The news that Brad Penny is ready to return to the starting rotation, and that Hideo Nomo's 8.25 ERA will be replaced with one that is more than five runs lower (although rusty) should have a revitalizing effect for those worried about Dodgers' chances.

Nothing's perfect in Dodgerland, though, so with Penny's return comes the news that Jose Lima's next start will be postponed because of a small fracture. However, Edwin Jackson seems ready to take the mound Sunday and give the Dodgers a chance to win.

Here (and on the sidebar) you can see how the Dodger rotation may look over the next 10 days:

9/18 at Colorado (Perez)
9/19 at Colorado (Jackson)
9/20 off
9/21 at San Diego (Alvarez)
9/22 at San Diego (Penny)
9/23 at San Diego (Weaver)
9/24 at San Francisco (Perez)
9/25 at San Francisco (Jackson or Lima)
9/26 at San Francisco (Alvarez)
9/27 vs. Colorado (Penny)
9/28 vs. Colorado (Weaver)
9/29 vs. Colorado (Perez)

The next goal for the Dodgers is for the starting pitchers to start pitching into the seventh inning more consistently, so that Los Angeles won't have to rely on the relative miracle of shutout performances by Elmer Dessens, Scott Stewart and Mike Venafro in middle relief. Given the pace of Penny and Jackson's recoveries, it could be a week before this happens. Nomo might be shelved for the rest of the year, but the Dodgers will probably need Kazuhisa Ishii in relief before the season's done - which could be bad or just fine. Unless Ishii has been placed in the Hee Seop Choi penalty box.

Nomo has allowed 77 runs in 84 innings. Last year, in 82 1/3 innings, Gagne allowed 12.