Thursday, June 27, 2002
Dodgers 5, Rockies 3
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — Shawn Green has hit 21 homers in 33 games. Eric Gagne has converted his last 18 save opportunities. Hideo Nomo has won his last six decisions. It's no wonder the Los Angeles Dodgers lead the NL West. Nomo allowed two runs over seven innings and doubled home the go-ahead run, and Green homered again Wednesday night in a 5-3 victory over the Colorado Rockies.
Green's two-run shot in the fourth inning helped Los Angeles win for the seventh time in eight games and maintain its 1 1/2-game lead over Arizona.
“It's one thing to have a good year, but another to play in the postseason,” Green said. “There's some here who have played in the postseason and some who haven't. It's rare to have a chance to go that far. We have that chance and don't want to waste it.”
Green's 24th homer equaled the total he had two years ago in his first season with the Dodgers before setting a franchise record last year with 49. The homer followed a leadoff single by Paul Lo Duca.
“When you get a hot No.3 hitter like Green or Larry Walker, it's big for a ballclub,” Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said. “Green has already done enough damage against us this year. I've seen enough.”
Los Angeles was a season-worst four games out of first place on the morning of May 21, when Green hit two homers in an 8-6 loss at Milwaukee. Two days later he tied a major league record with four more, igniting a 22-9 surge by the Dodgers that has them tied for the best record in the majors with Seattle at 48-29.
“Shawn might have taken some pressure off everyone else, because we had spurts where things weren't clicking as far as scoring runs,” center fielder Dave Roberts said. “But once he started taking off, we started taking off as a team. And I don't think it was a coincidence.”
Nomo (8-5), who pitched the first of his two career no-hitters against the Rockies on Sept. 17, 1996, while with the Dodgers, retired the first 12 batters and struck out eight.
The only hits against the right-hander were solo home runs to Todd Zeile on a 2-1 forkball and Greg Norton on a first-pitch fastball. He walked two.
“Nomo threw well and kept us off-balance by mixing up his pitches,” Norton said. “He can throw the split-finger for strikes, so we had a lot of swings where it would have been a strike if we took it.”
The Rockies were held to four hits altogether, a day after Los Angeles lefty Odalis Perez pitched a one-hit shutout against them.
“All five starters are keeping us in every game, and they keep trying to outdo each other,” said Lo Duca, the Dodgers' catcher. “These guys have so much pride. The last five outings, Nomo's been terrific. He has no-hit stuff all the time.”
Paul Quantrill pitched a perfect eighth and Gagne got three outs for his major league-leading 28th save in 29 chances.
Shawn Chacon (3-5) was charged with five runs — four earned — and seven hits in seven innings. He has lost all three starts against the Dodgers this season.
It was 2-all when Chacon walked Alex Cora leading off the fifth. Nomo ended an 0-for-23 drought with his first hit of the season, a double into the left-field corner.
Los Angeles added two runs in the seventh. Cesar Izturis led off with a double and scored when Zeile mishandled shortstop Juan Uribe's throw to third for an error. Lo Duca drove in the fifth run with a sacrifice fly.
Nomo held the Rockies hitless until Zeile led off the fifth with his 13th homer. Norton added his fifth of the season one out later to make it 2-all.
Notes: Nomo has allowed 11 home runs, the most by anyone on the Dodgers' staff. He has surrendered 95 homers over the last 3 1/2 seasons. ... Zeile needs five more RBIs for 1,000 in his career. ... Brent Butler was 0-for-3 and is hitless in 13 at-bats against the Dodgers this season before doubling to lead off the ninth. He was 9-for-19 against them last year as a rookie. ... Cora started at 2B in place of Mark Grudzielanek, who is 0-for-10 lifetime against Chacon. ... Chacon is 0-1 with a 5.25 ERA in four starts since spending a month on the DL because of a strained right pectoral muscle. ... It was 26 years ago Tuesday that Rockies bench coach Toby Harrah played an entire doubleheader for the Texas Rangers without handling a batted ball from the Chicago White Sox. But he had eight RBIs in the twinbill.
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Dodgers 5, Rockies 3
