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Monday, Aug. 21 10:10pm ET
Hermanson one out shy of shutout | |||||
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GAME LOG
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Dustin Hermanson decided to add another pitch to his repertoire, and it seems to be working. Using a new changeup he has been perfecting with the help of Montreal bullpen coordinator Pierre Arsenault, Hermanson came within one strike of a shutout Monday night as the Expos beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-1. "I told Arsenault that I wanted to play with it," said the right-hander, who was using it in a game for the second time. "So he stuck with me and worked as hard as he possibly could with me the last 10 days. He's been real patient with me, and I can't thank him enough. "It's given me all the confidence in the world now. It's a lot easier for me to throw. I mean, my fastball sets up my other pitches, but this changeup is really setting off my fastball. I don't have to throw 96 (mph) anymore -- just 92 or 93, and hit my corners." After the game, Dodgers manager Davey Johnson announced he will undergo arthroscopic surgery Tuesday morning to repair a tear in his left rotator cuff. "I've been in a lot of pain for the last couple of weeks, so a little more pain isn't going to make a difference," said Johnson, who expects to be back in the dugout for Tuesday night's game. Hermanson (9-11) blanked the Dodgers on six hits for eight innings. But Eric Karros doubled with two outs in the ninth and Todd Hundley followed with an RBI single on a 2-2 pitch, the 128th and last by Hermanson. Both hits came on fastballs. "We were winning 4-0 at that point, it's the last inning and I had two outs, so I was going right at them," Hermanson said. "I wanted to make them put the ball in play and I wasn't going to walk 'em and have someone come up with the bases loaded. That's just not the way I am. "I didn't really even think about a shutout. All we need around here just is wins. It doesn't matter how we get them. It's been a rough season." Hermanson had been 3-10 in his previous 16 starts and 0-4 in his last five, but the Expos helped him with three double plays. "He was throwing strikes, and that's the key," Dodgers shortstop Alex Cora said. "He got ahead in the count and he made good pitches. We hit the ball hard sometimes, but we didn't when we needed to." Orlando Cabrera homered and drove in two runs, and Scott Strickland got the last out for his fourth save. The Expos won for only the sixth time in 26 games and dealt the Dodgers their 11th loss in the last 15. "It's kind of hard to be upbeat right now," Cora said. "We're in the middle of something right now, and it's getting kind of hard. It's getting kind of late, too, but we're not going to give up. We're going to keep battling." Trailing 2-0, the Dodgers put the tying runs in scoring position in the fifth. But Tom Goodwin, 12-for-21 lifetime against the Expos to that point, topped a pitch off the plate and catcher Michael Barrett made the throw to first before Goodwin realized the ball was in fair territory. Cabrera, who was at the plate in the second inning when Vladimir Guerrero was thrown out trying to steal, led off the third with his ninth home run and second against the Dodgers. It was the first homer since July 3 for Cabrera, who spent a month on the disabled list because of a separated right shoulder that kept him sidelined until Aug. 15. Lee Stevens, who signed a two-year contract extension on Wednesday, extended Montreal's lead to 2-0 with an RBI single in the fourth. But Matt Herges kept the damage to a minimum by retiring Barrett on a fly ball with the bases loaded. Herges (8-3), who has lost all three of his major league starts after going 8-0 in relief, fell behind 4-0 after issuing a leadoff walk to Jose Vidro in the sixth. Guerrero, trying to get out of the way of a high inside pitch, accidentally got his bat on the ball and blooped it into short right field for a double. Geoff Blum delivered Vidro with a sacrifice fly and Guerrero scored on Cabrera's single. Game notesHermanson was trying for his third career shutout. ... After the Dodgers were retired in the seventh inning, still looking for their first run, stadium organist Nancy Bea Hefley played a few choruses of "I've Got Plenty of Nothing." ... Hundley threw out three potential base stealers in a game for the first time this season, including Peter Bergeron in the fifth and Blum in the eighth. But Cabrera and Milton Bradley were successful against Hundley, who is 14-for-71 altogether. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Montreal Clubhouse Los Angeles Clubhouse RECAPS NY Yankees 12 Texas 3
Montreal 4
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