The Dodgers and Diamondbacks will begin their final series of the season on Friday night at Dodger Stadium, a three-game set that might go a long way toward determining who will win this broken-down jalopy of a division race.
Then again, it might not.
"At this point in the season, it's going to be a playoff atmosphere," Dodgers catcher Russell Martin said. "It's as big as it gets. I think everybody realizes we're close. We just have to keep pushing, keep playing hard and keep pulling on the same rope."
The fact of the matter is that every time a trend seems to develop in this race, it turns out to be a mere illusion. After a well-deserved off day for both clubs Thursday, Arizona comes to town with a 1 1/2-game lead over the surging, second-place Dodgers in the...
The Dodgers are getting it done with a keystone combination of Blake DeWitt at second base and Angel Berroa at shortstop. Those weren't exactly the plans drawn up at the beginning of the season. Or last week, for that matter. DeWitt and Berroa hit the first back-to-back homers for Los Angeles this season in a 6-4 victory over the San Diego Padres on Wednesday night that completed a sweep of the...
For the past month, manager Joe Torre has been watching Manny Ramirez perform at the level of a 12-time All-Star and is still probably wondering who that guy was that caused all that discord trying to get out of Boston. Ramirez homered and drove in three runs Tuesday night, and the resurgent Los Angeles Dodgers closed in on Arizona in the NL West with an 8-4 win over the San Diego Padres.
Greg Maddux regrets not having spent more time talking shop with Roger Clemens at the five All-Star games when they were in opposing dugouts. Maddux tied Clemens for eighth place on the career list with his 354th victory on Monday night, leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 5-2 win over the San Diego Padres.
No longer a pitching prodigy, K-Rod still is putting up prodigious numbers. With 53 saves in 58 chances this year, the Los Angeles Angels' Francisco Rodriguez needs only four saves to match the major league single-season record set by Bobby Thigpen with the Chicago White Sox in 1990. And Rodriguez still has a month to do it.
The Los Angeles Dodgers beat a pair of Arizona aces to stay in the playoff race. Sparked by first-inning homers from Andre Ethier and Casey Blake, the Dodgers roughed up Brandon Webb and Arizona 8-1 on Sunday, climbing within 2 1/2 games of the staggering Diamondbacks in the NL West. Derek Lowe (11-11) tossed six shutout innings as the Dodgers took the final two games of a three-game series from...
Manny Ramirez is trying to get the Los Angeles Dodgers into the playoffs, and looking forward to his future at the same time. Ramirez homered twice and the Dodgers ended an eight-game losing streak with a 6-2 victory over Dan Haren and the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday night. "I play the game, go have fun," said Ramirez, who could become a free agent after this season.
The Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers limped into their big series after being embarrassed by last-place teams, neither club showing they have what it takes to assume control of the NL West. "Somebody's got to win tonight," Arizona manager Bob Melvin said before the game. It turned out to be the Diamondbacks, who rallied for a 9-3 victory that snapped a four-game slide and widened their...
Garrett Atkins hit two home runs and had a season-high five RBI to lift the Colorado Rockies to a 9-4 win over the San Diego Padres on Friday night. The Rockies have won 10 of 13 games and are trying to position themselves for another late-season playoff run. Colorado remained six games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NL West with 26 games left.
As soon as Cristian Guzman stepped into the on-deck circle in the eighth inning, his Nationals teammates started to call for a triple. He gladly obliged, sending a pitch from Joe Beimel past center fielder Matt Kemp and to the wall -- and Guzman wasn't about to stop running. He slid into third base to complete just the second cycle by a Washington player, highlighting an 11-2 romp over the...
Finally, everything was all set for the Los Angeles Dodgers. They were one big hit away from ending their five-game losing streak and making up some ground on the struggling Arizona Diamondbacks in the NL West. All they needed was one measly hit. They didn't get it. And Los Angeles lost a season-high sixth straight game instead, falling 5-4 to the Washington Nationals on Wednesday night and staying...
