[AZTarHeel]

Andrew Zarzour got his first win with the Dodgers in his next start, on Sept. 20, 2003. Alternating starts with Darren Dreifort in the No. 5 spot, Zarzour pitched 6.1 solid innings in a 5-3 victory over the San Francisco Giants. He allowed nine hits and three earned runs (no homers!) but countered with 13 strikeouts. Not too bad.

Zarzour had hoped to win a spot on the Dodgers' playoff roster, but alas, his final start of the regular season Sept. 25 ended those hopes. He took a pretty big step backwards in an 8-6 loss at San Diego (a pretty hot team in the final part of the season).

Zarzour lasted just 1.1 innings, giving up six runs. And the home run monster returned in a big way also.

Things started OK. He got Tim Salmon out on two pitches. But then he walked Alfonso Soriano and Chipper Jones (nice lineup the Pads have by the way). Alex Arias singled on a 3-1 count and then — GULP — Danny Bautista roped a grand slam 417 feet into the left centerfield seats. Ouch. Zarzour gave up two more singles in the inning before mercifully working out of the jam.

In the second inning, Big Z's troubles continued. He walked Salmon, struck out Soriano but then gave up a two-run bomb to Chipper Jones (this one parked 404 feet from home plate in about the same place that Bautista hit his). That was it for Zarzour's night — and probably his season — as Ted Lilly came in to relieve his beleaguered buddy.

Lilly actually gave up two quick singles as well — maybe this was just the Padres' night — before settling down. Los Angeles fought back to make it competitive in the latter innings but couldn't catch all the way up.

The worst part is that again Los Angeles was chasing a milestone win. Coming into the contest, the Dodgers held a 116-43 W-L mark. The Major League record for most wins in the regular season also was 116. Zarzour could have had his name in the record books for being the winning pitcher in his team's 117th victory. Now someone else will get to try for that honor as LA closes the regular season with a three-game set at San Francisco.

So, Big Z's final line for the 2003 Major League regular season took a nose-dive in that last 1.1 innings: 1-1 record, 6.14 ERA (had been 2.70 going into the San Diego game), 14.2 IP, 16 hits allowed, 10 earned runs allowed, three homers (dang), 20 Ks and 7 walks.

Zarzour's only hope of wearing an LA uniform in the post-season will come if one of the 12 regulars in the bullpen gets hurt. And Zarzour, as much as he wants to play in what could be a historic post-season run, certainly doesn't want that to happen...