One day after getting their faces kicked in by the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Dodgers survived many close calls in getting the win today in 12 innings, 4-3. The win bumps the lead in the NL West back up to 4 games, and the magic number is at 7.
The last couple of days have been crazy to say the least. The Dodgers gave up 8 runs with 2 outs in the 7th to lose yesterday, 15-8. Today, it was all of the main guys in the lineup, probably because taking another loss would not exactly be the best thing considering the Arizona Diamondbacks are playing the San Francisco Giants again today. It wasn't pretty, but the job was accomplished.
The Pirates got on the board right away on a double by Nigel Morgan. He went to 3rd on a wild pitch by Clayton Kershaw, and scored on a sac-fly RBI from Nate McLouth. Nothing was happening for the Dodgers until the 4th. Manny Ramirez led off with a walk and Matt Kemp doubled 2 outs later. Blake DeWitt stepped up and delivered a 2-run double for the 2-1.
That would be the first of 2 leads that would disappear, as the Pirates refused to roll over like they did on Monday and Tuesday. Old friend Andy LaRoche singled home Nate McLouth to knot the game at 2. In the 7th, Andre Ethier got the lead back on an RBI single to score Kemp for a 3-2 lead.
Unfortunately for LA, things would not be easy on this afternoon. The Pirates got a big hit with 2 outs themselves by Luis Cruz, and it was all tied at 3. In the 8th, the Dodgers had runners on 1st and 2nd with 2 outs for Angel Berroa. We'll never know how that may have turned out because Kemp inexplicably got caught stealing 3rd. Had the Dodgers lost this game, there'd be a lot of talk about that boneheaded move.
The Pirates certainly had their chance to win in the 10th. With runners on 1st and 2nd, a dribbler was hit back to Chan Ho Park, who fired wide of 2nd. DeWitt made a diving stop, then fired home to nail Morgan, who bulled over Russell Martin in the process. Talk about going from one extreme to the other.
Fast forward to the 12th, when the Dodgers finally scratched a run across the board. They did it with the bases loaded and 1 out on a single by James Loney with 2 strikes. He was 0-5 at that point, so it's good to see him salvage his game. Jonathan Broxton let a couple of men reach in the bottom of the 12th, but got Jason Michaels to pop up to DeWitt to end it and gather his 14th save.
Phew... that was way too close for comfort. In a way it's not too surprising, though. I talked about how the Pirates were a .500 team at home entering this series, so it's not shocking to see them put up a fight. I also talked about how it would be a letdown if the Dodgers dropped the final 2 games after winning the first 2, and that didn't happen. I'm sure they'll take it and move on.
More good news for the Dodgers is that Tim Lincecum pitches against the DBacks tonight. The Giants are still atrocious, but if they're going to win at any point, this has to be it. The DBacks counter with Randy Johnson, who, if you haven't heard, has had himself a decent MLB career. Just thought you'd like to know.
The second part to that good news is that with Lincecum going tonight, he'll miss the series with the Dodgers this weekend. Friday night will see Greg Maddux vs. Barry Zito. Hiroki Kuroda and Derek Lowe will follow, so things are definitely in the Dodgers favor. The DBacks will go to Coors Field, where any crazy thing can happen.
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