Dodgers 4 10 1
Padres 2 9 1
F/11
Hawksworth-WP (1-0)
Frieri-LP (0-1)
Broxton-S (4)
The previous night's suspended game started at the ending. We left off in the top of the 9th inning with no outs, and Kemp had just singled. Heath Bell took his place back on the mound and Uribe opens up by hitting into a double play. Loney and Xavier Paul both single before Big Rod grounds out to end the inning. Blake Hawksworth goes to work in the bottom of the ninth and pitches very well after allowing Bartlett to walk, he strikes out Orlando Hudson. Bartlett steals second, but Cantu then flies out to send the game into expected extra innings.
In the 10th, the Padres send in Ernesto Frieri. Tony Gwynn Jr. comes in to pitch hit and singles. Carroll bunts him over to second, Blake whiffs, then the Padres pull a head scratcher by intentionally walking Ethier to get to Kemp. Luckily for them he flies out. Hawksworth comes back in the bottom of the inning to strike out Headley and Mavin.
In the 11th inning Uribe leads off with a double, Loney fouls out, and then Aaron Miles is hit in the helmet by the pitch. He's okay, but it was a bit scary. The Padres then bring in the wild submarine pitcher Pat Neshek who proceeds to strike out Big Rod but then becomes increasingly wild. Gwynn singles in Uribe giving the Dodgers a 3-2 lead. A wild pitch with Carroll at the plate allows Miles to score, and the Dodgers add to their lead 4-2. Carroll walks and steals 2nd. Blake whiffs to end the inning.
Jonathan Broxton comes into close out the game and allows Hundley to single to lead off, but Denorfia then hits into a double play. Venable walks, and Bartlett hits a come backer to Brox to end the game and give the Dodgers the victory in game #1.
Broxton gets his 81st save and this ties him with Takashi Saito for 8th on the Dodgers franchise record list for most saves.
The Dodgers used 7 pitchers, and the Padres used 8.
And.....20 minutes later we go on to the regularly scheduled game.
Dodgers 4 13 0
Padres 0 6 1
Kuroda-WP (2-0)
Moseley-LP (0-2)
Broxton-S (5)
Ethier-HR (1)
"Kuroda Begins with K"~Vin Scully
Game #2 would be the continuation of Tony Gwynn Jr.'s homecoming victory dance and Matt Kemp's red hot streak. In the first inning Tony Gwynn, getting the start in left field, leads off with a double. Blake bunts Gwynn to third, and Ethier singles Gwynn home to give the Dodgers the early lead 1-0. Kemp hits into a force play, but then steals second slyly avoiding Orlando Hudson's tag by pulling his arm away (Davey Lopes has taught him well). Kemp then proceeds to steal third. Uribe, sigh, grounds out to end the inning. Kuroda, who in my opinion should be our #3 pitcher, begins the game with a 1-2-3 inning including a strikeout to Venable.
In the third, Blake walks, Ethier singles, but Kemp hits into a double play to end the inning. Kuroda has another dominating 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the third.
In the bottom of the 4th, Orlando Hudson gets the first base hit of the night off of Kuroda, but Kemp throws him out as he is attempting to tag up on a fly ball. Ouch! Kemp is really a thorn in O Dog's paw tonight.
In the 5th, Andre Ethier hits his first HR of the season, a solo shot, giving the Dodgers a 2-0 lead. Kemp legs out a single on a ball hit to Headley at 3rd. Denorfia commits an error in left field when he misjudges a hard hit ball by Uribe on the warning track allowing Kemp to score another run making it 3-0 Dodgers.
Kuroda once again impressively goes 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 5th & 6th.
Moseley ends up going 6 innings, allowing 8 hits, 3 runs, 3 walks, and 1 strikeout.
Samuel Deduno comes into pitch for San Diego in the 7th. Kemp gets an infield single and steals second base giving him 3 stolen bases in the game, a career best. He is now 5 for 5 in stolen bases. The last Dodger to steal 3 bases in a game was Juan Pierre back on Sept. 29, 2009. Kuroda struggles in the 7th inning when he walks Bartlett, Hawpe singles, Headley hits a flare single into left to load the bases. Denorfia, having a bad game, hits into a inning ending double play.
The Dodgers would add one more run to their lead in the 8th when Gwynn singles again and steals second giving him two stolen bases for the night. Blaker singles in Gwynn. In the bottom of the 8th Loney makes a spectacular play to snag a ball and beat out the runner at first which prevents an extra base hit.
Chad Qualls comes into pitch the 9th for San Diego, and only allows Carroll a single. Mattingly sends Kuroda back out to the mound in the 9th so he may have an opportunity to get a complete game shut-out. This is something us Dodger fans are not used to seeing. With Joe Torre, Kuroda would have been pulled out long before. Kuroda strikes out Hudson, but then gives up two singles. Kuroda is noticeably tired after 117 pitches. What a performace. Now he's the definition of a true pitcher. Kuroda pitches 8.2 innings, allowing 6 hits, 0 runs, 3 walks, and 4 strikeouts.
Broxton comes in to relief Kuroda, who had pitched already in game one earlier in the evening. He sketchily walks Denorfia to load the bases. We all expect another meltdown to ensue, but then the game ends on a very weird note. Blake goes for a slow infield grounder, and him and Hedley collide. The runner is called out ending the game. Blake always seems to be involved in these strange game ending play, and I'm not sure if he did it on purpose or not, but I honestly don't care!
What can I say about Tony Gwynn Jr.? Has he not proven himself yet, and earned the starting spot out in left field. When he was signed in the offseason I read many accounts that he could not hit, and the Dodgers had signed him for his defensive prowess. Well, he's proving them wrong.
A wonderful night of baseball. Two games, and two wins. The Dodgers are now 5-3 and will go for the sweep tomorrow in a day game!
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