Friday, September 27, 2002
Dodgers still kicking in wild-card race
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES - Brian Jordan drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning three batters after Marquis Grissom's homer tied it as the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied for a 6-5 victory over the San Diego Padres to keep their flickering playoff hopes alive.
The Dodgers (90-69) trail San Francisco (92-66) by 2 1/2 games in the NL wild-card race. Los Angeles has three games left against the Padres, while the Giants have three against Houston plus a possible makeup game Monday in Atlanta.
Any combination of two San Francisco wins or Los Angeles losses would clinch a postseason berth for the Giants and keep the Dodgers out of the playoffs for the sixth straight year.
“We're believing in a miracle right now, hoping Houston sweeps San Francisco,” Jordan said. “We continue to battle, we continue to not give up. You never know what's going to happen.”
Jordan's infield single — the Dodgers' fourth straight two-out hit — drove in Paul LoDuca, who singled off Brian Lawrence (12-12) and went to third on a ground-rule double by Shawn Green.
Jordan hit a grounder to deep shortstop, and Deivi Cruz had no chance to throw him out at first.
Starting pitcher Hideo Nomo homered for the Dodgers.
Jordan, who singled to drive in the winning run in the ninth inning Wednesday night against Colorado, has 27 RBIs this month. He had three hits to raise his batting average to .280.
“He wants to be in that situation to drive guys in,” said Grissom, who hit his 17th homer after Lawrence retired the first two batters in the eighth. “We're alive for another day.”
Grissom said he wasn't trying to hit the ball out of the park.
“I'm not that good,” he said. “I was just trying to hit the ball hard and get on base. He left it up in the zone for me.”
Lawrence didn't think Grissom's drive would get out.
“Actually, when he first hit it, I thought it was going to be an out,” Lawrence said. “It looked like he might have gotten it off the end of the bat.”
Paul Shuey (5-2) pitched 1 2-3 perfect innings for the victory. Eric Gagne worked the ninth for his 52nd save in 56 chances, fanning Cruz with two on to end it.
The Padres announced afterward that closer Trevor Hoffman, who has 38 saves in 41 chances, won't pitch in the season's final three games because of inflammation in his right shoulder.
“I don't think you ever want to end up on a note where you're shutting it down a little early, but I think that was calmer heads prevailing,” said Hoffman, who had at least 40 saves in each of the previous four seasons.
“It's probably the best-case scenario for the shoulder right now,” he added. “I haven't missed any save opportunities that I would have had anyway.”
Hoffman, who had an MRI on Thursday, hasn't pitched since last Saturday, when he was the losing pitcher against the Dodgers, allowing two runs in the ninth inning of a 5-3 defeat.
The Padres, who have lost five straight, scored twice in the seventh for a 5-4 lead on a double by Ramon Vazquez off Nomo and an RBI single by Ryan Klesko off Jesse Orosco.
The Padres took a 2-0 lead on Mark Kotsay's 17th homer in the first and Vazquez's grounder in the second.
Held to one hit through the first three innings by Jake Peavy, the Dodgers scored three runs in the fourth on an RBI single by Eric Karros, an error by shortstop Vazquez and a ground-rule double by Mark Grudzielanek.
The Padres tied it in the sixth on a two-out double by Sean Burroughs — his third hit of the game — and a run-scoring single by Brian Buchanan.
The Dodgers took a 4-3 lead in the bottom half on a two-out solo homer by Nomo — the second of his career and just his fourth hit in 63 at-bats this season.
Nomo, who has won seven straight decisions and 15 of his last 16, allowed six hits and five runs in six-plus innings. He struck out nine.
Peavy gave up eight hits and four runs in 5 2-3 innings.
Notes: The attendance was 29,613, raising the season total at Dodger Stadium to 3,002,622 and marking the major league-record 17th time the Dodgers have surpassed 3 million. ... Nomo went 170 at-bats between home runs. He hit his first career homer April 28, 1998, off Milwaukee's Jose Mercedes. The Dodgers traded Nomo to the New York Mets less than two months later. They got him back by signing him to a two-year contract last December. ... Padres RHP Brett Tomko, who had been scheduled to pitch, was pushed back to Friday night because of a stiff neck. ... Dodgers RHP Kevin Beirne will start Saturday instead of RHP Andy Ashby, who is hampered by a blister on his middle finger. ... Nomo became the fifth Dodgers pitcher to hit a home run this season, joining Ashby, Kevin Brown, Omar Daal and Odalis Perez. It's the first time in franchise history five pitchers have homered in the same season. The last team to accomplish the feat was the 1980 Pittsburgh Pirates.
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Dodgers still kicking in wild-card race 
