The Dodgers began a critical six game homestand last night with the first of three games against the rival San Diego Padres. Perhaps a little unluckily, the Dodgers drew the Padres ace and also known "Dodger slayer" Jake Peavy. In 17 previous starts against the Dodgers prior to last night, Peavy had only lost once, winning eight times while posting a 2.28 ERA. If the Dodgers were going to win, starting pitcher Esteban Loaiza was going to need to be at his best. Unfortunately, he wasn't as he walked four batters, allowed six hits and six earned runs in just 3 1/3 innings of work. Home runs by Brian Giles, Khalil Greene and Kevin Kouzmanoff would help stake Peavy to a 6-0 lead. Meanwhile, the probable NL Cy Young award winner cruised, allowing only two runs in seven innings of work, allowing five hits and two walks while striking out five. James Loney would hit his 10th home run of the year off Peavy in the third, and Jeff Kent would single Loney in for the Dodgers' second run off him in the 6th. Neither bullpen was all that effective as Peavy ended up earning his 17th win on the year in a 9-4 Padre decision. The win keeps the Padres 2 1/2 games in front of the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL Wild Card race. The Dodgers and the surging Colorado Rockies are 3 1/2 back.
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The news for the other L.A. area baseball team is much better as the Angels continue to cruise. An easy 10-5 win over the Baltimore Orioles lifted their lead in the American League West over the Seattle Mariners to a season-high 9 1/2 games. The two main cogs - Chone Figgins and Vladimir Guerrero played together for the in a game for the first time since August 21st. "Figgy" went 3-for-4 with 3 RBI's and two steals in lifting his batting average to a robust .345. "Super Vlad" launched two mammoth 2-run homers deep into left-center field to give him 24 longballs and 114 RBI's on the year. With their win and the Mariners loss, the Angels magic number to win the American League West now stands at 10.
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I'm very happy to say there's some really good news to report in Buffalo. Bills' tight end Kevin Everett apparently is going to walk again after all... something which is an unexpected, but very pleasant development. A large part of this miracle can be owed to the efforts of the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis. The Miami Project has done a lot of research on paralysis and has developed a new procedure which has been shown to greatly lessen the effects of a trauma to the spinal cord. Within minutes of Everett's injury in Sunday's game against the Denver Broncos, doctors ran "an ice-cold saline solution" through Everett's system, putting him in what's called a "hypothermic state." The procedure has been shown to greatly reduce the swelling around the spinal cord, thus limiting the amount of permanent damage caused of this kind of injury. The doctors don't forecast a complete recovery, but things appear much better than they did even 24 hours ago. The miracles of modern medicine never cease to amaze me. I continue to hope and pray for his recovery.
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