NLDS Game 1: Los Angeles @ New York Mets 5:6
Well, we are back in the post season after missing it for a year. Expectations are high, like always. And, as this game unfolded, I realized why my grandparents used to refer to the Dodgers as dem bums.
The Mets were short two top starters and were still able to walk away with a victory in Game One of the National League Division Series. A major reason for their walking away with it was their capitalization on a wild baserunning blunder by the Los Angeles Dodgers and a perfectly respectable performance from emergency replacement John Maine Wednesday.
After crawling back into the game, Nomar Garciaparra came up to bat in the top of the ninth with the potential tying run on second base. Garciaparra then proceeded to strike out, ending the game.
"A lot of guys have been waiting for this time in their life, and I think everybody stepped up today," said 34-year-old catcher Paul Lo Duca, another newcomer to the playoffs.
The Dodgers now face a must-win game Thursday night, with rookie left-hander Hong-Chich Kuo on the mound for the Dodgers against 290-game winner but fading Tom Glavine. Kuo pitched six shutout innings at Shea Stadium on Sept. 8 for his first major league win.
"We haven't quit all season long, especially these last couple months," Los Angeles manager Grady Little said. "We'll keep coming at you."
But hopefully a little less enthusiastically than Jeff Kent and J.D. Drew, whom were the victims in getting thrown out at home on the same play, by the same throw.
With two on and none out, rookie Russell Martin hit an opposite-field drive off the base of the right-field wall. But Jeff Kent hesitated at second base, apparently thinking the ball might be caught, and got an extremely late jump.
That left J.D. Drew, who was on first, practically running up Kent's back as coach Rich Donnelly waved one -- or both -- around third. A quick, accurate relay from right fielder Shawn Green to second baseman Jose Valentin to Lo Duca nailed Kent, who attempted a headfirst dive into the plate.
"If I hold him, we've got two guys at third base," Donnelly said. "I was hoping they'd throw the ball away. I didn't really want to send Jeff. J.D. was right behind him, and I thought, one's going to be out and one's going to be safe."
Drew was left in no-man's land, trapped about halfway between third and home. Yet Lo Duca, who got spun around on the play at the plate, didn't realize that at first as he struggled to his feet.
With Lo Duca unaware for a moment, Drew tried to sneak his way in. But the catcher turned his head, suddenly noticed Drew bearing down on him and applied a second tag as Drew also tried a headfirst dive.
"We've been in L.A. all season long. We know about traffic jams. We certainly had one again right there," Little said. "That's a trick play we work on in spring training."
So, we screw up and the manager makes jokes??? I've been to spring training in the past, and have never seen any team work on this supposed trick play. Grady Little needs to grow some balls. I've supported him all year, but this is pure stupidity on his part.
It was the kind of sequence you often see in a Hollywood movie, but rarely on a major league field. Ironically, all three New York Mets that were involved were all recent ex-Dodgers.
"We got two for the price of one," Valentin said.
To add insult to injury, Marlon Anderson followed with an RBI double for a 1-0 lead, but that was all the Dodgers got after running themselves out of a potentially big inning.
In a managerial blunder that Boston Red Sox fans warned us about, and with the score tied at 4, Little brought starter Brad Penny out of the bullpen in the seventh. Penny, bothered by a bad back and 3-10 lifetime against the Mets with a 6.16 ERA, walked two of his first three batters.
Delgado put the Mets ahead with an opposite-field single, then gave a huge fist pump after rounding first.
Not even taking into consideration about Penny's injury, which was the reason he wasn't starting game one in the first place, one can't seriously expect a starter to do such a different role.
And Brad Penny, of all his choices, seemed the worse choice. Of late, he had been having a pretty bad first inning. Over the course of several innings, he would normally have time to settle down and make up for it. But in a relief role this is not only unrealistic, but also unfair.
The Dodgers tied it at 4-all with three runs in the seventh against reliever Guillermo Mota.
Anderson got the rally going with a bunt single, and a throwing error by second baseman Valentin helped Los Angeles. Rafael Furcal's RBI single made it 4-2, and Garciaparra's two-out, two-run double tied it.
Random Note:
Dodgers Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax watched the game from a box with Mets owner Fred Wilpon. The two were high school teammates growing up in Brooklyn.
