The Dodgers experienced all types of emotions on Thursday afternoon. They went from a tie game, to taking a small lead, to watching their star closer blow a save with two outs, to getting the lead back for good in the 10th inning. It all added up to a big 5-3 win in 10 innings over the reigning World Series champions, the Phillies.
The game saw a matchup of two stud pitchers in their early 20's, Chad Billingsley and Cole Hamels. Each man more than delivered. Billingsley went 7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 9 K. Hamels went 7 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 9 K. Both men got no-decisions, though they did plenty to deserve wins.
With the game predictably low scoring, each team added single runs in the first 6 innings. The Phillies wasted no time in scoring in the first. Jimmy Rollins lead off with a double and went to third on Shane Victorino's sacrifice bunt. Chase Utley walked next. Ryan Howard hit a sac-fly RBI to score Rollins and grab the 1-0 lead.
The Phillies' defense helped the Dodgers get on the board in the third. Casey Blake started it with a ground rule double. Billingsley and Juan Pierre could not reach base, leaving it up to Rafael Furcal to come through. Raffy did... sort of. It was actually an error from Rollins that let him reach and Blake score, evening the game up at 1.
Tied up going into the seventh, James Loney hit his second homer in as many days to lead off the inning. Cory Wade relieved Billingsley in the eighth and was perfect, giving the Dodgers the lead into the ninth.
For insurance, the Dodgers added another run. Matt Kemp tripled with one down and scored on Blake's sac-fly. The Phillies had their 4-5-6 hitters due up in the bottom of the frame, so it seemed that if Jonathan Broxton could get Ryan Howard out to start, he would cruise.
Howard did strike out, followed by a swinging K of Jayson Werth. With two outs and nobody on, it sure looked good.
But Raul Ibanez singled. Then Greg Dobbs walked. And with an 0-2 count on Carlos Ruiz, an outside fastball was drilled to right-center to score both men, and just like that, it was all tied at 3. It was Broxton's first blown save of the year, all with two outs. It's safe to say that nobody saw that coming.
With momentum clearly on the Phillies side, the Dodgers refused to quit. Much like the Phillies two-out rally, the Dodgers had one of their own in the 10th. Andre Ethier walked off Chad Durbin. Russell Martin then doubled to plate Ethier, and Martin soon scored on a double by Kemp. Ramon Troncoso closed the door in the bottom of the 10th, and the Dodgers got a huge road win.
While it's only May and still all sorts of games left to be played, winning two of three in Philadelphia with all of the Manny drama is a great statement. With Tuesday's game being pretty flat, I have to admit I didn't see the Dodgers winning the next two. Maybe a split, but not both. It's a testament to their young hitters and top of the rotation of Randy Wolf and Billingsley.
The Dodgers will now travel to Florida to take on another team of young stars, the Marlins. Eric Stults, coming off a complete game shutout against the Giants, starts against Chris Volstad.
No comments:
Post a Comment