LA Dodgers finally beat defending NL Champion Colorado in 13 innings (4/08)
In a marathon game at Dodger Stadium, The LA team finally outlasted the Colorado Rockies on April 25, 08 in a game that started Friday night but ended Saturday morning. Both teams had excellent chances to end it earlier but couldn’t capitalize. This up and down game went from a 4-1 Rockies lead in the top of the 3rd to a 2 run deficit by time the Dodgers finished the inning. The home team led in the 7th by 2 runs but the lead was cut to one entering the 9th inning. Enter star reliever Takashi Saito. The Rockies had a great chance to take the lead as Scott Posednik had a key double to put pinch runner Willie Tavares at 3rd with nobody out. That crazy play not only had the Rockies knocking at the door to victory but also knocked out Nomar Garciaparra with a calf injury while attempting to catch Posednik’s hit. LA was out of position players so they had to move all star Russell Martin to 3rd base and bring in backup catcher Gary Bennett who didn’t make a good impression. Bennett misplayed a pitch for a passed ball and now the score was tied with Tullowitzki, Helton and Holliday to put them in front. After Tullowitzki popped out to short center, manager Joe Torre (below) decided to intentionally walk Helton to pitch to their best hitter Holiday. It paid off as Holiday grounded into an inning ending double play. They didn’t pay Torre all that money for nothing.
Martin (pictured above) was the offensive star of the game going 4-4 and had reached base 18 of his last 24 plate appearances, which is incredible. He also singled in the winning run in the bottom of the 13th as Bennett redeemed himself by singling Matt Kemp to 3rd base in the same inning, which set the stage for Martin.
Another loss was Andrew Jones (pictured above striking out) who had to come out of the game with a calf injury. He is day to day and has been struggling while Garciaparra will most likely go on the DL. Chan Ho Park pitched 3 scoreless innings to get the win. New Japanese pitcher Hiroki Kuroda (also pictured above) was not too effective for LA as he is still trying to get accustomed to the new environment. The Dodgers still trail Arizona but are confident to make a run at them. The Dodgers best hitter this year has been Rafael Furcal (pictured below) as he has been a main catalyst for the team. The Rockies are led by Matt Holiday (also pictured below who was the runner up in the MVP voting last year).
More info, tickets and schedule at www.losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com