[PilotMan]

10/1 2-1 (10) W over the Padres
LA lined up 6 lefties against southpaw Bob Ojeda. Mike Scioscia hit a triple in the first came home to take the lead early. Frank Tanana, coming off of the worst month of his career pulled it together and dominated to allow 2 hits over 8 innings, while striking out 5. The Padres did tie the game in the 4^th, and in the 9^th, Niedenfeur came on but got into trouble right away. With 1 out Gwynn singled, stole 2^nd and took 3^rd on a Scioscia throwing error. He got Bob Brenly to ground out weakly back to the pitcher. He walked Kruk, then struck our former Dodger prospect RJ Reynolds to keep the game tied. Bottom of the 10^th Stubbs took us home with a 407ft shot over the center field fence (28).


The Reds destroyed the Giants 14-1 to win their 8^th straight. The Giants shortstop Dave Concepcion got his 2000^th hit in the game. The magic number is down to 5. The Padres are nearly eliminated from the race.




10/2 6-1 L to the Braves
Another lefty Zane Smith (8-15) handled us with ease. Smith went 7 and was always in command. He lowered his ERA to 5.46. Damn. I mean, it's not like we shouldn't have beat him up. LA just doesn't have a good lineup against lefties at all. Graig Nettles. Fuck this guy. I hope he never plays here again. He committed 4 errors in the game today that lead to 4 unearned runs. Unreal. Rhoden (19-12) walked 5 to help his cause. Sid Bream hit an RBI triple. Wooowooo.


Tandy Charley (12-12) shut out the Reds to break their win streak. Magic number is 4. Reds up 1 on us, 2 on the Padres.


10/3 1-0 L to the Braves
John Denny (13-15) pitched a great game. He went 8 innings, allowed only 3 hits, and struck out 7. He had no backup. Thanks to another lefty. Jim Deshaies (7-6) allowed only 1 hit over 8 innings. In fact, only 1 hit the whole game. We'd have been no hit if not for the big bat of John Denny. That's right, a double from our pitcher was the only offense that we could muster. We were that close to getting no-hit in the middle of a pennant race. A Gerald Perry solo shot (15) was the only offense for either team.


The Padres won again over the Reds 6-1. So now we get to play the Reds, who have a 1 game lead on us and the Padres. The magic number is down to 3. The final 3 games are at home against the Reds. We need to win them.


Sparky Lyle finished his career in the Dodger minor league system. He announced his retirement at the age of 41. Dwight Evans was activated off the DL and will take his rightful place in right field. So that means that there's no place for our leading home run hitter, Franklin Stubbs. His 28 HR's will be coming off the bench. I kind of wish that Lasorda would consider starting him at first in lieu of Bream, who's production has fallen off.


10/4 4-3 W over the Reds
Money baby. That's 1. The Reds got on the board, but we tied it in the first. Eckersley and Jeff Russell pitched well, but Tony Phillips was our savior today. Not only did he get a 2 run single in the 7^th, that we thought would be enough, he cracked a lead off triple in the 9^th and scored the winning run. He was 3-5 overall. Niedenfeur served up a 2-run homer to Dave Parker in the 8^th for his 5^th blown save on the year. He did strike out 4 in his 2 innings of work, and improved his record to 4-3.


The Padres won again. Jimmy Key got his 20^th win on the season. Now it's a complete, 3 way tie for the division. Magic number stays at 3 with the tie. 2 games to play. The Blue Jays have clinched the AL East.


10/5 3-2 L to the Reds
Uh oh, we're on the brink. Guess what? Another lefty. Charlie Liebrandt (11-9) held us down, and Ted Power finished us off. Frank White committed his 28^th error of the year and that lead to an unearned run that might have been the won that cost us the game. Valenzuela (18-6) takes the loss and we waste an otherwise solid effort. Our sole run came from Frank White's 9^th homer of the season and Dwight Evans went 3-4 in the losing effort.


The Padres fell to the Astros 2-1. They need an LA win and a win themselves to stay in the hunt. The Royals have clinched the AL West on the second to last day of the season. They will play the Blue Jays in the ALCS. Someone will still have to play the Expos. Our must win game will be with Frank Tanana on the hill. He'll face off against Jack Morris.


10/6 3-2 W over the Reds
We live to fight another day. Frank Tanana did his thing. He didn't allow a run in the first, he pitched into the 9^th inning and made 1 really, big mistake. Top 6 Eric Davis mashed a ball 450ft (15) nearly out of the bullpen in left. Mike Marshall didn't even move when he hit it, it went so far. There was much cursing. Jack Morris kept us silent through 7 innings before turning it over to the pen. Bottom of the 8^th Willie Randolph got a single, followed by a Bream walk. Dwight Evans then put a ball into the power gap for a double that plated both guys. That saved us temporarily, but Niedenfeur (5-3) was on to pitch in the 9^th. He walked Eric Davis, who then stole 2^nd. He got Kal Daniels to ground out, but Davis went to 3^rd. Dangerous Danny Tartabull hit a ball to the warning track, but it stayed in the yard. In the bottom of the 9^th Graig Nettles sent us home with his 10^th home run of the year.


The Padres won too. They won 6-5 (11).


So now we fly to Cincinnati for a playoff game. The season is over. There's a 3 way tie for West. There's no game for the Padres, but they aren't officially eliminated either, so I'm not sure what's happening next.


10/7 5-0 L to the Reds
Another lefty. Tom Browning, but it wasn't only him. A 77 min rain delay knocked out both starters, but even after, we didn't do much. Although, we had the chances. LA left 12 runners on base, without getting anything out of it. Rick Rhoden (19-13) was the victim of another Frank White error in the 2^nd inning. That lead to an Eddie Milner 3-run homerun (13). Later Danny Tartabull would add extra runs with his 23^rd. We lost Frank White in the 4^th when he was hurt while running the bases.


The Reds then traveled to San Diego for a game against the Padres. They pulled that won out too with a 5-4 win on the road. Long season, no playoffs for LA this year. The first miss since 1980.