Ethier sparkles late once again

Andre Ethier continues to add to his career year.

With two on in the ninth and down by two, Ethier took a 2-0 pitch just over the right field wall for a walk-off home run and a win for the Dodgers, 5-4. Amazingly, that's his fifth walk-off of the season, the best in the majors.

Talk about a flair for the dramatic, Ethier has it.

On a night where the Rockies lost and the Giants were idle, the Dodgers picked up a little more ground on each team. With all three playing so well, there's really little room for a losing streak. Big hits like this are what has created that separation for the Dodgers.

The Braves were the first to get on the board off of Randy Wolf. With two outs in the second, Matt Diaz and Adam LaRoche each hit RBI singles for the 2-0 lead. Manny Ramirez's RBI triple in the third cut it to 2-1.

Wolf lost some control in the fourth by giving up a couple of singles and a walk to load the bases. On a full count, Nate McLouth laid off a breaking ball outside to force in a run for the 3-1 lead. Martin Prado grounded out to end the threat and keep the game manageable.

The bottom of the Dodgers' order did some damage in the bottom of the fourth. Orlando Hudson hit an infield single and Wolf followed with his own single for runners on first and third. Juan Pierre lifted a fly ball to center that was plenty deep enough to score O-Dog, making it 3-2.

Chipper Jones would get his third hit of the night off of Wolf, this time a big fly that made it 4-2. Overall, Wolf finished with seven innings pitched, nine hits, four runs, three walks, and four strikeouts.

There were threats in both the seventh and eighth for the Dodgers, as they put two men on in each inning. But, Manny and Matt Kemp both struck out respectively to end each inning.

The 4-2 score would hold up until the ninth, when Rafael Soriano came on to try and close it out. Pierre greeted him with an infield single that Jones was unable to barehand. Rafael Furcal singled to put runners on the corners. Ethier then hit a three-run shot, and that's all she wrote.

There's really not a whole lot else to say about Ethier and the Dodgers' ability as a whole to get big wins late in games. Their confidence in big situations is always there, as they never seem to be overwhelmed by the moment. I just hope that clutch hitting carries into October.

Chad Billingsley will look to get his second straight win tonight against Jair Jurrjens. Both pitchers matched up last Sunday in which the Dodgers easily won, 9-1.