Rocky Mountain Low | VaDodger's Blog

If splitting a doubleheader is like kissing one's sister, getting swept is more like getting a peck on the cheek and a bear hug from your 280 pound aunt who always smells like mothballs. Throw in the fact that the second loss came in the bottom of the ninth with two outs, and it's like that same aunt has decided to move in to spend a lot more quality time with you.

The Dodgers saw their 2007 playoff quest end for all pratical purposes yesterday as they were swept by the Rockies in Colorado. The probable death blow was dealt by the Rockies' Todd Helton, who hit a walk-off two run homer off of Takashi Saito to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat for the Rockies and give Saito his first blown save in over two months.

With two more games left in Colorado and three in Arizona before the final six game homestand, it looks like anything short of an 11-0 or 10-1 record will likely leave the Dodgers on the outside looking in when the playoffs begin.

ON DECK

Tonight's Dodger starter Brad Penny has a 5-1 lifetime record at Coors Field with a 3.71 ERA. Matt Holliday is hitting .192 in 26 at bats against Penny and Brad Hawpe has a .222 average in 27 at bats. Garrett Atkins has been a thorn in Penny's side, hitting .407 with a homer and a .484 on base percentage in 27 at bats.

In September so far, Penny is 2-0 with a 2.84 ERA. The Dodgers are 23-8 in games started by Penny and he's allowed only six homers in 197 innings pitched. His 157 adjusted ERA ranks second in the National League to Jake Peavy's 174.

When Juan Pierre and Jeff Kent come to the plate against Rockies' starter Josh Fogg, chances are that good things will happen for the Dodgers. Pierre is hitting .484 in 31 lifetime at bats against Fogg, and Kent has 14 hits in 30 at bats with four doubles, six homers and 13 RBI. Fogg has done well against Luis Gonzalez, holding Gonzo to two hits in 19 at bats.

Tony Abreu's three RBI in game two of last night's doubleheader marked a career high for the young infielder. He also registered his first career triple in the game.

The Dodgers got homers from Gonzalez, James Loney and Russell Martin in last night's game, marking the fourth time this season they've had three homers in a game. They won the other three, picking up wins over ht Mets on June 12th, the Nationals on August 29th and the Cubs on September 6th.

The power challenged Dodgers have shown long ball skills over the past 12 games, hitting 20 homers during that span. James Loney has been red-hot, hitting six. Gonzalez and Kent have three each, Andre Ethier has two and Matt Kemp, Chin Hung-Lu, Nomar Garciaparra, Rafael Furcal, Russell Martin and Olmedo Saenz have one each.

DODGER FLASHBACK

Prior to last night, the last time the Dodgers lost a doubleheader came back in 1999 when they lost 4-1 and 12-11 at home against the Rockies. They've split eight of their last ten doubleheaders, with the last sweep coming on July 2, 1992 against the Phillies.

The 1988 Dodgers were World Series winners and they did a great job in twinbills during the special season. The team swept four doubleheaders, including taking two at Wrigley Field against the Cubs on both July 14th and July 17th, and had a 9-3 record in doubleheader games.

On the other side of the coin was the 89 loss 1987 Dodger team, which won only one of eight games played during doubleheaders on the year.

In their last 30 doubleheaders (dating back to 1987), the Dodgers have swept eight, split 15 and have been swept seven times.