Spotted a 7-0 lead, the Dodgers did everything they possibly could to hold on. Fortunately for them, the Rockies missed the extra point after scoring a touchdown.
Thanks in large part to the great glove of Mark Ellis, the Dodgers held on to beat the Rockies on the road, 7-6. It was an ugly end to what looked like an easy W, but a win's a win, right? Exactly.
The offense was dominant early on, and once again they pounded on the opposition in the first. Dee Gordon, who has had all sorts of trouble getting on base lately, decided not to mess around anymore. He crushed a leadoff homer, which would be career #1 for him. He made it count too; that was a no-doubter all the way.
Ellis got the first of his four singles on the night next, and Matt Kemp also singled for runners on the corners. Andre Ethier then swatted a three-run shot to center for the 4-0 lead and to take the RBI lead from Kemp at 27.
The Dodgers would continue to scorch the ball early. The bases were loaded in the second, but James Loney lined out to end it. In the third, Tony Gwynn singled and stole second leading off. After an errant pickoff throw advanced him to third, A.J. Ellis hit an RBI double to push it to 5-0.
The Ellis behind the plate again got a big hit in the fifth. And again, it started with Gwynn, who doubled. An out later, Ellis hit his second homer of the season, a two-run shot, to put the lead to a comfortable 7-0.
Ted Lilly was rolling at this point, but had a hiccup in the sixth. Eric Young singled leading off, and one out later, Carlos Gonzalez got the Rockies on the board with a two-run homer, and it was now 7-2. Still, Lilly got Troy Tulowitzki looking and Todd Helton lining out to left to end the inning.
Things were definitely looking up for the Dodgers, but Josh Lindblom changed all of that. He's been fantastic this year, but not on Tuesday night. He relieved in the seventh and just got pounded. Two straight doubles by Ramon Hernandez and Chris Nelson with one out made it 7-3. Tyler Colvin pinch-hit, and he came through with a two-run shot, and just like that it was 7-5. Scott Elbert had to put out the fire to escape the inning.
The eighth wouldn't be a whole lot better, as Kemp was picked off to end the top of the inning. In the bottom of the inning, Kenley Jansen immediately watched Tulo rip a triple to right leading off. He scored on a sac-fly RBI by Helton, and it was now a one-run game. Jason Giambi pinch-hit and struck out to end the inning.
With the bullpen already shaken, Don Mattingly gave the ball over to Javy Guerra, who certainly has been through some shaky outings lately himself. He got Colvin swinging for one down. Wilin Rosario pinch-hit and singled, then went to second on a passed ball. In the play of the game, Mark Ellis made a diving stop on Marco Scutaro's grounder to stop the run from scoring. Gonzalez then struck out to end the game and give Guerra his eighth save, and first since April 20.
It was quite the dramatic way to end the game, as Ellis was just the guy to get the job done in the right spot. In one night alone, his 4-for-5 showing at the plate raised his average from .247 to .280. But, it was his glove that ultimately proved to be the difference, as who knows what would have happened had Scutaro's hit gone through to tie the game.
Lilly was again on target, as he went six innings for four hits, two runs, one walk, and four strikeouts. He only threw 79 pitches, but I can understand Mattingly turning the game over to Lindblom in the seventh. The Dodgers had a big lead, Lindblom had been on fire, and Lilly will have plenty of more starts left in him. Too bad it all almost blew up in everybody's faces, but thankfully the Dodgers held on.
Even though the Dodgers were ahead by a big margin early on, you almost got the feeling that something was still going to happen to make it a game again. And that something came in the seventh. I'll give them credit for at least winning this one, as there were definitely more than a few anxious moments late. But, like I said before, a win's a win, so they'll take 10 games over .500 already.
Wednesday afternoon will be the rubber match, as Clayton Kershaw will look to give the Dodgers another series victory. He'll look to match Lilly at 3-0.
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