DODGERS WIN AGAIN ON PIAZZA SLAM : DODGERS 7, HOUSTON 2.Byline: Marc J. Spears Daily News Staff Writer At this rate, 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 should never talk about his contract ever again. It was only Wednesday when Piazza was batting just .172 and was in search of his fan-favorite status after rejecting a six-year $85-million offer. But since he has decided to keep quiet, his bat has been doing all the talking and the fans have fallen back in love with him. Piazza hit his second 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 as many days to highlight the Dodgers' 7-2 victory over the Houston Astros “Astros” redirects here. For other uses, see Astros (disambiguation). The Houston Astros are a Major League Baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The team is in the Central Division of the National League. in front of 34,994 at Dodger Stadium • • [ on Friday night. The 443-foot shot to the vacant right-center field pavilion came off a 3-0, two-out pitch from reliever Mike Magnante On August 22, 1997, Magnante struck out three batters on nine pitches in the ninth inning of a 6-3 win over the Cincinnati Reds. and even turned the small amount of remaining boos from fans to cheers. And like Thursday, when he hit a four-run bomb in a 7-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks This article is about the baseball team. For other uses, see Diamondback. The Arizona Diamondbacks (also referred to as the D-backs) are a Major League Baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They play in the West Division of the National League. , the former booers in blue went crazy and asked for another bow when Piazza reached the dugout. Which he granted. The victory was the Dodgers' fourth in the past five games, and Piazza's blast overshadowed an offensive performance that was originally highlighted by Ramon Martinez Ramon Martinez is the name of several people:
Through five innings, the Dodgers left eight men on base, four 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 and had just one-run. The Dodgers also entered the game with a National League-worst .233 batting average batting average n. Baseball A measure of a batter's performance obtained by dividing the total of base hits by the number of times at bat, not including walks. Noun 1. . But Martinez, who had two hits, sparked his club's two-run sixth-inning to help Los Angeles regain the lead at 3-2. With two outs in the sixth, Martinez looked like the probable inning-ending victim when he stepped to the plate. However, the tall and lanky Domincan showed some power by hitting a clutch double off Houston starter Shane Reynolds (1-1) in the right-center gap to get the rally started. Eric Young followed with a double that scored Martinez to tie the game at 2-2 and sent Reynolds to the showers. Todd Hollandsworth finished the damage by hitting a triple off Bob Scanlan's first pitch, allowing Young to score the go-ahead run. By the way, Martinez (2-1) wasn't that bad on the mound. In eight innings, the right-hander struck out 10 and allowed two runs (one earned), four hits and three walks on 125 pitches. In his last two outings, he has lasted eight innings in each, allowing a combined five hits and two earned runs. Early on, the offensive opportunities came and went for the Dodgers. Struggling rookie Paul Konerko, who entered the game batting .208 without a home run, struck out with two outs and the bases loaded in the first inning. Todd Hollandsworth struck out to end the inning with two men on in the second. In the third, however, Raul Mondesi hit a hot one-out bouncer off Reynolds' glove that scored Piazza to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead. Through four innings, Martinez allowed no runs and two hits. Then Moises Alou stepped to the plate. The slugger with the 1997 World Series championship ring led off the fifth with a hanging shot off Martinez that seemed destined des·tine tr.v. des·tined, des·tin·ing, des·tines 1. To determine beforehand; preordain: a foolish scheme destined to fail; a film destined to become a classic. 2. to clear the left-field fence But Hollandsworth reached over the fence and snatched the potential home run to keep Martinez's shutout in tact. Hollandsworth was also rewarded with a standing ovation as he entered the dugout at the end of the inning. Martinez's shutout and dominance, however, came to an end in the sixth. Reynolds started the Astros' rally by hitting a one-out infield single that was followed by a ground-rule double by Craig Biggio. Next up was Derek Bell, who flied out to right, leaving Mondesi a decent shot at throwing Reynolds out at the plate. Mondesi's throw was in time, but it had took bad bounce over catcher Mike Piazza's head and Bell was able to also score to give Houston a 2-1 lead, because Martinez forgot to back up the plate. |
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