The Dodgers magic number is now 19. Assuming the Padres hold on, the Dodgers lead will be a game and a half. The good news is, the Wild Card mix has sort of tapered off so the Dodgers should still have a four game lead for a playoff spot (again, assuming the Padres win). That’s not great, but with only three weeks left, it’s a solid lead.
The Dodgers didn’t get off to a good start on Thursday. Tom Glavine and the Mets pen completely shut down the Dodgers and held them to seven hits. In the meantime, Brad Penny was knocked around and he gave up seven runs in 5 1/3 innings. Jeff Kent and Rafael Furcal both had two hits in the 7-0 loss.
Hong-Chih Kuo returned the favor on Friday. He threw six shutout innings and the three relievers closed out the game to complete the shutout. It was Kuo’s first career win. Rafael Furcal and Nomar Garciaparra both homered in the 5-0 win.
Yesterday was the only close game of the series. The Dodgers took a 2-1 lead in the top of the sixth only to see Greg Maddux give up two runs in the bottom half of the sixth. Both team’s bullpen took over and neither team scored the rest of the way. Maddux took the loss and Kenny Lofton and J.D Drew drove in the two runs for the Dodgers in the 3-2 loss.
The Dodgers blew out the Mets again today. Nomar Garciappar homered and drove in four runs in the 9-1 win. Kenny Lofton drove in three runs and Furcal and Russ Martin each scored two runs. Rookie Eric Stults threw six solid innings and he won his first career game. Mark Hendrickson threw a solid inning but he’s not coming out of the pen.
The Dodgers have three against the Cubs but then they play a huge three game series against the Padres next weekend. Big week.
