Los Angeles Dodgers Tie It Late, Win 7-6 Over The Washington Nationals In The 9th.

by Patrick Reddington on Jul 24, 2011 2:47 AM EDT

LOS ANGELES, CA - JULY 23: Rafael Furcal #15 of the Los Angeles Dodgers (C) is mobbed by teammates as they celebrate his game-winning RBI double against the Washington Nationals in the ninth inning of the game at Dodger Stadium on July 23, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers defeated the Nationals 7-6. (Photo by Jeff Golden/Getty Images)

• Tonight's Left Coast Top 5:

5. NewWerth: The Washington Nationals bring a .219/.303/.349 slash against left-handed pitchers into tonight's game against the LA Dodgers and lefty Ted Lilly. Right Side Danny Espinosa and Ryan Zimmerman hit back-to-back singles in front of Nats' cleanup man Michael Morse in the top of the first and the Nationals' slugger sends a 2-2 slider from Lilly to right over Andre Ethier's head to drive Espinosa in and make it 1-0 Nats. Jayson Werth's up next, and he brings a .207/.342/.333 slash with RISP into the AB, but that was the old Werth. Mid-July Werth's in the midst of a streak of sorts, having collected five hits in his last twelve at bats and now six in thirteen when he crushes a 1-0 curve. 2-RBI double to the left of center, Zimmerman and Morse score and it's 3-0 Nationals after a half...

4. Zim Double Pumps, Ramos Drops It: The first batter Tom Gorzelanny faces tonight, Rafael Furcal, connects for a line drive single to right to start the Dodgers' first after the Nats gave Gorzelanny a three-run cushion before he even took the mound. The Nationals' left-hander gets what could be a DP grounder to third if the Nats rush, but Ryan Zimmerman double pumps the throw and doesn't even get the force at second. Two on, 0 outs. Andre Ethier singles to left to load the bases with one down and a sac fly by Matt Kemp gets LA on the board, 3-1 Nats.

Tom Gorzelanny gives up another single to start the second, with James Loney lining to right on a 1-1 fastball. One out later, Dioner Navarro singles to right sending Loney around to third. Ted Lilly drops down a bunt and a charging Zimmerman throws to first for one out, but Loney breaks for home. Zim throws to Espinosa covering first and the Nats' shortstop at second throws home in time to get Loney, if only Wilson Ramos could have held it. The ump looks closely, sees Ramos dropped it and signals, "He's safe!" 3-2 Nationals after two.

3. Zimmer's Running: Ryan Zimmerman's 2 for 2 on the night after he singles to right to start the Nats' third. Zimmerman's running again and he steals his third base of the year and second in two nights. Ted Lilly's notoriously bad at holding runners. The Dodgers walk Jayson Werth intentionally after Michael Morse flies out and Wilson Ramos is up with two runners on and one out. Ramos flies out, deep enough for Ryan Zimmerman to take third, but he would have scored anyway. Rick Ankiel fouls off three 0-2 pitches and drives a double to right and into the corner, two runs score, 5-2 Nats. Ian Desmond's two-out single off Lilly makes it 6-2. Ankiel's got third stolen on Lilly and he just keeps going as Ian Desmond beats out an infield hit. Hustling all around.

2. Gorzo Gives Back: A half-inning after the Nationals give Tom Gorzelanny a four-run lead the Nats' lefty gives almost all of it back. Matt Kemp takes a 1-0 fastball to deep center and over Rick Ankiel's head for a one-out double. Juan Rivera flies to center on a 1-0 change for a bloop single that sends Kemp around to third. Kemp scores to make it 6-3 on a sac fly by James Loney. Juan Uribe battes Gorzelanny in a 6-pitch at bat and comes out of it with a two-out single to center. Two on, two out and Davey Johnson has Gorzelanny walk Dodgers' backstop Dioner Navarro to bring the opposing pitcher up and Lilly connects with a 2-1 fastball and rips a two-run double to right that gets the Dodgers within one, 6-5 Nats.

1. Long Night For Pen: Ross Detwiler replaces Gorzelanny after he lets the Dodgers back in the game, giving up eight hits and 5 runs in 3.0 IP over which he throws 66 pitches. Detwiler proceeds to throw 2.2 scoreless to keep the Nationals' one-run lead in tact. One hit and one walk allowed for the Nats' '07 1st Round pick, who throws 42 pitches and gets the Nationals into the sixth with the lead when a two-out single by Andre Ethier ends his night. Henry Rodriguez gives up a two-out single and a base-loading two-out walk before retiring James Loney on a groundout to second. Still 6-5 D.C., but Rodriguez is brought out for the seventh and he implodes. Dioner Navarro walks with one down and the catcher's pinch runner Eugenio Velez steal second, moves to third on a groundout and scores on a wild pitch to tie it at 6-6 after seven.

0. Not Again: Mike MacDougal pitches a quick 1-2-3 eighth and Dodgers' right-hander Javy Guerra takes care of the ninth. The last eleven Nats go down in order, with Ross Detwiler's one-out single (and second hit ever) one of only two Nats' hits after they score six in the first three innings. Ryan Mattheus throws a scoreless eighth, but is in trouble from the start in the ninth. 6-6 game. Trent Oeltjen reaches first safely when he bunts into a force at second after a leadoff single by Rod Barajas. Oeltjen moves up on a one-out single by Jamey Carroll, who singles through short with Ian Desmond in position near second hoping for a double play grounder. Rafael Furcal doubles Oeltjen in from second and the Dodgers and Nats have a rubber match to play Sunday. 7-6 final.

