L.A.'S IN SEARCH OF WINNING FORMULA PENNY'S STRONG START WASTED BY BULLPEN.Byline: Rich Hammond Rich Hammond Los Angeles Daily News sports writer. Instrumental in bringing the Los Angeles Kings hockey organization closer to the fans. He is the atypical "what a guy" to Kings fans everywhere. Rich Hammond on himself. Staff Writer Every team in a longshot situation needs a realistic path to success, so Dodgers manager Jim Tracy
``You shave off one game a week and you win,'' Tracy said, referring to the fact the Dodgers entered Tuesday's game with Philadelphia trailing 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. in the National League West by six games with seven-plus weeks to play. From that perspective, the Dodgers' deficit seems far less imposing, even though Tracy acknowledged that a comeback would require a number of the team's top hitters to ``collectively catch fire for a period of time.'' Strong pitching doesn't hurt either. Brad Penny Bradley Wayne Penny[1] (born May 24, 1978 in Blackwell, Oklahoma)[2] is a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball for the Los Angeles Dodgers.[3] Early career pitched seven strong innings but reliever Steve Schmoll Stephen John Schmoll (born February 4, 1980 in Silver Spring, Maryland) is a Minor League Baseball pitcher in the New York Mets organization. He bats and throws right-handed. Schmoll graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park. gave up a three-run home run to Pat Burrell Patrick Brian Burrell III or Pat Burrell, nicknamed Pat the Bat (born October 10, 1976 in Eureka Springs, Arkansas) is the starting left fielder for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball. in the eighth as the Dodgers trailed 6-4 to the Phillies at presstime press·time n. The time at which a publication, especially a newspaper, is submitted for printing. . The Dodgers broke a scoreless game with two runs in the fifth, with a crucial hit coming on a ball that bounced in the dirt before it was struck, but couldn't hold on in the late innings. Ryan Howard
Ryan James Howard (born November 19, 1979 in St. also added a solo home run in the eighth off Schmoll. Ricky Ledee hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning for the Dodgers. With a loss, the Dodgers' home record would fall to 26-28, acrucial statistic since they are 10 games under .500 on the road and in need of a spark since the Padres, who won Tuesday to take a seven-game lead in the division, seem to have rebounded from a tough recent stretch. ``Any one of the four teams can win (the division),'' Tracy said, referring to the Dodgers, San Diego, Arizona and 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 . ``If any team puts together a month like the Padres did in May, they're going to win. This doesn't have to happen today or tomorrow ... You have until the end of the season.'' Shut down for four innings by Robinson Tejada, Philadelphia's rookie starter, the Dodgers had a somewhat odd breakthrough in the fifth. Cesar Izturis led off with a walk. The Dodgers put on a hit and run and Robles Robles is a common surname in the Spanish language meaning oaks, and may refer to:
Milton Bradley  This article or section is written like a personal reflection or and may require .Please [ improve this article] by rewriting this article or section in an . then doubled home Izturis on a ground ball that stayed just inside third base and Olmedo Saenz later scored Robles from third on an infield groundout for a 2-0 Dodgers lead. Tejada left after the fifth, having allowed just five hits but with 101 pitches, but Penny went strong through the seventh inning, with a run in the sixth being the only mark against him. Kenny Lofton singled in the fifth and stole second and with two outs, Bobby Abreu singled up the middle to pull the Phillies within 2-1. Penny got out of that jam, and another one in the seventh when Ryan Howard led off with a single but was erased on a double-play grounder by David Bell. Penny allowed six hits, walked one and struck out four. The Dodgers were shut out in two of Penny's previous three starts, and given the chance to potentially give him a large cushion early Tuesday, the middle of their order could not come through. Izturis led off the first with a walk and moved to second on Robles' single, but Bradley flied out and Jeff Kent struck out. Saenzwalked to load the bases and Tejada threw three consecutive balls to Jose Valentin, but Valentin struck out swinging to end the inning. Another opportunity passed in the third, when the Dodgers had runners on first and second with one out, but Kent struck out and Saenz lined out to third base to Bell, who made a backhanded stop. The Phillies were not without their early chances as well. They put runners on first and second with two outs in the first but Pat Burrell popped up to shortstop and Howard led off the second inning with a single but Penny retired the next three Phillies. It wasn't all positive for the Dodgers. Kent struck out in his four at-bats and stranded six runners, and the Phillies stole two bases on rookie catcher Dioner Navarro. Rich Hammond, (818) 713-3611 rich.hammond(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo, 2 boxes Photo: Milton Bradley watches as he runs on a fifth-inning double that scored Dodgers teammate Cesar Izturis in Tuesday's game against the Phillies. Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer Box: (1) DODGERS vs. PHILADELPHIA - Rich Hammond (2) ALMANAC almanac, originally, a calendar with notations of astronomical and other data. Almanacs have been known in simple form almost since the invention of writing, for they served to record religious feasts, seasonal changes, and the like. |
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