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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Kevin Brown said he didn't have his best
stuff. Upon hearing that comment, Jeff Cirillo just smiled.
"He said the same thing when he threw a one-hitter against us
when I was in Milwaukee and he was in San Diego," the Colorado
third baseman said after Brown allowed one hit in eight innings
Wednesday night as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Rockies 9-1.
"Either he's very hard on himself, very critical..." Cirillo
said, his voice tailing off.
| | Kevin Brown, who said he didn't have his best stuff, retired 23 of the last 24 Rockies he faced in the Dodgers' 9-1 win. |
Brown (9-3), showing no ill effects from the tightness in his
pitching shoulder that caused him to be removed from his last
start, allowed only a first-inning single by Larry Walker before
retiring 23 of the last 24 batters he faced -- including the final
14.
Brown walked one and struck out eight before being removed for a
pinch-hitter in the bottom of the eighth when the Dodgers scored
five runs off reliever Stan Belinda.
Brown, who threw 104 pitches, had a no-hitter while playing for
the world champion Florida Marlins in 1997. He ended up combining
with Mike Fetters on a one-hitter.
"I think it was a matter of keeping guys off-balance," he
said. "You have to try and find a way when you don't have your
stuff. I have to tip my hat to the guys in the field. My fastball
wasn't there throughout the game."
Brown, who left last Friday night's 5-3 loss to Anaheim after
one pitch in the eighth, allowed only a four-pitch walk to Todd
Helton in the fourth after Walker's single.
"It was stiff," he said of his shoulder. "I know it was
there. I was able to get through it."
Dodgers catcher Chad Kreuter said Brown was in control
throughout.
"The ball was sinking, it was down in the zone," Kreuter said.
"He had everything working, he threw sinkers, he threw splits,
sliders. It wasn't just one pitch."
Dave Hansen, making just his 14th start of the season, hit a
tie-breaking three-run homer in the sixth. He connected on the
first pitch from Rolando Arrojo (5-8), knocking it into the
right-field seats after Shawn Green and Eric Karros hit one-out
singles in the sixth.
The homer was Hansen's fifth; the previous four came as a pinch
hitter. Hansen, 9-of-29 as a pinch hitter this year and second on
the Dodgers' all-time pinch hit list with 85, had gone hitless in
his previous eight at-bats. He started at third base in place of
Adrian Beltre.
The Rockies, who have lost 12 of their last 14 games, scored an
unearned run in the first when Cirillo reached on an error by
shortstop Alex Cora, took third on Walker's ground single up the
middle and scored on Helton's infield out.
Mark Grudezielanek, making his first start since July 6, doubled
with two outs in the third -- the first Los Angeles hit off Arrojo -- and scored on a single by Gary Sheffield to tie the game.
Arrojo, facing the Dodgers for the first time in his career,
allowed six hits and four runs in seven innings while walking two
and striking out seven.
Krueter's two-run double highlighted the Dodgers' five-run
eighth. Belinda hurt his cause by walking the first three batters
in the inning.
Walker was ejected by home plate umpire Scott Higgins after
arguing a called third strike in the sixth.
Game notes
Dodgers manager Davey Johnson, who missed his fourth
straight game due to an irregular heart rhythm, was released from a
nearby hospital before the game and figures to return to the team
Thursday or Friday night. ... The Rockies and Dodgers, who hadn't
met previously this season, were playing the first of six games in
a nine-day span. ... Grudzielanek, who had been sidelined with a
viral infection, still looked a bit under the weather, but said he
was feeling much better. When asked before the game if the recent
illness was the worst of his life, he replied, "By far." ... The
Dodgers optioned right-hander Mike Judd to Triple-A Albuquerque of
the Pacific Coast League and placed utility player F.P. Santangelo
on the 15-day disabled list. They recalled RHP Al Reyes from
Albuquerque and purchased the contract of 34-year-old infielder
Chris Donnels from the Dukes. ... Donnels, pinch-hitting for Brown,
hit an RBI double in the eighth.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Colorado Clubhouse
Los Angeles Clubhouse
Dodgers' Johnson out of hospital, could return to dugout Thursday
RECAPS
Kansas City 10 Cleveland 5
NY Yankees 9 Detroit 1
Toronto 5 Tampa Bay 2
Boston 0 Baltimore 0
Chi. White Sox 3 Minnesota 2
Texas 3 Anaheim 2
Seattle 6 Oakland 3
Atlanta 0 Florida 0
NY Mets 5 Montreal 3
Chicago Cubs 5 Philadelphia 4
Cincinnati 4 Houston 0
Milwaukee 6 Pittsburgh 0
Arizona 4 St. Louis 3
Los Angeles 9 Colorado 1
San Diego 4 San Francisco 3
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