D-Backs 7 11 2
Final/10
WP-Owings (8-0)
LP-Guerra (2-2)
HR-Roberts (19)
We couldn't finish 2011 without one more classic bullpen blown game, now could we? Ahhh...this game harkens back to the first half of the season when bullpen meltdowns were rampant and Broxton was serving them up with 2-outs in the 9th inning regularly. Well, tonight Matty Guerrier lead the way, and Blake Hawksworth and Guerra really gave it their all to completely blow a 6-1 lead in the 10th inning. Hiroki Kuroda and rookie Jarrod Parker both pitched very well. Neither allowed a run, and neither were a part of the decision. Fittingly Javy Guerra gets the loss in this one after he serves up a grand slam to Roberts in the 10th. Humorously Owings gets the win even after he had his own meltdown in the 10th allowing 5 runs. Well, here we go Dodger fans...it's almost like the baseball gods are playing a cruel trick on me. My last game of the season, and I get....this one.
Both pitchers have easy 1st and 2nd innings sending down the opposing team in order.
Moving on to the 3rd inning, Carroll singles, but the Dodgers fail to score. In the bottom half, Blum singles and Bloomquist gets a high bouncer infield single, but Parra flies out to end the inning.
In the 4th, Bison doubles then takes 3rd on a Rivera groundout. Loney pops up to end any threat. Kuroda whiffs Upton in the 4th, then allows an infield single to Young and a single to Overbay. He gets out of it when Blum grounds out.
Carroll gets a single when the ball hops by Blum's glove, but that's all the Dodgers accomplish in the 5th. Kuroda whiffs Roberts in the 5th, then the pitcher Parker doubles for his first big league hit. Bloomquist flies into a double play and Parker is out at 2nd.
In the 6th Gordon bunts for a single, and Sands bunt sacrifices him over. KeMVP flies out. Rivera walks. Parker is taken out, and Patterson comes into pitch for AZ. He gets Loney to ground out. Kuroda strikes out Upton again and sends the Snakes down 123 in the 6th.
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| Jarrod Parker Pitches Well in His MLB Debut |
Kuroda goes 6 innings, allowing 5 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, and 5 strikeouts, on 101 pitches.
Cook comes in to pitch the 7th, and Big Rod singles. Carroll walks. Gibson brings in Castillo who gets Gwynn to hit into a force play. Gordon then singles in the pinch-runner, Velez, giving the Dodgers a 1-0 lead. Gordon tries to go for two on the play and overslides the bag and is out at 2nd, but the run scored. The lead wouldn't last very long since Guerrier (bum #1) is brought in to pitch the 7th. Donnie could have had Kuroda pitch one more inning, but nah let's just use our tired out bullpen instead. Ellis is now behind the plate. Young promptly is walked. Then predictably Overbay doubles over the head of Bison scoring Young, 1-1. Elbert (bum #2) is then brought in. He walks Hill. Then he brings in Dougie. Roberts bunts, and Loney makes a good play getting the out at 3rd. Goldschmidt hits into a double play to end the inning. Dougie did good.
Hernandez is in for the 8th, and strikes out Sands. KeMVP grounds out. Rivera whiffs. Jansen, the fireballer, comes in and strikes out Bloomquist. Then he walks Parra and allows a single to Upton. Tis ok he comes back and blows away both Montero and Young to end the inning.
Putz pitches the 9th for the D-Backs and allows a 2-out Ellis single and a Carroll single, but Oeltjen pathetically whiffs to end any rally. Lindblom is in for the 9th and Burroughs singles, Hill fouls out, and then he strikes out Roberts and Goldschmidt.
The 10th inning gets crazy. Owings does his imitation of Jonathon Broxton. Gordon gets an infield double, Sands sacrifices and reaches on a fielder's choice and Gordon scores on a fielding error by Owings, 2-1 Dodgers. KeMVP singles in Sands and Matt goes to 2nd on another error by center fielder Young, 3-1. Rivera grounds out, KeMVP to 3rd. Loney singles in KeMVP, 4-1. Miles walks. Yes, Owings is still in. The Ellis hits a massive triple which bounces off the wall hitting Justin Upton in the face! Upton is stunned and the ball rolls away from him. He had just recently been beaned by Tim Lincecum. He comes out of the game. 6-1 Dodgers! Carroll lines out, and Sellers whiffs to end the 10th for the Dodgers. They hang a high 5, and you would think that would be enough, right? C'mon, haven't you guys paid attention this season? No lead is enough for the bullpen, they blow any and all leads obtained.
Bottom of the 10th...gahhh...do I have to write this? Blake Hawksworth (bum#3) comes in. We know the game is pretty much lost right then. Gillepsie gets an infield single. Montero singles. Young walks. Then there's the nightly Miles error allowing McDonald to reach base and allowing a run to score, 6-2. Donnie gets the hook and brings in Guerra (bum#4). Now Guerra has been very good this year, but there still has been some sketchy moments here and there and I'm not fully confident in him all of the time. He walks Hill making it 6-3. Bases are loaded for Roberts. Guerra serves up a hot meatball, and Roberts blasts a grand slam winning the game 7-6 for the D-Backs. Awful. I felt sick.
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| Roberts Learned Well From Gibson |
Kuroda deserves a standing ovation for his season and his Dodger career. He truly is a team player, and even though the Dodgers do not give him run support and the bullpen blows games like this one, he always goes out and pitches his heart out. He is a Hiro!
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| Thank You, Hiroki |
Tomorrow is our final game of the season:( It's a battle of the lefties when Ted Lilly will go up against Saunders. Bison still needs two more homeruns to reach 40, can he do it in the finale? Join us tomorrow for our last pregame and postgame edition of the 2011 season. Thanks for reading and being a part of the season with us! Please feel free to comment on what you would like to see in the upcoming offseason and next season here at DBF. We love input and comments!
Go Blue:)
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