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Back on April 30, 2006 the Dodgers played the Pads in San Diego leading 5-0 going into the bottom of the ninth. Lance Carter comes out to pitch for the Dodgers and loaded the bases by giving up two singles and a walk with no outs. The Dodger’s then-closer Danys Baez tried to get out of the jam but gave up a single, two walks and two sacrifices to tie the game up 5-5.
In the top of the tenth, the Dodgers went out in order. Tim Hamulack pitched in the bottom of the tenth and gave up two walks and a single to give the Pads a 6-5 win.
And this is why when the Dodgers were up 5-1 in the bottom of the ninth Thursday night against the Pads, the fact they coughed up the game didn’t really come as a surprise to me. Here’s the play-by-play of the bottom of the ninth with Bob’s Big Boy pitching:
- Geoff Blum singled to second.
- Terrmel Sledge reached first on Nomar Garciaparra's fielding error, Geoff Blum to second.
- Marcus Giles singled to left center, Geoff Blum to third, Terrmel Sledge to second.
- Paul McAnulty singled to first, Geoff Blum scored, Terrmel Sledge to third, Marcus Giles to second. 5-2 Dodgers, no outs.
- Adrian Gonzalez ground rule double to center, Terrmel Sledge and Marcus Giles scored, Paul McAnulty to third. 5-4 Dodgers, no outs.
- Josh Bard intentionally walked.
- Mike Cameron singled to center, Paul McAnulty scored, Adrian Gonzalez to third, Josh Bard to second. 5-5 tie, no outs, Bob's Big Boy blown save.
- Kevin Kouzmanoff struck out swinging. 5-5 tie, one out.
- Russell Branyan walked, Adrian Gonzalez scored, Josh Bard to third, Mike Cameron to second. 6-5 Padres win.
There's not much more I can write that adequately expresses my absolute disgust in the loss. So I'll leave that for you the reader to utilize your imagination and come up with descriptive metaphors and slurs and what not.
Before we get discombobulated about this loss let's not forget the Dodgers managed to score four runs off of Jake Peavy and show some semblance of an offense. Viejito even got in on the action and hit that oh-so-rare-for-Petco-Park homer. So the offense was there tonight. This one hiccup by the bullpen was an anomaly due to Takashi Saito's injury. Thankfully he'll be available starting Friday night's game, so this bullpen meltdown will not be a regular occurrence.
Remember back on that fateful April 30th last year when the season was oh-so young, the Dodgers were 12-13 and the Padres were 9-15. 137 games later, both the Dodgers and Padres were tied for first in the division. It's easy to get caught up in the emotion of one game and forget the season is 162 games long. From now until the end the season any number of things can happen (including a four consecutive homer game) to make everyone forget about this particular game.
But goddamn fucking shit this one is a bitter pill to swallow. Sorry. I had to let it out.
AP Photo by Lenny Ignelzi
