Epic like 300
Minus all the CGI-created soldiers and 200 mil in box office receipts, but you get what we mean. A big time, 17 inning battle went down in the SD and when the smoke finally cleared, it revealed a 5-4 Dodger victory. The offensive gladiator for the Blue was the recently recruited Brady Clark, who doubled in Wilson Valdez for the game winning RBI in the top of the 17th. You could sense things were heading L.A.'s way even before Clark's fortuitous hit, since Valdez reached base after the throw to first that beat him got bricked. Of course, it was also a nice bit of luck that backup catcher Pete LaForest was playing first at the time.
As for the Battle of Bunker Hill (a fancy way of saying, "Action on the Pitcher's Mound'), Chad Billingsley was a young man playing the role of unflappable General preserving the work of his equally battle-worthy charges. The entire pen entered zeroes into the box score before Billinglsey closed the book on the skirmish, including Chin-hui Tsao, who's proving himself cool in the heat of battle. He's been giving up runs even less often than this happens. For that matter, Tsao's fellow late-inning trench warriors are all pretty much kicking ass and taking names.
After every Dodger takes a well deserved nap, they'll gear up for the first of a three-game series against the Snakes of 'Zona. Los Angeles will need Randy Wolf to both pitch well and at least his standard six innings, since his relievers are all pretty much toast. In other words, pitch better than his last outing. Of course, it's no treat facing Brandon Webb, even if he's not quite at last year's Cy Young form.
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i'm hoping Randy Wolf gives us atleast a solid 7. The Dodgers are gonna feel the affects of this game for about a week!.
Posted by: bluebleeder | April 30, 2007 at 09:23 AM
They've got a much needed day off on Thursday, so hopefully the starters can keep it together for 3 more games!
Posted by: Dodger Fan | April 30, 2007 at 11:12 AM
News alert! The Mets just placed Orlando Hernandez on the DL and called up Chan Ho Park from the minors. Park's ERA in AAA was 7.29. Hope LoPuca likes catching him.
Posted by: Chunkdog32 | April 30, 2007 at 11:22 AM
I know the Dodgers will be tired after the marathon, but they would be a whole lot more tired if they had lost. The relief pitching was outstanding. I hope it continues. Brady and Valdez really conributed to win with the chips. GO BLUE!!!!
Posted by: Package | April 30, 2007 at 12:16 PM
Package-
The other big thing could be that yesterday was a turnaround game for Billingsley. They needed him to come through, and he did. He was really aggressive, especially in the 16th.
And you're right- the only thing more tiring than a 17 inning game is a 17 inning game that's lost.
BK
Posted by: Brian Kamenetzky | April 30, 2007 at 12:30 PM
BK,
I thought the Billingsley outing was the highlight. I know Clark and Valdez came through in the clutch but you could argue they had other chances to get it done earlier. Bills knew he was it and there was no safety net! He did outstanding. He went after every hitter and never got flustered. He deserves a game ball.
Butch
Posted by: Butch | April 30, 2007 at 12:56 PM
A hot Giants team came into town last week riding a five game winning streak and swept the Dodgers in three games in LA. Luckily, the Dodgers managed to hang onto first place.
This week, the streaking Diamondbacks come into town riding a five game winning streak, but this time, the Dodgers are only 1/2 game up on Arizona, so anything short of a series win will mean 2nd place for the Blue.
Let's hope the Dodgers have snapped out of last week's funk, and the game yesterday didn't take too much energy away from the team. Despite the day off on Thursday, flying out East for seven games against the Braves and Marlins will be a rough road trip.
Posted by: Makoto Ueno | April 30, 2007 at 01:29 PM
I hesitate to say that anyone has 'turned the corner', since that's just asking for a letdown, but by the sounds of it, if any Dodger did right himself, it has to be Billingsley. Holding onto a one run lead in extra, extra innings on the road is a huge accomplishment for any pitcher, and I'm glad Billz was able to get it done.
A close second on the pitching staff has to be Tomko. The results don't show it, but he is pitching with more confidence recently, and he's been able to keep his bad innings to a minimum.
Posted by: Makoto Ueno | April 30, 2007 at 01:34 PM
makoto ueno "A close second on the pitching staff has to be Tomko. The results don't show it, but he is pitching with more confidence recently, and he's been able to keep his bad innings to a minimum."
He had a good april & may last year also so don't hold your breath on him. But i'm also happy he's kept us in games.
Posted by: bluebleeder | April 30, 2007 at 02:16 PM
Bluebleeder,
What you say is true, but he was prone to panic as recently as his second start of the season, when his modest scoreless innings streak was broken by Arizona in the early innings. In his last couple of starts, Tomko got into some trouble and let in runs, but he's been able to settle down and he really hasn't been run out of a game yet. With a few more supporting runs, he could easily have a couple of wins under his belt.
Posted by: Makoto Ueno | April 30, 2007 at 03:07 PM
Sorry, I'm not sold on Bombko. He may seem to be pitching well, but he did that last year in April-May. I know it can be deceiving, but how many victories does he have?
Posted by: Chunkdog32 | April 30, 2007 at 03:11 PM
BK/Butch
I felt that you could almost see the confidence building in Billingsley, his control seemed much better and he was really firing that baseball.
Mak
I also think it is a bit early to say Billz is around the corner but I guess it was just a feeling I had, but he sure looked good. Its nice to have him around, just in case!!
Posted by: Package | April 30, 2007 at 03:54 PM