Reality Sets In, but Nobody’s Quitting

The Dodgers haven’t been mathematically eliminated from the National League wild-card race, but veteran players acknowledge they’ve dropped out of contention for postseason play.

Many of the club’s biggest contributors are sidelined by injuries, and the season can’t end soon enough for the Dodgers’ disappointed fans. But the Dodgers have 21 games remaining--and they said they still have pride.

“Obviously, we all know what the situation is, you can’t help but know what it is,” third baseman Bobby Bonilla said. “We’ve had a down year, and things haven’t turned out the way we hoped they would, but that doesn’t mean you just go give up.

“You can’t do that, because this is the major leagues. It’s an honor and a privilege to be here, and you respect that by busting your butt every day. No matter where you are [in the standings], there are always things you can work on to improve your game for next season.”

Second baseman Eric Young said that despite their poor performance down the stretch, the Dodgers haven’t given up.

“Is anybody happy about this? No, nobody is happy about what’s happened,” Young said. “We all want to win, but for whatever reason, we’ve never been able to get rolling.

“That doesn’t mean that guys haven’t been giving everything they have. We have guys who have played hurt and played tired. It’s all about doing everything you can do to win, and we’ve tried.”

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Matt Luke has experienced ups and downs this season.

The hard-working rookie has impressed at times, displaying power by hitting 10 home runs in a limited role. And he has been solid defensively.

But the left-handed hitting Luke has struggled at the plate, striking out too much while adjusting to major league pitching. Luke is batting .235 with 26 runs batted in, 11 doubles and 49 strikeouts.

Since July 4, Luke has batted .148. And he has learned a lot in the process.

“You have to keep working hard in this game, you have to keep making adjustments, because bad things will happen if you don’t,” Luke said. “There are so many things that you have to learn, so many things that happen every day out there.

“I feel pretty good about some things, but I know I still have a lot to work on. It’s just something that stays on your mind if you want to stay in this game.”

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Relief pitcher Darren Hall will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his throwing shoulder next week, putting him out for the season.

The right-hander has been on the disabled list twice because of a small tear on his right rotator cuff. Hall was 0-3 with a 10.32 earned-run average in 11 games.

Right-hander Antonio Osuna is scheduled to undergo season-ending arthroscopic surgery on his throwing elbow Tuesday. Ramon Martinez has been sidelined since undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his throwing shoulder June 30.

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Tom Lasorda believes President Bob Graziano will have difficulty choosing one member among the four finalists to succeed him as the Dodger general manager.

“They are all very, very strong candidates with good backgrounds in the game,” Lasorda said of Dave Dombrowski, Jim Bowden, Kevin Malone and Bob Watson. “Bob could put their names on a dart board and hit any one of them, and we’d come out great no matter whose name he hit.”

TODAY

DODGERS’

CHAN HO PARK

(11-8, 3.91 ERA)

vs.

GIANTS’

OREL HERSHISER

(9-9, 4.13 ERA)

Dodger Stadium, 1 p.m.

TV--Channel 11. Radio--AM 1150, KWKW (1330).

* Update--Hershiser is making his third start against his former club, and his second at Dodger Stadium. He is 2-0 with a 3.46 ERA against the Dodgers.