final three games of the 1996 season to claim the NL West title. Whoever they're playing, the Dodgers need to win some games. They know with nine games until the All-Star break and just three games until the actual halfway point of the season, this would be a fine time to gain some ground on the first-place Giants. Excluding their 2-2 split with the Giants last week in San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden , three of the Dodgers' past four victories have been matched by a Giants victory. Likewise, four of the Dodgers' past five losses have been matched by a Giants win. That includes Friday, when the Giants beat the Rockies 6-3 to move seven games up on the third-place Dodgers. ``We need to get going before the break,'' Russell said. ``If we can end before the break on a positive note and then we play San Francisco right after the break, hopefully that will be the biggest series of the year for us. Prior to that, we need to get things in order here.'' So often in the past two weeks, it has seemed the Dodgers were on the verge On the Verge (or The Geography of Yearning) is a play written by Eric Overmyer. It makes extensive use of esoteric language and pop culture references from the late nineteenth century to 1955. of making that move, making this a pennant race. But no more than two games have passed without a loss. They are not going to make up seven games on anyone - not even the Giants - by winning one, losing one, winning one . . . ``We've won six of 10,'' Russell said before Friday's game. ``We need to win 10 in a row. If we keep scoring runs we'll get a win streak like that.'' The Dodgers are scoring - averaging 5.1 runs a game since June 5, compared to 3.6 per the 56 games before that. ``We just haven't been able to get it together consistently - the pitching and hitting - which is what you need to do to get a streak.'' Padres starter Joey Hamilton Joseph Hamilton (born September 9, 1970 in Statesboro, Georgia), is a retired professional baseball player who pitched in the Major Leagues from 1994-2005. Teams
CAPTION(S): 2 Photos Photo: (1--Color) Dodgers shortstop Greg Gagne only gets the force on Padres' Rickey Henderson, who breaks up the double play in the second inning. (2) Dodgers left fielder Karim Garcia runs out of room chasing down a third-inning home run hit by San Diego pitcher Joey Hamilton. Gus Ruelas / Daily News |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion