Dodgers Correspondent Report: DODGERS - 9/5/02

DODGERS - 9/5/02

September 04, 2002

2nd place in the NL West
81-58, 5 games behind the D�Backs
1st place in NL Wild Card
2.5 game lead over SF, 8 game lead over Houston

PITCHING PROBABLES
9/6	Nomo	at	Hou	Saarloos
9/7	Daal	at	Hou	C. Hernandez
9/8	Ishii	at	Hou	Oswalt
9/9	Perez	at	SF	L. Hernandez
9/10	Brown	at	SF	Schmidt
9/11	Nomo	at	SF	Rueter
9/12	Daal	at	Col	Stark

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS (4-2)
8/30: 8-4 loss to Astros
8/31: 4-0 win over Astros
9/1: 2-1 win over Astros
9/2: 19-1 win over D'Backs
9/3: 3-2 win over D'Backs
9/4: 7-1 loss to D'Backs

RECAP
The Dodgers continued their solid play with series wins over two playoff contenders. The Dodgers have now won 9 straight series and continue to win behind strong starting pitching. Odalis Perez, Kaz Ishii, Omar Daal and Hideo Nomo went a perfect 4-0 in 4 starts. They combined for 25 innings allowing only 1 run on 13 hits and 8 walks while striking out 20. Andy Ashby took both losses for the week as he pitched poorly after a string of 6 quality starts. He lasted only 3 innings against the Astros and was tagged for 2 homers in the first inning against the D'Backs.

Offensively, it's basically been the same story for the entire second half. Adrian Beltre and Shawn Green continue to provide the bulk of the offense for the Dodgers. The potent duo combined to go .360 with 11 runs, 5 homers and 13 RBI for the week. Green has been even better in the second half as he's cut down on his strikeouts and increased his walk rate while not degrading his power numbers. In 51 games after the break, Green has 33 walks and only 28 strikeouts.

The Dodgers had one of their biggest offesive outburts ever in a 19-1 destruction of the D'Backs in game 1 of the series. Green and Brian Jordan started the offense with back-to-back homers in the second inning. The Dodgers pounded out 24 hits (5 homers), matching the most since they moved to Los Angeles 44 years ago. The game became such a laugher that Mark Grace pitched the ninth inning and he was more effective than starter Rick Helling. Grace retired the first two Dodgers that he faced before serving up catcher David Ross's first major league homer.

BROWN vs ISHII

Ishii earned himself another turn in the rotation with one of his best performances of the year against Arizona. Ishii was pitching on 8 days rest and threw 5.1 innings of shutout baseball. He was bailed out of a bases loaded, 1 out jam by Kevin Brown and Jesse Orosco, who each struck out a batter. Ishii has owned the D'Backs this season going 3-0 in 3 starts with a 0.95 ERA. Ishii's next start comes against the Astros, whom he hasn't faced yet this season.

Brown has struggled since returning from the DL and Jim Tracy has said that he wants Brown to increase his arm strength before returning to the starting rotation. He has looked sharper in his last couple of appearances.

On a local radio show, the host was in favor of going with what got the Dodgers this far; but to me that doesn't make sense if Ishii continues to be as wild as he has been. Ishii's 1.55 WHIP is just plain awful. In my mind, if the Dodgers make the playoffs, they will have to consider going with Brown, who is one of the best big game pitchers in the game.

WHO'S HOT (last 7 days)
Adrian Beltre (3B): .384 (10-26), 8R, 3HR, 9RBI, 1SB, 1.230 OPS
Shawn Green (RF): .333 (8-24), 3R, 2HR, 4RBI, 1.026 OPS
Paul Lo Duca (C): .300 (6-20), 3R, 4-2B, 2RBI, .833 OPS
Odalis Perez (SP): 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 6 IP, 2H, 2BB, 5K
Omar Daal (SP): 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 6.2 IP, 2H, 2BB, 3K
Kazuhisa Ishii (SP): 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 5.1 IP, 4H, 2BB, 4K
Hideo Nomo (SP): 1-0, 1.28 ERA, 7 IP, 5H, 2BB, 8K

WHO'S NOT (last 7 days)
Dave Roberts (CF): .083 (1-12), 2R, 1SB, .166 OPS
Marquis Grissom (OF): .150 (3-20), 3R, 0RBI, .340 OPS
Mark Grudzielanek (2B): .166 (3-18), 2R, 1RBI, 1SB, .323 OPS
Eric Karros (1B): .187 (3-16), 1R, 2RBI, 1SB, .527 OPS
Andy Ashby (SP): 0-2, 5.62 ERA, 8 IP, 12H, 4BB, 6K, 2HR
Kevin Brown (RP): 0-0, 6.23 ERA, 4.1 IP, 5H, 2BB, 4K, 2HR

