In a tense matinee game at Coors Field, the Dodgers walked a tightrope but held off the Rockies to win the game, win the series, crush the Rockies, and push our NL West divisional lead back to four whole games. Vicente Padilla gave just enough in his Dodgers debut to get the win (5.0 IP, 6H, 2 ER), and Joe Torre used his arsenal of arms (Hong-Chih Kuo, Ramon Troncoso, George Sherrill, and Big Jonathan Broxton) to ice the Rockies over the last four innings, allowing the Dodgers' three runs (a Matt Kemp two-run HR in the first, and a Rafael Furcal single to plate Orlando Hudson in the sixth) to hold up for the win.
The Dodgers left 11 on base, with 0-fers from Andre Ethier, Brad Ausmus, and Casey Blake, and had a number of opportunities squelched and leadoff batters fail to score. But the outstanding performance of our relief corps, as well as the unconventional approach to using them today (i.e., pitching changes were made when situations dictated it, not when innings provided breakpoints), led to a tense but satisfying outcome for the good guys. Broxton's 100+ mph heat in the ninth inning was absolutely terrifying to behold. I love it.
Off we go to Cincinnati for a weekend series, while Colorado goes on to fight Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain this weekend in San Francisco. Everybody exhale! (And then drink.)
32 comments:
Definitely great job with the bullpen I think.
Agreed, fanerman. All four of those guys, plus Torre, deserve some mad props today.
61% of us correctly predicted that we would win 2 of 3 from the Rockies.
yeah we're fine. the media just loves to hype things when it gets interesting and then they look all disappointed when the dodgers win.
great pitched game. offense is still struggling, but maybe the Reds/Backs/Pads/Backs wake them up
I was a 2-for-3'er. Due to my masterful insight, of course.
Bring on dis Reds shit and let's get some distance.
i dont care what anybody says or who colorado is throwing out there.
they're not beating Lince and Cain. actually, they might get swept if Zito is decent.
Giants arent as dead as they looked a few days ago.
we better murder the reds
I can't rightly claim to have picked 2 of 3, I had a sense of foreboding about this series.
I'm very glad it was unfounded.
Don't you guys always have a sense of foreboding?
It's called a defense mechanism.
Furcal should also look into a defense mechanism.
And an offense one, too.
When did these threads become all about how much the Dodgers suck? Or at least fifty percent of the players on the team. Where is the faith?
I just said I was a win 2-for-3'er. That's having faith.
@fanerman, LF
I'm with Dusty, it's definitely a defense mechanism, and as mentioned in the "airing of grievances" thread yesterday, I don't do very well with moderation.
I know I've posted the pessimist's credo before, but it bears repeating.
Most of the things I worry about never happen.
It must be working.
Yes, it's ridiculous. I can't speak for everyone, but your patience with my own neuroses is appreciated.
from MLBTR: Rich Harden claimed off waivers. My Spidey sense is tingling.
Uh, oh. HLACK is tingling again!
I not only want to see Broxton's mow-down 9th inning, but also want to see Kemp's towering HR that I'm sure Vin is still describing as he gets ready to fly home.
eh, i hope your senses are off kilter
he'd cost a ton, only good for 6 innings max, free agent after the season, super injury prone
Finally done. That was the slowest talking Judge ever.
I picked 2 out of 3 but was really doubtful after that first loss.
The pitching has been incredible the past month without a big trade for an ACE. I want to see all the ESPN Articles and Fox News exclusives about that story.
@ Paul
Hold your breath while the East Coast baseball news establishment prepared its page one blockbuster articles and lead stories about the Dodgers' pitching management down the stretch.
skip bayless on espn goes "wolf has been there best pitcher lately and thats not a good thing"
gee, i didnt know 4-0 with an under 2 ERA was a bad thing
JL-
And he left out Wolf's offensive explosion, too!
OK, I picked 2 out of 3 as well (in our favor), but as a Dodger fan of over 40 years (I started in the womb. . .almost), I also know the late-season collapse well. We Dodger fans love our team but can't help the feeling that somewhere, there's another shoe that's about to drop.
On to the Natti and let the Rox take their lumps in the municipality by the body of water where they throw batteries at players they don't like.
drinking now!
working on a half litre of Okocim Mocne, some kind of polish malt liquor with a picture of a goat on the label...
"some kind of polish malt liquor with a picture of a goat on the label"
You are my hero. It could be nectar or swill, but whatever it is, it has a picture of a goat and sounds like the Polish Colt 45. Cant' go wrong with that!
It's beer-thirty! Time to enjoy somewhere between 0 and 4 of Germany's finest (beer, that is).
Damn, it's beer-forty five and I'm still stuck at work.
Can't imagine why since I've been nose to the grindstone all day long *eye roll*
@db
Ain't it a bitch when you have to actually *finish* your work? I didn't have the luxury of blowing things off for the day game, so I got only bits and pieces.
On the other hand, I'm going the hell home, so 6 : .5 dozen.
There's this whole "finish your work" theory out there that I find fascinating; I don't agree with it, but it does give me pause.
This was a huge series. We're going to roll in Cincy at the Great American BallPark.
This is the second time where the Rox have been on a roll coming into the series and we had been struggling and we shut them down.
This feels great.
The Dodgers are done for the day, but I didn't want to close the bar, so there's a new GT up top for the AZ @ SF game. Enjoy!
Would I be saddened if the Dodgers got Jim Tracy fired? I'm not sure.
Was I saddened when Clint Hurdle got fired? No.
Are either of those men related to me? Certainly not.
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