Dodgers Correspondent Report: DODGERS - 9/13/02

DODGERS - 9/13/02

September 13, 2002

2nd place (tie) in the NL West
83-63, 7 games behind the D�Backs
1st place tie in NL Wild Card with SF Giants
4.5 game lead over Houston

PITCHING PROBABLES
9/13	Beirne	at	Col	Jennings
9/14	Perez	at	Col	Santos
9/15	Ashby	at	Col	Neagle
9/16	Nomo	vs	SF	Schmidt
9/17	Daal	vs	SF	Jensen
9/18	Beirne	vs	SF	Ortiz
9/19	Perez	vs	SF	Hernandez

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS (2-5)
9/6: 3-2 win over Astros
9/7: 6-1 loss to Astros
9/8: 6-2 loss to Astros
9/9: 6-5 loss to Giants
9/10: 5-2 loss to Giants
9/11: 7-3 win over Giants
9/12: 7-1 loss to Rockies

RECAP
It was a terrible week for the Dodgers, who coughed up their wild card lead to the Giants. The Dodgers lost consecutive series to the Astros and Giants after winning 9 straight series. Right now the team looks flat and is really struggling with all aspects of their game. The starting pitching is hurting and the staff as a whole gave up 30 runs in their 5 losses for the week. The offense struggled as they scored only 21 runs for the entire week.

WEEK AHEAD
This week could decide the NL wild card winner as the Dodgers host the Giants for a 4 game set beginning on Monday night. The Dodgers haven't fared well against the Giants at home this season as they were swept in LA to open the season and are just 1-5 for the season. The Dodgers hope to have some momentum going into the series as they hope to wake up their bats in the hitter friendly Coors Field. Their offense certainly needs the jolt.

ISHII OUT FOR THE YEAR... STARTING STAFF UNRAVELLING
In the rubber match of the Houston series, Kazuhisa Ishii was struck in the forehead by a Brian Hunter line drive in the 3rd inning. It was a frightening scene as the ball hit Ishii so hard that it bounced back into foul ground by home plate. Ishii had to be taken off the field in an ambulance and he was later diagnosed with a concussion and skull fracture. He needed surgery to remove bone chips from his nasal passage and needless to say Ishii is out for the year. He will be released from the hospital today and is expected to make a full recovery. Ishii finishes the year 14-10 with a 4.27 ERA and 143 strikeouts in 154 innings.

Andy Ashby had his Tuesday start scratched after suffering a blister on his middle finger. It's not exactly clear how this will effect Ashby's pitching performance but Ashby is confident that he will be able to pitch Sunday against the Rockies. He said, "There's no reason I shouldn't be able to pitch Sunday unless it swells up or I stick (the finger) in something I shouldn't." Ashby was hit hard in his last 2 starts allowing 10 runs in just 8 innings of work.

Though the Dodgers wanted to take it slow with Kevin Brown, the injuries to Ashby and Ishii forced their hand and Brown made his first start since May 26th against the Giants. Brown clearly isn't the ace that he once was and he allowed 5 runs in 5 innings of work. He was very erratic and allowed the first 4 Giants to reach base in the first. Brown's velocity isn't where you'd expect it to be if he were at full strength. The team elected not to take Brown on the Colorado leg of the road trip as he received a cortisone injection in his back. I wouldn't recommend Brown for the home stretch, but I hope that he can pull out a miracle as he will face the Giants in game 1 this week.
***UPDATE*** 9/16 - Brown has been shut down for the season. His back hasn't responded to treatment and remains stiff. The team has decided that it would be best for Brown to shut it down for the year.

Kevin Beirne, 28, will make his second major league start tonight against the Rockies. Beirne made his only other start for the White Sox in 2000. Beirne has been effective in relief thus far for the Dodgers as he is 1-0 with a 2.57 ERA in 9 games.

After a brilliant August, Omar Daal struggled in both his starts in the week. Daal lost both his starts for the week allowing 9 runs in just 8.1 innings. He was pounded for 16 hits. Daal will get the Giants in his only start this week. He's pitched well against them this season going 2-0 with a 2.60 ERA in 17.1 innings. Hopefully Omar can right his ship for the wild card battle.

Hideo Nomo proved himself the ace as he salvaged the final game of the Giants series by striking out 8 in 6.2 innings for his 14 win of the season. Nomo has been the staff ace this season after struggling with his control early in the season. In his last 23 starts, Nomo is 12-1 and the team is 19-4 in those starts. Jim Tracy said, "You've heard the word warrior used with this guy... I don't know where this club would be without the presence of Hideo Nomo.

WHERE HAVE YOU GONE ADRIAN BELTRE... AND OFFENSE IN GENERAL?
There's no question that Adrian Beltre has helped Shawn Green carry the Dodger offense in the second half; but suddenly Beltre has gone ice cold. In the last eight games, Beltre is just 1-31 (.032) with 1 run, 1 walk and 9 strikeouts. The numbers pretty much tell the whole story as he looks totally lost at the plate. He's swinging at everything and looks totally overmatched right now. Definitely bench Beltre until he shows that he can wait for his pitch.

So who will be the hero for the Dodgers over the home stretch? If he can stay healthy, it just may be Brian Jordan. Last year, Jordan drove a stake through the Mets hearts with game winning homers in back to back nights with just a week to go in the season. Jordan had a solid week going 7-26 with a homer and 8 RBI, the team had only 20 in total.

WHO'S HOT (last 7 days)
Shawn Green: .280 (7-25), 6R, 2HR, 2RBI, 3BB, 7K, 1SB
Brian Jordan: .269 (7-26), 2R, 1HR, 8RBI, 2BB, 6K
Hideo Nomo: 1-0, 2.63 ERA, 13.2IP, 11H, 11BB, 16K

WHO'S NOT (last 7 days)
The offense: .218 (47-216), 21 R, 3HR, 20RBI
Adrian Beltre: .037 (1-27), 1R, 0RBI, 8K
Dave Roberts: .166 (3-18), 1R, 2BB, 4SB
Omar Daal: 0-2, 9.72 ERA, 8.1IP, 16H, 5BB, 6K
Kevin Brown: 0-1, 7.50 ERA, 6IP, 6H, 2BB, 4K

WELCOME CHEN TO THE MAJORS
On September 9th, Chin-Feng Chen, 24, became the first Taiwanese player on a major league roster. Chen was promoted after the Triple-A Las Vegas 51s were eliminated from the playoffs. In 137 games this season, Chen hit .284 with 26 homers and 84 RBI. Chen could be the future replacement for Eric Karros though Chen still needs to develop better plate discipline as he struck out 160 times in just 137 games this year.

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Chris Wang
Dodgers Correspondent

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