BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : DODGERS : Strawberry Has Found a Groove

With his stroke apparently back and the Dodger lineup intact with the return of Kal Daniels, Darryl Strawberry moved into the cleanup spot in the last two games of the Phillie series. Strawberry has batted third most of the season but was switched to fifth on the recent trip. He extented his hitting streak to 11 games with a sixth-inning single Thursday night. He was batting .342 over the 10 games before Thursday’s, and his on-base percentage is better than .400 since the All-Star break. Strawberry’s home run Tuesday gave him the team lead with 11.

After Phillie Manager Jim Fregosi had him intentionally walked to load the bases in the 10th inning Tuesday, setting up Mitch Webster’s game-winning hit, Strawberry noted: “It was a case of the manager knowing I’m swinging a good bat and not wanting me to beat them.”

Juan Samuel went hitless in the first two games of the Phillies series, the first time in 93 games this season he had been shut out in consecutive games. Samuel singled in his first at-bat Thursday. . . . Since coming off the disabled list July 15, the Phillies’ Lenny Dykstra has had multiple-hit games in six of the seven he had played before Thursday. . . . Ramon Martinez’s brother, Pedro, improved his record to 6-5 at San Antonio Wednesday, pitching a two-hitter with nine strikeouts in a 1-0 victory over Arkansas. Combined with his 8-0 start at Class-A Bakersfield, the younger Martinez is 14-5. He turned 20 Thursday. . . . Infielder Jeff Hamilton, on the disabled list rehabilitating a knee injury, was given permission to leave the team today to be with his family in Michigan while 2-year-old son Kyle has minor surgery. Hamilton was fined earlier this season for leaving the team without authorization.