Another day, another two runners left on third base with less than two outs. Two runs that would have led to the game never going to extra innings and Ramon Ortiz not having to be used. Let's go to the tape...
Top of the 4th
Trailing 3-0, Andre Ethier walked and went to second on Manny Ramirez's single to right. James Loney hit a flyball to deep left center, moving Ethier to third with one out. As I discussed after Monday's game, the goal here for Casey Blake is not to necessarily get a basehit, but to get something up in the strike zone that he can hit in the air to the outfield and score Ethier. If he gets a hit on a pitch up, all the better, but that's not the ultimate goal. Blake got a pitch up and in, didn't get his hands through in time, and ended up fisting a short popup to right that wasn't deep enough to score Ethier. Blake Dewitt followed with a flyball to right to end the inning.
Top of the 9th
This is the absolute killer. With the score tied at 3, Jamey Carroll pinch hits leading off the inning and doubles to center before moving up to the third on a wild pitch by Pirates' closer Octavio Dotel. Runner on third, NO OUTS. Granted, the infield is playing in at this point, but that should actually make it easier to get a hit on a ground ball, and still anything hit fairly deep to the outfield will score the run to take the lead. What happens? Rafael Furcal hits a weak ground ball back to the pitcher and Carroll has to hold at third. While it is a terrible at-bat, it's ok as there is still only one out and a runner on third. Matt Kemp, who we all know is a stud and will only continue to get better, shows how much he still has to learn by taking a called third strike. This is literally the ONLY THING that he absolutely cannot do here. He must battle in this situation and put something in play. It is absolutely inexcusable to take a called third strike. Anyway, Kemp's strikeout is followed by a walk to Ethier and Manny grounding out to second. Had we been able to push across a run in the top of the ninth, our stud closer, Jonathon Broxton was warm and ready to come in and shut the door. Instead? Extra innings and the need for Ramon Ortiz. Which of course ultimately led to the loss.
Just a disheartening game all around. So here we are, two games into the season, with four runs lost to this point resulting in an 0-2 record. My goal for the year is to NOT have to write a "runs lost" entry every day. But so far, I'm 2 for 2. Until tomorrow...
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2 comments:
i'm not sure i can keep reading your runs lots blog, its super depressing.... I yearn for the days where I was ignorant to the strategies of baseball and just enjoyed watching the game clueless to what was going on and simply happy if someone wearing a dodgers uniform hit the ball.
You know, Nate, this is how I have felt year after year watching them fail at what seems to be a fairly simple task. Having said that, knowing the strategy enables you to have have a better appreciation when they do execute successfully. Overall, the more my knowledge of the game increases, the more enjoyable I find it overall. As I said in the post, hopefully they won't give us too many chances to be disappointed.
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