Dodgers stay atop NL West with latest win
Zarzour improves to 4-2 with triumph over Astros
Sept. 21, 2000
HOUSTON — OK, so the big fella gives up home runs nearly every time out. Andrew Zarzour, all of 19 years old, is making positive contributions to the Dodgers drive for another NL West title.
The 7-foot-2 left-hander overcame giving up three long balls last night, and Los Angeles topped the Houston Astros 11-6. Zarzour struck out six over 6.1 innings and walked two in improving to 4-2 on the season. He also had a hit, a run and an RBI on the offensive side, helping the Dodgers to win their sixth game in a row.
Los Angeles improved to 80-69 overall, tied with the Padres a top the NL West standings and one game ahead of the San Francisco Giants, who joined the pennant race with a surge of their own over the last few weeks.
"I'm tired of seeing balls leave the yard when I'm pitching," Zarzour said. "I'm just glad my teammates were there to pick me up tonight. What did we have tonight, 15 hits?"
Sixteen, actually. Edgar Renteria, Paul Lo Duca, Mike Piazza and Todd Hollandsworth all had three hits apiece. Josh Hamilton went 2-for-4, improving his average to .214. That doesn't sound like much of an average, but considering it has jumped about 100 points in the past few weeks, he's surging along with the club as a whole.
Hamilton has been an every day player for the past week.
Zarzour has won his last two starts since getting beaten soundly by the Padres. He gave up just seven hits and two runs in a 7-3 win over the Diamondbacks last week (picking up the first game MVP award of his career — in that game Hamilton was 3-for-4 with an RBI.).
After finishing up with Houston, Los Angeles hosts Chicago, then visits St. Louis.
"We've just got to keep winning," Zarzour said. "And I've got to keep balls in the park more."
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Note: not bad for a couple of 19-year-olds, eh? ... it's been fun to have a three-team pennant race ... After Sept. 18 games, all three teams were tied for first ... Atlanta is running away with the NL East (about 10 games up). Houston and Cincy are battling hard in the NL Central. The 'Stros lead by one ... Boston and New York should make the playoffs from the AL, with Chicago White Sox and Seattle the other two teams ...
Zarzour's pitching line right now: 4-2 with a 4.31 ERA ... He's got a .222 batting average, still better than Hamilton's
Zarzour's lone hit against Houston scored his buddy Josh from second base ... It was Z's second RBI of his career. Z later came home on an Edgar Renteria hit. That was part of a six-run fifth inning that put LA up 11-4... thank goodness for offense...