What appeared to be a blown call at home plate cost the Dodgers a critical run, critical enough to elicit an uncharacteristically animated response from the usually mild-mannered Gonzalez.
Had Michael Young been credited with the run the Dodgers believed he scored on Gonzalez's sixth-inning double Wednesday, they might have danced their way into the night, celebrating their first National League West title in four years. Instead, their comeback attempt was thwarted and their coronation was postponed, as they went on to fall to the Arizona Diamondbacks, 9-4, at Chase Field.
BOX SCORE: Arizona 9, Dodgers 4
The Dodgers were down, 4-2, when first base umpire Jim Joyce ruled that Diamondbacks catcher Miguel Montero swiped Young's hand before Young's hand swiped the plate.
"I got to second base, I could see that he was safe, clearly," Gonzalez said.
Joyce ran down the first base line on the play, covering for home plate umpire Joe West, who had run up the third base line.
Gonzalez later recalled telling West: "If you guys are going to switch, hustle so you can be in position to make the call."
Gonzalez was ejected.
"We all know he got it wrong because he was not in position to make that call," Gonzalez said.
The value of that run became evident in the seventh inning, when Tim Federowicz doubled in Nick Punto to get the Dodgers within 4-3.
The Diamondbacks didn't blow the game open until the eighth inning, when they scored five runs.
As frustrated as he was, Gonzalez kept the loss in perspective. The magic number to win the division remained at two, meaning the Dodgers could still secure a playoff berth Thursday with a victory in the series finale over the second-place Diamondbacks.
"We're fine," Gonzalez said. "Win tomorrow. If not, win two in San Diego."
The Dodgers' position in the standings — now 91/2 games ahead of the Diamondbacks — led to what was probably the call that most influenced the game. That was the decision to start a rusty Stephen Fife in place of Clayton Kershaw.
Kershaw was scheduled to start this game until the Dodgers decided to start him Saturday instead. Doing so not only gave Kershaw three extra days of rest, it lined him up to pitch Game 1 of the NL division series.
And if Mattingly is to be believed, Hanley Ramirez was also given the day off even though he was healthy.
Fife was understandably out of sorts, as his last major league start was Aug. 4. Since then, he had pitched only twice for the Dodgers, both in relief appearances.
Fife lasted only 21/3 innings and was charged with four runs, six hits and three walks.
Fife was in trouble right away, serving up a two-run home run to Paul Goldschmidt in the first inning.
A wild third inning increased the margin to 4-0. Fife hit Montero, then gave up a hit and a wild pitch. A run scored on a groundout, but Fife reloaded the bases on a hit and a walk to pitcher Brandon McCarthy.
Fife's replacement, Carlos Marmol, walked Adam Eaton to force in the Diamondbacks' fourth run.
The Dodgers worked their way back into the game in the fourth inning. A towering home run by Yasiel Puig, one of his three hits, cut the deficit to 4-1.
A run-scoring single by Gonzalez later in the inning made it 4-2.
After Federowicz's seventh-inning double cut the lead to 4-3, the Dodgers were in position to move ahead, with men on the corners with one out. But Scott Van Slyke ended the threat by grounding into a double play.
dylan.hernandez@latimes.com
Twitter: @dylanohernandez
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Bursting the Dodgers' bubbly
Dengan url
http://usiamudahan.blogspot.com/2013/09/bursting-dodgers-bubbly.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Bursting the Dodgers' bubbly
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar