Boy’s Recovery Lift For Lasorda

National League

The Los Angeles Dodgers certainly had a wonderful weekend at Coors Field in Denver, but most rewarding for Dodgers manager Tom Lasorda was the mere sight of Lance Goodman, a local junior high baseball coach.

Lasorda received a frantic telephone call about 10 years ago from Goodman’s parents. Their son, a promising high school player, was involved in a serious car accident. He was in a coma, and they feared he would die.

The parents, knowing his favorite team was the Dodgers, asked if Lasorda could stop by the hospital.

“I started talking to him. ‘Lance, I don’t know if you can hear me or not, but I know what’s going through your mind. You’re wondering why this happened to you? Well, maybe I can give you an answer. Maybe God wants to use you as an inspiration to others. I know you’re going to bounce back. And when you can walk again, you’re going to be a batboy for this team.’

Goodman now works in Denver, and to this day, wonders if he’d be alive if not for Lasorda’s speech.

Appier right ace

Kansas City Royals GM Herk Robinson was criticized for trading David Cone, but with Kevin Appier starting 3-0 with a 0.46 ERA, he may have picked the right pitching ace to deal. Robinson could have gotten more for Appier from the Yankees and others but wisely held onto him.

Cardinals 6, Astros 5

St. Louis

Bernard Gilkey drove in three runs and St. Louis beat Houston.

Jeff Parrett (1-0) allowed one hit in 1 scoreless innings for his first win in the majors since 1993 with Colorado.

Gilkey’s two-run single with the bases loaded keyed a five-run rally in the fifth inning.

Dodgers 12, Rockies 10

Denver

Mike Piazza hit two homers and drove in a career-high six runs, and Los Angeles survived a shaky start by Hideo Nomo to beat Colorado.

Piazza hit a grand slam in the third inning, and his solo shot in the eighth made it 11-10. He also singled, giving him 11 hits in his last 16 at-bats with 11 RBIs, as the Dodgers completed a three-game sweep of the Rockies.

Reds 8, Mets 4

Cincinnati

Jerome Walton’s leadoff homer carried Cincinnati’s new-found momentum into a second day, sparking a victory over New York.

Walton hit the first pitch of the game from Jason Jacome (0-1) for a homer to start the Reds on another big offensive day. Hal Morris drove in three runs with a bases-loaded single and a triple.

Expos 9, Marlins 3

Montreal

Darrin Fletcher homered, doubled and scored three times, leading Jeff Fassero and Montreal past Florida.

Fassero (3-0) gave up three runs on eight hits in seven innings.

Pirates 4, Cubs 3

Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh, in danger of starting 0-5 at home for the first time this century, needed two wild pitches, a passed ball and a bad-hop grounder to score the goahead run and beat Chicago.

Jeff King hit a two-run homer for Pittsburgh.

Phillies 5, Braves 4

Atlanta

Greg Maddux pitched five strong innings before leaving with a twisted knee, and Philadelphia rallied from a three-run deficit against Atlanta’s bullpen.

The Phillies came back against relievers Greg McMichael, Mike Stanton, Steve Bedrosian and Brad Clontz. Gary Varsho’s two-run single in the eighth capped the rally.

Giants 11, Padres 4

San Diego

Royce Clayton drove in four runs, John Patterson drove in three and San Francisco completed a four-game sweep of San Diego.

Mark Portugal (1-0) went seven innings to earn his first win of the season.