Sunday, April 8, 2012

The New Flash Gordon saves the day

If Dee Gordon needed a coming out party, Saturday night was it.

The son of former big league star Tom "Flash" Gordon had three hits and three stolen bases, including the go-ahead RBI single in the 11th to lift the Dodgers over the Padres, 6-5. The win gives the Dodgers a major league-best 3-0 record.

Hey, it's good to be on top of the world, no matter how short it may last.

This game was certainly looking like a laugher early on, as the Dodgers built up a 5-0 lead against a hapless-looking Padres team. It started in the first when Gordon singled leading off, and then swiped second for his first of the season. A groundout by Mark Ellis sent him to third, and Matt Kemp's sac-fly RBI made it 1-0.

The lead was stretched to 4-0 in the third. It all began with two outs, and once again with Gordon reaching base, this time via walk, and then stealing second. Ellis drew a walk, which was a huge mistake by Dustin Moseley considering the mighty Kemp came up next. Kemp delivered with an RBI single.

Andre Ethier has also been red hot to start the season, and he laced a two-run double to grab a four-run lead.

A.J. Ellis has played every inning thus far, and he got in on the fun with his third career homer in the fourth. Through three games this year, he's hitting .333 in the #8 hole. After all the time he's been sent up and down, it's great to see.

The game had all the signs of being a blowout... until the Dodgers decided to Run DMC the Padres back into the game. In one of the crazier innings I can remember, the Padres got all five runs back in the fifth by sending 10 men to the plate... and collecting only two hits. That's right - five runs on two hits.

You might be wondering how that's possible, and if your answer was "walks," then you're right. Chris Capuano had only surrendered one hit and one walk at this point, but he completely fell apart. The bases became loaded with two outs on a single by Jason Bartlett, and walks by Kyle Blanks and Chris Denorfia.

What came next was some of the ugliest pitching you'll ever see. Three straight runs came in on walks by Chase Headley, Jesus Guzman, and Nick Hundley. The later two were courtesy of reliever Jamey Wright, who literally threw every pitch out of the strike zone. If he was trying to pitch his way out of town once Ted Lilly comes off the DL, he did a great job.

Scott Elbert came in, and the Padres immediately scored again on a wild pitch. After Yonder Alonso was beaned to load the bases again, Orlando Hudson singled in the tying run, but Hundley was caught in a rundown to mercifully end the painful inning.

I will say this - I didn't think the Dodgers had much of a chance to win at this point, mainly because the momentum had completely changed sides. But give them credit, they kept plugging away and eventually found a way to win.

In the 11th, Ellis singled leading off to begin the rally. Justin Sellers got his first at-bat of the season, and it was a productive one with a sacrifice bunt. Juan Rivera popped up for two down. It was all up to Gordon, and his liner into right proved to be the game winner.

It's a shame Capuano couldn't stay around long enough to get the win, but he really was his own worst enemy with the walks. In fact, 10 walks were issued by the Dodgers, and one more free pass from a beaning. I'm not sure why they were scared to pitch to these guys considering... well, considering they're the Padres.

Anyway, Capuano went 4 2/3 innings for two hits, four runs, five walks, and four strikeouts. Wright was terrible with eight straight balls, but the rest of the bullpen combined to shut it down the rest of the way: Elbert, Mike MacDougal, Matt Guerrier, Kenley Jansen, Todd Coffee (for the win), and Javy Guerra (for his second save).

The top and bottom of the order got the job done, as Gordon and Ellis teamed up for five hits, four walks, a homer, a double, two RBIs, and three stolen bases. That's refreshing to see since the Dodgers can't always rely on Kemp and Ethier to get all the big hits.

Right now the Dodgers have a golden chance to get a sweep and come home 4-0. Here's an interesting stat: the last time they won their opening four games was 1981. Does that year ring a bell for anyone? You got it, World Series champs. Old Padre Aaron Harang will look to get it done against Clayton Richard.

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