Ethier’s 2-run HR in 13th lifts Dodgers
June 30, 2009
LOS ANGELES (AP)—Andre Ethier(notes) and the Los Angeles Dodgers are making a habitof fantastic finishes.
Ethier’s two-run homer in the 13th gave the Dodgers a 4-2 victory over theColorado Rockies on Monday night in the opener of a suddenly significant seriesbetween NL West teams.
It was Ethier’s fourth walk-off hit this season and the 14th time theDodgers have won in their final at-bat. They improved the best record in themajors to 49-28.
“I can’t believe we did it again,” said Ethier, who hit three home runslast Friday against Seattle. “I’m just enjoying it and having fun.”
The Dodgers left the potential go-ahead run in scoring position five timesin a span of six innings starting with the seventh. Juan Pierre(notes) stole a base inthree different innings during that stretch, but they couldn’t cash in untilEthier came through with the team’s ninth walk-off hit of the season.
“It was a taxing night,” manager Joe Torre said. “Juan Pierre tried to doit himself. He was just trying to will himself around the bases. We had someugly swings out there, but you have to give them credit. Their bullpen was asgood as our bullpen.”
Series at a Glance Colorado 2 LA Dodgers 4 Mon, Jun 29 – Final 13th Colorado at LA Dodgers Tue, Jun 30 – 10:10 pm ET Colorado at LA Dodgers Wed, Jul 1 – 3:10 pm ET
Rockies closer Huston Street(notes) wasn’t available to pitch, having saved allthree victories at Oakland last weekend, so manager Jim Tracy had to scramblefor the right combination out of the bullpen.
Joel Peralta(notes), the sixth Colorado pitcher, began his third inning of work bygiving up a single to Casey Blake(notes) in the 13th. The next batter was Ethier, whodrove the right-hander’s 39th pitch to right field on a 1-2 count for histeam-high 15th homer and 14th at home.
“Knowing that Huston was down and that they were trying to stay away fromhim, I just tried to go as long as I could to give the team a chance to win theballgame,” Peralta said. “It’s not something I haven’t done before. When Icame out after my second inning, they asked me how I felt and I told them I feltgood.”
Peralta (0-1) had made 11 straight scoreless appearances since May 25against the Dodgers at Coors Field, when he gave up an RBI single to RussellMartin(notes).
“To me, it was the perfect pitch to throw in that situation, becausenormally I get ground balls or a swing and a miss with it—like I did the firsttwo innings,” Peralta said. “The pitch was supposed to be better than that, alittle bit lower. But it was right in the middle of the plate, he got out infront of it and put a good swing on it.”
Los Angeles Dodgers' Andre… AP – Jun 30, 2:37 am EDT
James McDonald(notes) (2-1), the eighth Dodgers pitcher, struck out two in aperfect inning for the win. Los Angeles improved to 9-1 against Colorado thisseason. The Rockies remained the only team in the majors without an extra-inningvictory, dropping to 0-4.
The Dodgers had a 14-game lead over Colorado at one point, but it had shrunkto 7 1/2 going into Monday night thanks to a 20-3 Rockies surge.
Jeff Weaver(notes) came on in the 10th for the Dodgers, and Ryan Spilborghs(notes)—whohomered earlier against Randy Wolf(notes)—greeted him with a leadoff double beforeadvancing to third on Chris Iannetta’s(notes) single to left. But the right-handerstruck out the next three batters, including Dexter Fowler(notes) and Clint Barmes(notes) withrunners at second and third.
The Dodgers, coming off consecutive losses to Seattle in their finalinterleague series, are the only team in the majors that hasn’t lost three arow. The last time that happened was Aug. 29, when they dropped their eighthstraight before winning the next eight.
Wolf gave up two runs and four hits over six innings, including Spilborghs’sixth homer and first since June 4. The left-hander has allowed 15 home runs in102 1-3 innings.
Wolf tied it at 2 with a two-out, two-run single in the fifth after a balkby Rockies starter Ubaldo Jimenez(notes) advanced two runners.
Jimenez yielded five hits over seven innings. The right-hander lost hisprevious three starts against the Dodgers this season, allowing 17 earned runs,24 hits and 10 walks in 15 innings, after going 4-0 in his first six startsagainst them. His lifetime ERA against Los Angeles is 6.31.
NOTES: Dodgers closer Jonathan Broxton(notes), pitching for the first time in sixdays, struck out the side in the ninth. … Wolf’s no-decision was his 11th in17 starts this season. … Wolf is 3 for 30 at the plate with five RBIs. …Blake turned Garrett Atkins’(notes) line drive to third base into an inning-endingdouble play in the fourth, diving to the bag to tag it just before Fowler couldscramble back.
