Andre Ethier has made a habit of letting his bat get wins late in games. Now he can add his glove to this season's highlight reel.
Ethier made a leaping catch against the wall to end the eighth inning, holding a run from scoring and allowing the Dodgers to go on to get the win, 4-3. The Rockies beat the Mets (no surprise there), so the lead is 5 and 1/2 games in the NL West.
The Diamondbacks got on the board in the first against Vicente Padilla, who's vying to stay in the rotation. In fact, the DBacks loaded the bases off of two walks and a bunt single by Justin Upton with none out. Somehow, Padilla only gave up a run on an infield single, as two strikeouts and a groundout made it 1-0.
After all of that, it took Matt Kemp one swing to tie the game up, as he hit his 23rd, and also one in four straight games. I'd say he's locked in right now. The DBacks had to be kicking themselves for blowing such a big chance early to grab command.
Russell Martin and James Loney singled with two outs in the second to start a rally. It worked, as Padilla got in on the act with an RBI single, and it was now 2-1.
Kemp had a bit of a crazy play result in his fortune in the fourth. He lead off the inning by singling and then stealing second. Ethier flied out to right, and Upton tried to get Kemp going back to second. Except, the ball bounced off of him, going all the way into foul territory behind third, allowing him to score and go up, 3-1. Weird stuff.
Padilla got Mark Reynolds swinging to start the sixth, then exited for the lefty Scott Elbert, just called up that day. It wasn't a good move, as Rusty Ryal and John Hester hit RBI singles, and Padilla's good effort was wasted with the score now tied at three.
The Dodgers responded by pulling a play out from earlier this season. Ethier checked his swing in time to draw a bases loaded walk, scoring Juan Pierre to go up 4-3. Remember when it seemed like every game the Dodgers scored this way in the first half? It's been awhile.
Ramon Troncoso got the DBacks in the eighth, but that was with the aid of Ethier's fantastic catch at the wall. Jonathan Broxton worked around a single and stolen base by Upton for his 30th save.
Back to Padilla, and he put together the type of outing he needed to stay starting. He went 5 and 1/3 innings, four hits, one run, two walks, and five strikeouts. He was well on his way to a win had Elbert not given it right back. Joe Torre said the other day that he'd go with a six man rotation with Jon Garland coming in if he had to, and I doubt he'd change his mind about that after last night.
Jim Thome will be in town Wednesday night, as he'll put on the Dodger blue, no doubt looking a little strange in the process. But I'm not complaining. You've got to think Torre will use him at some point, so it will be interesting to see when. If he can be what Matt Stairs is to the Phillies, then it's a great move.
Chad Billingsley will get the call tonight in the third game of a four-game set. He's lost two straight, and is coming off a tough one in Cincinnati. He'll look for his 13th win tonight.
No comments:
Post a Comment