One blown lead deserves another

Well, assuming the outcome is the same each time, the Dodger skipper will take it.  "This was a real good game for us," proclaimed Grady Little.  "To be able to come back and win one like that, that nearly slipped away." Good enough that he considers it the biggest win of 2007?  "Oh, by far.  It means a lot.  It says a lot for our ball club and it says to them internally, to that they can do that."  When I asked if the offensive onslaught meant even more given both the recent bat struggles and the timeliness, Little smiled.  "I took a glimpse of an article before the game that talked about (how) there were two teams going at each other this weekend that been struggling a little bit offensively.  Those two teams scored 11 runs in about thirty minutes out there, so I don't know what tomorrow will bring."

"We've been awfully good in that bullpen all season long.  We had to expect that would happen to a guy like Broxton every once in a while.  That's gonna happen to Joe every once in a while.  Tonight was just one of those nights.  We were just fortunate we were able to put some hits together."  And because Little expected one of these nights every blue moon, he managed not to blink too much as things were unraveling.  "I wouldn't say I was stunned.  I realize it was going to happen.  It's just gonna happen.  I tried to joke with Brox as he was leaving the mound.  I told him, "I didn't think you were going to go the whole season without something like this happening to you."  And for that matter, the inning's oddities weren't hard to see coming, since they came out cockeyed from the jump, what with the lefty Beimel giving up the rare hit to a lefty batter (Jacque Jones).  "And then it just started snowballing from that point."

Thankfully, the slushy frozen water stopped rolling before it was too late.  "It was just that inning," shrugged Beimel.  "Derek pitched great.  It wasn't like they were hitting the ball well all night.  They were just hot for that one inning."  Beimel agreed with my assessment that the collapse starting feeling surreal after a while.  "Especially when you've got Broxton in there, who's been so dominating.  I played with him the last two years and just watched the things he's done.  Just to see something like that makes you realize he's a little more human than you think and he's gonna give up runs now and then.  We all are."  Fortunately, coming out with the "W" makes it a little easier to bounce back and focus not on getting mad, but even.  "As a bullpen, I think we're gonna be a little hungry tomorrow to get back out there and throw up some zeroes."

-AK