On Walkoff Victories

Normally I wouldn't advocate that sort of walkoff victory celebration that the Dodgers showed after beating the lowly Nationals last night. I mean, they are the Nationals; they're a team we are supposed to beat. It should never have gotten to extra innings to take out Livan Hernandez and crew.

But with the team spiralling downward as it has, this walkoff victory may mean more than normal. Not only did we gain a game on all the NL West teams we are chasing, it served almost as redemption for a struggling offense wanting to show its appreciation for another gritty pitching performance, especially from starter Hiroki Kuroda and closer Jonathan Broxton. James Loney, who had struggled of late (hitless in his last nine AB entering this game, went 2-for-4 including the game-winning hit. And let's not forget Matt Kemp, largely a disappointment this year (though he is tied for the team HR lead), whose base-running gaffes are usually costly. As Tony Jackson pointed out, Kemp's smart base-running to stand on first base after his grand-slam-turned-sacrifice-fly, caused Adam Kennedy to throw to an unmanned first base and allowed us to tie the game.

More importantly, this walkoff victory represented one of the first times that the newly-configured Dodgers, with Ted Lilly, Ryan Theriot, and Scott Podsednik, could celebrate along with their new team. There hadn't been that much to celebrate since they all got here (and not like these dramatics, that's for sure), but hopefully there will be many more opportunities for them to celebrate on the field together like that again. And soon.