The Dodgers got a much-needed clutch hit on Saturday, as James Loney's bases loaded single in the 10th inning gave them the win over the Nationals, 3-2. With the Padres losing, the Dodgers are now seven games back in the NL West.
Judging by the first inning, you would think the Dodgers would have rolled over and played dead yet again. With Hiroki Kuroda on the mound, Roger Bernadina walked leading off. Iam Desmond followed with a foul out to first. Ryan Zimmerman then stepped up and took a low pitch out to center for the quick 2-0 lead.
The Dodgers responded by going down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the frame. A long night at Dodger Stadium looked to be on tap.
Kuorda, however, wouldn't let that happen as he settled down quite nicely. He actually gave up a couple of singles to Pudge Rodriguez and Adam Kennedy in the second, but got the final two outs of the inning to prevent anymore damage.
With Kuroda now locked it, the Dodgers got on the board thanks to a very strange sequence in the fourth. Ryan Theriot hit a single with one out, something he's become quite good at. Andre Ethier followed with a double, and Loney walked to load the bases for Matt Kemp.
Kemp has certainly gone through his fair amount of struggles, but he lifted a long fly to right. Looking like it could be a grand slam, Michael Morse erased that thought with a nice catch above the wall. Theriot tagged and scored, making it 2-1. Kennedy got the ball on the cutoff and threw to first to try and get Loney sneaking off the bag too far.
The only problem was that nobody was covering first, so it went to the fence, allowing Ethier to score and tie the game at 2-2. It was dumb luck (and a dumb throw), but the Dodgers will take any sort of run they can get at this point.
The Dodgers had a chance to get more runs, but as has plagued them terribly lately, they couldn't deliver with men on. In the sixth, Loney hit a ground rule double to right with two outs. Kemp was given the intentional walk to get to Casey Blake, who drew a walk himself. Jamey Carroll grounded into a fielder's choice to end the inning.
Kuroda checked out after the seventh, as he retired 17 men straight to end his night. Overall, he gave up three hits, two runs, one walk, and eight strikeouts. He didn't get the win, though he very much deserved it. It was good to see him battle back from a rough first inning.
Hong-Chih Kuo came on in the eighth, and had to wiggle out of some trouble. The bases got loaded with two outs on a single by Kevin Mench, a bunt single by Bernadina, and a walk to Zimmerman. Adam Dunn absolutely killed the Dodgers on Friday, but he popped up this time, all part of his 0-for-4 night.
Next up was Jonathan Broxton, who got a double play ball from Morse to easily get out of the ninth. After the Dodgers went down in order to put the game into extras, Blake's error let Alberto Gonzalez reach, and Broxton walked pinch-hitter Willie Harris get bring up Zimmerman. In a big spot, Broxton got Zimmerman swinging.
The Dodgers quickly went to work on Sean Burnett. Ronnie Belliard pinch-hit and walked, and Scott Podsednik singled for runners on the corners. Nationals skipper Jim Riggleman brought in five infielders to face Theriot, and it worked as he grounded out. Ethier was given the intentional pass to face Loney. Loney lined one just inside the right field line to end the game.
True, the Nationals are not a contender and not a very good team, even if they're not as awful as they used to be. But it doesn't matter how the Dodgers win or who they beat anymore - they need all the positive vibes they can get.
It's not like all of their offensive woes were solved, because they left nine men on and went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position. That one hit, however, was Loney's game-winning single. He hit cleanup against the righty Livan Hernandez and went 2-for-4 with a double and RBI. Not huge slugger numbers, but better than watching Kemp go 0-for-everything.
The goal for Sunday is to get the win to take two of three from this series. Their series record since the All-Star break is 1-4-1, with the lone win over the Mets. With a tough road schedule coming up next against the Phillies and Braves, the Dodgers need to win the winnable games.
Ted Lilly was brilliant in his first start with the Dodgers, and he'll look to repeat that performance today.
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