Before Randy Wolf could even blink, he found himself in a worst-case scenario: bases loaded, nobody out, and Game 1 of the Division Series against the Cardinals looking to be a disaster.
Fortunately for him, he only surrendered one run. And fortunately for the Dodgers, Matt Kemp put the Dodgers ahead to stay in no time.
Kemp cranked a pitch right down the heart of the plate for a two-run homer in the bottom of the first off of Chris Carpenter, and the Dodgers found ways to hang on all game as took the win, 5-3.
It certainly wasn't looking good in the first, as Skip Schumaker walked and Brendan Ryan hit a ground rule double to left. Joe Torre didn't even hesitate to put four fingers up and walk Albert Pujols to get to Matt Holliday. It worked, as Holliday struck out looking.
The Cardinals did manage one run, though it probably shouldn't have happened. Ryan Ludwick blooped one into center that Ronnie Belliard tried to make a backwards catch on. He missed, though Kemp should have called him off and made the play himself. Belliard made up for it by starting a sweet double play off of Yadier Molina to end it.
The Dodgers were fortunate to only be down one, and Rafael Furcal added to the momentum with a single leading off. That's when Kemp crushed one out to center for the 2-1 lead. After driving in only one run in eight games last postseason, it was great to see him get off to such a great start this time around.
What followed the first inning was basically a collection of a lot of hits, shaky pitching, yet even shakier hitting with runners in scoring position. Believe it or not, both teams combined to leave an amazing 30 men on base, far surpassing the previous record of 22 for the Division Series back in 1995. It was just one of those nights.
In the third, the Dodgers increased their lead a bit. Andre Ethier was hit in the foot to lead off, and Manny Ramirez drew a walk. Casey Blake hit an RBI single, making it 3-1. A walk to Russell Martin loaded the bases with two outs, but Wolf popped up.
Wolf gave one back in the fourth, as that would ultimately be his last inning. A walk to the eighth hitter Colby Rasmus set up an RBI double from Schumaker, and it was 3-2. An intentional walk to Pujols again gave Holliday a chance, only this time Wolf beaned him.
That was it for Wolf, as Torre called on Jeff Weaver to get the final out. It sure was a close one, as Ludwick just barely missed a surefire three-run hit down the left field line, landing foul. Ludwick then bounced back to the mound to end it. Talk about baseball being a game of inches.
The Dodgers tacked on a couple more in the fifth and sixth. Belliard singled, Martin walked, and Juan Pierre sacrificed them both over. In a tough at-bat against Carpenter, Raffy eventually hit a sac-fly RBI to right to make it 4-2.
The sixth was another wild inning, which saw the Dodgers again threatened to break the game open. Martin got the only RBI, as he was beaned with the bases juiced to make it 5-2. Jim Thome had a chance for a big hit, but struck out.
After Ronald Belisario got the first 1-2-3 inning of the night for either side in the sixth, the Dodgers turned to Hong-Chih Kuo, George Sherrill, and Jonathan Broxton to close it out. And that's exactly what happened.
Kuo did give up a couple of two-out singles, but struck out pinch-hitter Troy Glaus to end the threat. Sherrill got two outs, beaned Schumaker, then Broxton was fortunately able to get Pujols to ground out to close the eighth. Broxton gave up an RBI double by Mark DeRosa in the ninth, but struck out Rick Ankiel for the game's final out.
It was quite an interesting ride, as the teams also combined to set a nine-inning Division Series record for length of game at 3 hours and 52 minutes. It seemed like each team had a reason to believe they could grab the lead each inning, only to strand runners over and over.
The Wolf-Carpenter matchup was supposed to be a pitcher's duel, but it was anything but that. Wolf lasted 3 and 2/3 innings for six hits, two runs, five walks, and two strikeouts. He was constantly behind hitters all night. Carpenter only went five innings for nine hits, four runs, four walks, and three strikeouts. It was shocking to see him get hit around so much.
At the end of the day, the Dodgers wanted a lead for their bullpen, and they did just that. They combined to only give up one run in 5 and 1/3 innings. Against hitters like the Cards, that's impressive.
Now the pressure is on the Cardinals to get one before leaving L.A. For the Dodgers, it's time to get greedy and want more than just a split. They've got their best pitcher of the second half of the season in Clayton Kershaw on the mound. The Cardinals counter with Adam Wainwright, who would be a Game 1 starter on so many other teams.
Kershaw can't be like Wolf and play with fire from the get-go. If he can get into a groove, then the Dodgers have to like their chances. After all, they hit Carpenter very well yesterday, why not Wainwright today? That's the attitude they have to take to be successful.
No comments:
Post a Comment