An absolutely crazy win for the Dodgers

I'm not even sure where to begin with this.

This was supposed to be a feel-good recap about how Chad Billingsley did it with his arm and his bat in leading the Dodgers to an easy win. You see, they were up 6-1 going into the ninth against the lowly Padres, and Bills was looking to get a complete game.

Then Chase Headley lead off with a solo homer.

Then the other Tony Gwynn doubled, and that was it for Bills. No problem, as Jonathan Broxton was called upon. Even though it wasn't a save situation, Joe Torre wanted to put out this flame quickly.

Instead, those flames turned into an all out wildfire.

Broxton was completely lost, walking three guys, and let the Padres score four more runs to tie the game at six and head into extra innings. It just kept going from bad to worse. Who knows - if it wasn't for Eliezer Alfonso sliding past third base for the final out, the Padres could have won it there.

So the laugher turned into an extra inning battle, and both teams went scoreless in innings 10 through 12. Both teams had runners on in the 10th, but nothing happened.

Leading off the 13th, James Loney cranked a solo shot to right, and the Dodgers were once again up, 7-6. Jeff Weaver, pitching his third inning, made that hold up in the bottom half, and the game was mercifully over after four hours and 33 minutes.

Ugh... what a mess this turned out to be. The bottom line is that the Dodgers won. The path they took to get there was crazy, but hey, a win's a win. They can be proud that they suffered such a heartbreaking collapse, only to hold steady and get a win in the end. And for that I'm thankful.

I just feel bad for Billingsley, who deserved his 10th win. Not only did he last eight innings, giving up three runs and striking out five, but he went 2-for-4 at the plate. The two hits? Try a solo homer and a double. Wow.

The only solution I could come up with for Broxton's wildness was that he didn't think there was any chance he'd be pitching today with a 6-1 lead in the ninth. Maybe he had mentally checked out, which I couldn't blame him for. I didn't think the home plate umpire did him any favors, as he had some very close pitches called balls. But, that's the way it goes.

I think it's a good thing the Dodgers have Monday off, if only to unwind from this one. They will travel to New York for three with the Mets, who are terrible now. Injuries have just crippled them. Clayton Kershaw goes in the first game.