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SEPTEMBER 1ST ROSTER MOVES

BACK FROM TRAINERS TABLE
Brian Jordan: activated from DL (back)
Jordan finally returned from the DL but didn't have a very good week. He hit only .153 in 5 games, but did hit his first homer since July 6th. Unfortuntately Jordan aggravated his lower back strain scaling the fence trying to catch Matt Williams's homer on September 4th. He expects to be back in the lineup on Friday but Jordan is a risky fantasy proposition for the rest of the season as back injuries tend to linger.

Giavanni Carrara: activated from DL (forearm)
Carrara could have been activated earlier but the Dodgers wanted to rest him as much as possible and also have flexibility for their playoff roster. Carrara pitched well upon his return throwing 3 shutout innings allowing only 1 hit and 2 walks.

Jeff Reboulet: activated from DL (back)
Reboulet has been ready to come off the DL for weeks but the Dodger preferred to go with Mike Kinkade, who has hit .375 in 40 at-bats. Reboulet is a non factor in the fantasy world.

FROM LAS VEGAS TO THE SHOW

Joe Thurston (2B): 136G .334 106R 29-2B 13-3B 12HR 55RBI 22SB
Thurston, 22, is considered the second baseman of the future for the Dodgers. I'd expect him to get a shot at the starting job come next spring. He's a hard nosed player with a strong work ethic. However with the Dodgers in the thick of a pennant race, don't expect Thurston to get many at-bats unless Grudzielanek gets injured. Thurston made his debut in the Arizona rout but went 0-2 with a strikeout.

Wilkin Ruan (OF): 40G .327 18R 7-2B 3-3B 0HR 29RBI 12SB
Ruan, 23, gives the Dodgers a great pinch hitting option in September. The guy can fly and he has great instincts on the bases. This year in the minors, Ruan has stolen 35 bases while being caught only 3 times. Ruan made his debut against Houston as a pinch runner. On Sept 2nd, he collect his first major league hit off of the D'Backs Eddie Oropesa. In the same inning he hit his first double and drove in a pair of runs.

Dave Ross (C): 92G .297 48R 16-2B 15HR 68RBI
Ross, 25, was called up in July when Chad Kreuter made a trip to the DL. Ross will be the team's third catcher and provides some pop of the bench. He hit his first major league homer off Mark Grace, yes the first baseman, on September 2nd.

Jeff Williams (RP): 56G 6-4 28sv 2.60ERA 79.2IP 80H 3HR 22BB 75SO
The Dodgers hope that Williams, 30, can provide another reliable left handed arm out of the pen to go with Jesse Orosco. Williams was up earlier in the year and has been hit extremely hard in 5 appearances. In his last game against the D'Backs, Williams allowed 1 run on 1 hit and 3 walks while striking out 2.

Kevin Beirne (SP): 22GS 10-3 4.15ERA 125.2IP 129H 41BB 88SO
Beirne was first called up in August to serve as a right-handed long man out of the pen. He was sent down on August 27th so that Guillermo Mota would be eligible for postseason play. He has been pretty effective in 7 games with a 2.61 ERA.

THE RACE TO THE FINISH

The Dodgers hold their playoff fate in their own hands for the most part, unless the Giants go on an Oakland type run from here on out. So here's a quick look at the Dodgers remaining games (win-loss record) and who they face.

Houston Astros (2-1), 3 games
A big series for Houston as they trail the Dodgers by 8 games in the wild card. Houston needs a sweep to keep their playoff hopes alive. The Dodgers took 2 of 3 from the Astros in Houston last week. The Dodgers will face Saarloos and Hernandez, who they defeated last week, as well as staff ace Roy Oswalt.

SF Giants (5-7), 7 games
These teams have split 6 games after the break and the wild card could be decided within the next two weeks as these teams will play 7 times. The first 3 games are in Pac Bell and then the following 4 are in Chavez Ravine.

Colorado Rockies (10-3), 6 games
The Dodgers have owned the Rockies this season but haven't faced them since June. Odalis Perez has dominated the Rockies going 2-0 in 3 starts while allowing only a .165 batting average.

SD Padres(5-7),7 games
The Dodgers play the Padres in 7 of their last 9 games as the Padres will look to be a spoiler. The Padres will play only the D'Backs, Giants and Dodgers for the rest of the season. The Padres have won 4 of the 5 from the Dodgers since the break.

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Chris Wang
Dodgers Correspondent

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