Updated on Wednesday
The Mets were short two top starters and were still able to walk away with a victory in Game One of the National League Division Series. A major reason for their walking away with it was their capitalization on a wild baserunning blunder by the Los Angeles Dodgers and a perfectly respectable performance from emergency replacement John Maine Wednesday.
After crawling back into the game, Nomar Garciaparra came up to bat in the top of the ninth with the potential tying run on second base. Garciaparra then proceeded to strike out, ending the game.
"A lot of guys have been waiting for this time in their life, and I think everybody stepped up today," said 34-year-old catcher Paul Lo Duca, another newcomer to the playoffs.
The Dodgers now face a must-win game Thursday night, with rookie left-hander Hong-Chich Kuo on the mound for the Dodgers against 290-game winner but fading Tom Glavine. Kuo pitched six shutout innings at Shea Stadium on Sept. 8 for his first major league win.
"We haven't quit all season long, especially these last couple months," Los Angeles manager Grady Little said. "We'll keep coming at you."
But hopefully a little less enthusiastically than Jeff Kent and J.D. Drew, whom were the victims in getting thrown out at home on the same play, by the same throw.
With two on and none out, rookie Russell Martin hit an opposite-field drive off the base of the right-field wall. But Jeff Kent hesitated at second base, apparently thinking the ball might be caught, and got an extremely late jump.
That left J.D. Drew, who was on first, practically running up Kent's back as coach Rich Donnelly waved one -- or both -- around third. A quick, accurate relay from right fielder Shawn Green to second baseman Jose Valentin to Lo Duca nailed Kent, who attempted a headfirst dive into the plate.
"If I hold him, we've got two guys at third base," Donnelly said. "I was hoping they'd throw the ball away. I didn't really want to send Jeff. J.D. was right behind him, and I thought, one's going to be out and one's going to be safe."
Drew was left in no-man's land, trapped about halfway between third and home. Yet Lo Duca, who got spun around on the play at the plate, didn't realize that at first as he struggled to his feet.
With Lo Duca unaware for a moment, Drew tried to sneak his way in. But the catcher turned his head, suddenly noticed Drew bearing down on him and applied a second tag as Drew also tried a headfirst dive.
"We've been in L.A. all season long. We know about traffic jams. We certainly had one again right there," Little said. "That's a trick play we work on in spring training."
So, we screw up and the manager makes jokes??? I've been to spring training in the past, and have never seen any team work on this supposed trick play. Grady Little needs to grow some balls. I've supported him all year, but this is pure stupidity on his part.
It was the kind of sequence you often see in a Hollywood movie, but rarely on a major league field. Ironically, all three New York Mets that were involved were all recent ex-Dodgers.
"We got two for the price of one," Valentin said.
To add insult to injury, Marlon Anderson followed with an RBI double for a 1-0 lead, but that was all the Dodgers got after running themselves out of a potentially big inning.
In a managerial blunder that Boston Red Sox fans warned us about, and with the score tied at 4, Little brought starter Brad Penny out of the bullpen in the seventh. Penny, bothered by a bad back and 3-10 lifetime against the Mets with a 6.16 ERA, walked two of his first three batters.
Delgado put the Mets ahead with an opposite-field single, then gave a huge fist pump after rounding first.
Not even taking into consideration about Penny's injury, which was the reason he wasn't starting game one in the first place, one can't seriously expect a starter to do such a different role.
And Brad Penny, of all his choices, seemed the worse choice. Of late, he had been having a pretty bad first inning. Over the course of several innings, he would normally have time to settle down and make up for it. But in a relief role this is not only unrealistic, but also unfair.
The Dodgers tied it at 4-all with three runs in the seventh against reliever Guillermo Mota.
Anderson got the rally going with a bunt single, and a throwing error by second baseman Valentin helped Los Angeles. Rafael Furcal's RBI single made it 4-2, and Garciaparra's two-out, two-run double tied it.
Random Note:
Dodgers Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax watched the game from a box with Mets owner Fred Wilpon. The two were high school teammates growing up in Brooklyn.
Updated on Wednesday
posted by Blue Man | 10:40 AM
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