NOMO PUTS DODGERS OVER THE TOP : TEAM COMES HOME IN FIRST PLACE DODGERS 5, ST. LOUIS 2.Byline: Tim Brown Timothy Donell Brown (born July 22, 1966) is a retired wide receiver, who played in the National Football League. He spent sixteen years with the Oakland Raiders, during which he established himself as one of the League's most prolific wide receivers. Daily News Staff Writer A dozen or so Dodgers sat or stood in a semi-circle late Thursday night, around the television suspended from the ceiling in the visitors' clubhouse. Amid the scramble of post-game getaway, they hooted at the replay of the home run Greg Gagne Greg Gagne may refer to:
And then there was Hideo Nomo Hideo Nomo (born Aug. 31, 1968 , Osaka, Japan) Japanese baseball pitcher whose success with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1995 created new opportunities for Asian players in Major League Baseball. . The strikeouts, 10 of them. The sharp, biting forkballs that were vintage Nomo. Raul Mondesi caught Nomo's eye with a grunt. Then he nodded at Nomo and winked. Nomo laughed. Left for also-rans in the National League West only six days ago, the Dodgers arrived in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. this morning in first place, if by only a few ten-thousandths of a percent. They defeated the St. Louis Cardinals For the National Football League team that played in St. Louis from 1960 to 1987, see . The St. Louis Cardinals (also referred to as "the Cards" or "the Redbirds") are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. 5-2 at Busch Stadium This article is about the current sports venue in St. Louis, Missouri that opened in 2006. For the stadium in St. Louis that operated from 1966 to 2005, see Busch Memorial Stadium. For the ballpark known as "Busch Stadium" from 1953 to 1966, see Sportsman's Park. , where, with eight dominant innings, Nomo became the club's first 12-game winner. The Dodgers were 6-3 on a road trip through Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and St. Louis, including a 5-1 run to finish it off. And, the club is 14-11 in its last 25 games, 19 of those on the road. They are in first place for the first time in three weeks. ``It's a helluva hell·uv·a adj. Slang Used as an intensive: He's a helluva great guy. [Alteration of hell of a.] road trip,'' said second baseman second baseman n. Baseball The infielder who is positioned near and to the first-base side of second base. Noun 1. second baseman - (baseball) the person who plays second base second sacker Delino DeShields, whose mood has lightened considerably in the past week. ``But, you know, ain't no rest for the weary. ``We're starting to pick up momentum, though. I've been reluctant in the past to say anything after a big win, but things are changing for us. I feel we can step on the field and play with anybody. It's just the atmosphere. People aren't pressing. ``I don't see people up there trying to do things they aren't capable of doing. And things are working out.'' Though the offense petered out a bit in the last two games, the Dodgers scored 37 runs over that 5-1 period. In those six games, the Dodgers gained 2-1/2 games on the San Diego Padres, who participated by losing three in Cincinnati. ``The basic thing is,'' manager Bill Russell said, ``we're scoring some runs, helping our staff out. The bottom line, pitching will win out. Pitching and defense will really win you a lot of games.'' Especially on those occasions the offense shows up. ``Those guys carried us for a long time,'' said DeShields, whose .234 batting average serves as a constant reminder. ``They're probably tired. The first part of the season it was always 2-1, 3-2, and those kinds of games take a lot out of you.'' Ron Gant hit a solo home run, his 24th, in the first inning and the Cardinals led 1-0. The Dodgers scored the next five runs, and Nomo allowed one other hit until the seventh inning. Between Cardinals hits, Dave Hansen and Nomo - after he missed a squeeze sign - singled in the second inning for two runs. The Dodgers scored again in the third, when Karros doubled home Hollandsworth, who reached first on first baseman John Mabry's fielding error. Gagne hit his home run with two out in the sixth inning, and Hollandsworth doubled home Chad Curtis in the seventh inning. The Dodgers led 5-1 in a game in which Mike Piazza and Tim Wallach both rested. ``It's just good to end the road trip on a positive note,'' said Karros, who had two hits and has 44 RBI RBI abbr. Baseball runs batted in Noun 1. rbi - a run that is the result of the batter's performance; "he had more than 100 rbi last season" run batted in in his last 56 games. ``We're playing relatively well. ``If everybody's contributing, you're not going to miss one or two guys.'' The critical part of this was Nomo, who recovered from a seven-walk, four-run game in his previous start, to a no-walk, two-run game. The walks, Nomo said through an interpreter, ``were what I was most concerned about with my pitching.'' That solved, Nomo won in consecutive starts for the first time since mid-June. ``The reason why, my fastball is going to a good location,'' he said. ``That's why I can make them swing at my forkball fork·ball n. Baseball A pitch with the ball placed between the index and middle fingers so that the ball takes a sharp dip near home plate. fork .'' And the Cardinals did swing, often enough for Nomo's third start of 10-or-more strikeouts. ``It's a matter of throwing the first three or four (forkballs) for strikes, and now they have to swing at them,'' said Tom Prince, Piazza's understudy. ``No walks is huge for him.'' CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO (color) Raul Mondesi gets hit on the head on a double play by Cardinals shortstop Royce Clayton. Associated Press |
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