Tar Heel connection in LA
Hamilton, Zarzour, both 19, steal show in win over Giants
Aug. 27, 2000
Dodgers pitcher Andrew Zarzour stuck out his tongue at Josh Hamilton in the post-game locker room after last night’s win against the visiting San Francisco Giants.
“Ha, I have a better batting average than you, hot shot,” Zarzour teased.
“Yeah, but I was the MVP tonight, moose man,” Hamilton fired back.
Ah, kids.
Technically speaking, Zarzour’s right. His season average at the plate is a cool .333 whereas Hamilton’s hitting .156.
Of course, Zarzour has only had three at-bats since joining the Big Club a few weeks ago. Hamilton’s had a quite a bit more.
But the two 19-year-olds together stole the show in LA’s 5-4 win over the Giants. Zarzour pitched – and hit – like a Big Leaguer. And Hamilton showed signs of being one of the top prospects in the game, going 2-for-3 and batting home a key run (earning player of the game status). The victory helps LA keep the San Diego Padres within reach in the NL West.
“The future is now,” catcher Mike Piazza said. “It was a good night for the Tar Heel boys, that’s for sure. We needed their spark.”
Zarzour, making his second start from the mound since getting pulled up from Albuquerque, didn’t get credited for the win. It's too bad. Aside from one bad pitch that got away, for a three-run homer by Chris Richard in the second inning, Zarzour was a Randy Johnson reincarnate. He struck out 11 against only two walks. He allowed just four hits. He mezmorized hitters with his fastball, a nasty splitter and an effective change.
“I was most proud that Andrew regained his composure after the home run,” LA manager Davey Johnson said. “He struck out four of the next seven batters he faced. That’s a good sign. Young guys like that, you never know if they're going to fold after giving up a big shot.”
Zarzour helped himself at the plate in the bottom of the third, sacrificing Cole Liniak and Hamilton into scoring position with a well-placed bunt. Both men score to make it a 3-2 game San Fran.
In the fourth, Hamilton and Zarzour had back-to-back RBI singles in the fourth inning that helped put LA up 4-3. Zarzour later gave up the tying run, but an RBI triple by Todd Hollandsworth in the eighth gave the Dodgers the victory. Kazuhiro Sasaki earned the win, with Dennis Reyes getting the save (Trevor Hoffman was tired and took the night off)...
*****
First, let me say:
I'm proud of my little 7-foot-2 creation...
I simmed this game out as well. I was worried with both of Zarzour's starts that he would get shelled. But he did remarkably well. For the heck of it, in this game, I started all the young guns - Hamilton, Zarzour, Cole Liniak, Andy Tracy. Maybe this is the future for the Dodgers... Hope Big Z giving up one homer per game isn't a trend...
Simming a few games, though, helps me see why the Dodgers aren't leading the NL West. The offense is definitely hit and miss. When you're relying on Zarzour to get RBIs, that's not a good sign...
Zarzour's hit came against Chris Carpenter by the way ... Stay tuned for what could be a fun stretch run of the 2000 season...