Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Collapse Aborted (for the moment). Dodgers defeat Pirates 4-3 in 12 innings.



As I wipe the sweat off of my brow, I can breathe easier for the moment. The Dodgers somehow survived a super scare in the city of Pittsburgh against the Buckos to stay 4 in front of the Snakes. If Giant Cy Young frontrunner Tim Lincecum can bare down and win his 18th in a hostile ballpark, then our boys will have an overwhelming 5 game lead with a mere 9 to play, 6 of them at Chavez Ravine. Our magic number at the moment is 7, which could be 6 by the end of the evening. If that happens, then I think you can begin counting the outs to a Western division title.

The game had everything that's for sure. The Dodgers fell behind early as Clayton Kershaw gave up an early run, but then really got into a grove. He was taken out early, in my opinion, after throwing only 86 pitches and the Dodgers leading 2 to 1. Torre opted to bring in Takashi "Sammy" Saito early and that did not go well with the recently reactivated pitcher giving up the tying run and making it 2-2. The Dodgers retook the lead 3-2, but Later Torre went to reliever Cory Wade and the normally efficient pitcher coughed up the tying run to the former Dodger Andy Laroche, who was sent to the Pirates in the three way deal that brought us Dreadlocks. Laroche was hitting a mere .156 as a pirate but delivered the lethal blow with two strikes and two outs. The game went into extras and the clutch hitting James Loney delivered the game winner in the top of the 12th with a nervous and rather shaky Jonathan Broxton nailing down the save.

One of the signature moments of the game was when Matt Kemp decided to try and steal third base with runners on first and second and two outs. The wretched pinch hitting "specialist" Mark Sweeney came up to pinch hit for Angel Berroa in the 8 hole and Kemp made an inadvised attempt to steal third and was thrown out from here to the Allegheny, the Mohonga and the Poughkeepsie preventing Sweeney from swinging the bat at all, disqualifying him from the game and negating a double switch with the pitchers spot coming up for the third out. It was one of the most breathtaking plays of the year for its sheer audacity of ignorance. But hey, if I was on second base and Mark Sweeney was up at the plate, I would try to steal home, bonheaded or not.

And so, Dodger Tony and the rest of Dodgerland can breathe easier for at least a day. That is until we begin our annual rite of passage with the hated ones from the bay area for three here, followed by a brief respit with the Padres at home, and then onto SF for the last three, hopefully, meaningless games.

8 Comments:

Blogger JamieB. said...

Typical Tony,

Quit acting like such a queen when your team loses one game. It's baseball, it happens. The Dodgers are completely in the driver's seat.

Your friend,

Jamie B.

3:33 PM  
Blogger Tony Forkush said...

I'm a pussy fussy.

7:37 PM  
Blogger Michael Pascoe said...

Magic number stays at seven. We don't have to look at Arizona anymore, but it helps if they can lose a few so we can close this thing out. But, the Diamondbacks have their pride and so does the pesky Giants. They will not go away easily as they did their best to play spoiler against the Snakes.

Boy, would they love to sweep us in the next two weeks. Would that make their season or what?

10:32 AM  
Blogger Michael Pascoe said...

P.S. Nice to have you back Dodger Tony.

10:32 AM  
Blogger Michael Pascoe said...

Ever one knows that the Dodgers magic number is five. But what is not publicized is that the Diamondbacks magic number is 11.

It would not have to be an infamous Dodger collapse to make this happen. If the Dodgers go four out of seven, which is still good, Arizona can run the table and win nine in a row, (last nights game was a win so their last eight games will be a nine game winning streak) or seven of their last eight and they will win.

If on the other hand all the Blue Crew needs to do is win five out of their last seven games and they are Western Division Champs. It doesn't matter what Arizona does. They can end the season with a nine game winning streak and it's curtains for them (sorry, but I am in a Vin Scully kind of mood).

12:33 PM  
Blogger Michael Pascoe said...

The Magic Number for Arizona is eight while the Dodgers stay at five. If the Diamondbacks run the table and the Dodgers only a respectible four of six, they will be out. They have to take care of business tonight. Put pressure on the Snakes.

7:44 AM  
Blogger Michael Pascoe said...

Congradulations Dodger Tony!!! What a ride. I don’t want to jinx anything, but it feels great just being in the playoffs. You can’t be angry anymore no matter what happens from here in out. Yes, winning the World Series would be a great way to celebrate 50 great years in L.A. But, this is a young team. Torre will have them playing well for years to come.

2:36 PM  
Blogger Tony Forkush said...

Thank you Dodger Michael! What a fantastic, but really weird, feeling right now. What a strange way to clinch. But everything this team does is strange.
I will write a more comprehensive piece later. But for now:

WOOHOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

3:38 PM  

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