In the end, the Dodgers weren't eliminated from the playoffs because of the Cardinals. They did it all to themselves.
With a runner on second and two outs in the ninth, Mark Ellis' sinking fly ball to center was caught by Angel Pagan, ending both the game and the playoff chances for the Dodgers, 4-3. The six-game winning streak coming into this game was history as well.
History... something the Dodgers will keep adding to in a negative way. As in, 24 years since that magical 1988 World Series championship. Another year added to the tally.
There was plenty of reason for optimism as Chris Capuano toed the rubber to begin this game. The Reds were on their way to taking care of the Cardinals, holding onto a 3-1 win. The magic number for the Cards remained at one, and the Dodgers stayed alive to fight another day.
After both teams went down in order to start the game, it was Buster Posey who once again imposed his will. Leading off the second, he crushed a long solo homer to center, putting the Giants up 1-0. I'm not sure what the point was of even pitching to a guy who is clearly their top hitter, but Capuano wanted to challenge him, and he got burnt.
The Dodgers did get that run back in the bottom half. Hanley Ramirez took a one-out pitch down the right field line for a triple. Luis Cruz got him home on an RBI groundout, and it was 1-1. Andre Ethier doubled, so A.J. Ellis was given an intentional walk to pitch to Capuano, who struck out.
Just like the last inning, the Giants started the third with a boom. This time it was Joaquin Arias who belted a long shot leading off, making it 2-1. Pagan and Marco Scutaro singled with an out, and just as Capuano was on the ropes, he got a big double play ball from Pablo Sandoval to escape more trouble.
Capuano was soon chased in the fourth, as Don Mattingly clearly wasn't messing around with his starter. Posey singled to start, which brought a hook for Caps, and an opportunity for Jamey Wright to keep the game manageable. He sure did, as Hunter Pence struck out on three pitches, and Xavier Nady grounded into a DP.
As the Dodgers were clearly pressing on offense against Barry Zito, the Giants added to their lead in the fifth. Once again, the leadoff hitter reached as Hector Sanchez singled. Arias grounded out, but Sanchez went to second on an error by Wright. Zito struck out for two down, and with Pagan due up, he was put on to pitch to Scutaro.
Who knows if the Dodgers knew this at the time, but the whole Dodgers' season pretty much came down to Scutaro's at-bat. And that's because Scutaro lined a two-run double into right to go up 4-1. That was bad enough, and made even worse because of the intentional walk to Pagan right before that. Donny Baseball gambled and lost.
The fifth and sixth brought chances for the Dodgers, but no results. In the fifth, Juan Rivera pinch-hit and singled, and Shane Victorino doubled with two outs. Matt Kemp had a horrible night by going 0-for-4 with three K's, and his only contact was here on a groundout back to the pitcher. Ouch.
The next inning, a double play from Cruz erased a leadoff single from Adrian Gonzalez.
The seventh, however, finally brought Dodger Stadium back to life. Zito's last pitch of the night came here when he beaned Ethier to start. Out he went, and in came Guillermo Mota. A.J. Ellis greeted him with a two-run homer to right center, just out of the reach of a leaping Pagan, and it was 4-3.
Now, the seventh was also an equally frustrating inning for the opportunity the Dodgers wasted. With one out, Mark Ellis doubled into center, and maybe forgetting that he's no longer 20-years-old, he tried to get to third and was gunned down with ease. That mental lapse was made even worse when Victorino stepped up and tripled next, only to be stranded by a Kemp strikeout.
Still, it was only a one-run game, and Kenley Jansen blew away the Giants in the eighth by striking out the side. The Dodgers couldn't do any better, but Brandon League kept the Giants in check again with a scoreless ninth.
The whole season came down to the bottom of the ninth, as Ethier greeted Jeremy Affeldt with a single. That brought in Sergio Romo, who got A.J. Ellis swining for the first out. Mattingly turned to Dee Gordon to run for Ethier, and to Bobby Abreu to hit for Elian Herrera.
Abreu ended up flying out to center for the second out, but Gordon kept the night alive by swiping second, his 32nd in only 86 games. Mark Ellis had a great chance to make up for his baserunning blunder a couple inning before, but flew out to end it all.
Obviously, this was a really tough way to end the season for the Dodgers. They went from red hot in April, to cooling off thanks to the injury bug, to making a few huge trades, to playing like crap with those players, to getting hot again at the end, to running out of time. That, in a nutshell, is the story of the 2012 Dodgers.
One constant of the winning streak was the starting pitching, but Capuano definitely did not add to that run. He lasted a mere three innings for five hits, two runs, no walks, and no strikeouts. He was on a short leash as it was, but to only last three innings is very disappointing. He just never got anything going.
The other big letdown was Kemp. He was as good a hitter as one could be for the last week, but on Tuesday, he flat out stunk. Three strikeouts and a dribbler back to the mound. I was shocked to see that happen, as I was very confident he could get to Zito. Obviously that didn't happen, and boy did the Dodgers pay because of it.
Of course, Gonzalez and his one single in four at-bats didn't exactly set the world on fire either. The 3-4 part of the order went 1-for-8 with no extra-base hits and four K's. It's a wonder how the Dodgers didn't get blown out.
I guess one of the only minor consolations from this game is that even with a win, the Dodgers still didn't control their own destiny, as the Cardinals had the one-game edge. Just losing that opportunity to put even more heat on them sucks enough, though.
Wednesday will be an afternoon start, as Clayton Kershaw will take the mound. This start has gone from a chance to pitch into next week to solely impressing the Cy Young voters. Man, I was really looking forward to a big game #162, and hopefully #163 on Thursday, but it wasn't meant to be. Sigh...
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