• Miss The Game? The DC Faithful Were Watching...

Num	Name - Comments
1	MissB - 84
2	Whupass - 74
3	Jorgath - 63
4	travonino - 62
5	rachel216 - 59
6	hscer - 55
7	d_c_guy - 53
8	Joey Fox - 46
9	brook - 44
10	Brotato - 38

• Doghouse's Post Game WPA Graph: "Game 100: Stop wasting your run support":

via www.fangraphs.com

Ingrate: Tom Gorzelanny (-32.1%) gets six runs from his offense, and he manages to give back five of them in 3 IP, partly via a two-run double to the opposing pitcher (-19.2%).
Beasting away: Michael Morse (+12.5%) is 2-4 with an RBI double for the early lead (+14.5%). Jayson Werth (+8.4%) has a two-RBI double to tack on (+10.9%), and Rick Ankiel (+10.4%) has a two-RBI double to tack on some more (+18.2%).
Helping: Ross Detwiler (+18.0) comes on to get get 8 outs and hold the one-run lead.
Not helping: Henry Rodriguez (-15.7%) walks three in the 8th, finally letting one score on a WP to tie the game (-19.4%).
The final FAIL: Ryan Mattheus (-27.2%) only gets one out into the 9th before giving up the walkoff (-30.0%).

Nationals now 49-51.

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Comments

Shoot.

Fell asleep in the 6th thinking we could probably keep the lead. Gorzellany gave that one away…he had some help from the D but I put most of the blame on him.

by Dan Shields on Jul 24, 2011 12:09 PM EDT reply actions

Nope, managerial incompetence

Don’t know who Rizzo has in store for us next, but DJ’s gonna be a tough act to follow. Again, Davey leaves Rodriquez in too long, and blows a big lead.

And for this, I sat up until 2:00 AM? It’s like hitting yourself in the head with a hammer, becuase it feels so good when ya’ stop.

"The key to winning baseball games is pitching, fundamentals, and three run homers." - Earl Weaver

by Whupass on Jul 24, 2011 12:45 PM EDT up reply actions

yep

I dont know what Johnson was thinking keeping Henry in when Henry obviously did not have command. We were 1 out away from getting a one run lead into the 8th and 9th where we could have used Clippard and Storen…

by Vellz on Jul 24, 2011 6:57 PM EDT up reply actions

You said it!

I was absolutely FUMING that Johnson left Rodriguez in with a runner on third and obviously without ANY control.

When is it time to start coming to some conclusions on DJ as manager? Maybe it’s still too early, but….

by ricksnats on Jul 25, 2011 12:37 PM EDT up reply actions

Already done.

DJ’s time has passed him by.

Rob

-- In baseball we trust.

by RobBobS on Jul 25, 2011 2:53 PM EDT up reply actions

Oh, Please ...

That’s it, about three weeks (23 games), close the books, done. Really?

The one time that Davey Johnson took over a team in midseason was with the Reds, after they fired Tony Perez. Johnson’s winning % the rest of that season was actually lower than Perez’s. As Casey Stengel used to say “you can look it up.” The Reds did not fire Johnson, and finished first in their division the next two seasons. I’m not saying that Johnson is going to do that here, nor am I saying he is ultimately going to be successful. But I am gently suggesting that perhaps three weeks of acclimating to the team as well as the circumstance – when he had no lead time to prepare – is not a fair assessment of his current managerial capability.

by d_c_guy on Jul 26, 2011 11:08 AM EDT up reply actions

I will say that there's one thing in particular that puzzles me

It’s the idea that DJ “had no lead time to prepare.”

His managerial “mistakes” (as I’d call them) to date do seem to have been related to his unfamiliarity with the guys on the team (what they can do, what they cannot).

But hasn’t DJ been on the club’s payroll for a while now? Wasn’t Davey watching the games? Didn’t he know the players?

Or was he really removed from anything going on on the field?

by ricksnats on Jul 27, 2011 9:31 AM EDT up reply actions

It's a completely different role and different intensity level

It’s one thing to watch a game in order to analyze the players and see what moves might be better for the organization in the short or long term; it’s quite another to tactically think one’s way through the game.

Since you only took issue with the one phrase, I assume that you agree with me on the others :-)

by d_c_guy on Jul 27, 2011 10:23 AM EDT up reply actions

I'm not ready to give a final grade, I suppose,

but his early work is not impressing.

And sure, I know that there are significant differences in the role he played before vs. the role he’s in now.

I just figured that if it can seem obvious to ME, a total baseball organization outsider, when to pull a pitcher (for example), then even if Davey (a real baseball lifer) was focusing on other aspects of the organization, it should still have been obvious to him if he’s been watching the games at all.

It doesn’t help, of course, that the team has looked lackadaisical since he’s taken over: there may be some natural let-down with the change in managers. It would be interesting to know how the locker-room dynamic has changed since the switch.

by ricksnats on Jul 27, 2011 10:36 AM EDT up reply actions

When to do X or Y on the baseball diamond is always completely obvious to the outsider

That’s why I always say that, at any given moment, the 30 dumbest people in the world (outside of Congress) are the 30 managers of major league baseball teams :-)

Seriously, I have yet to see (much less participate in) any dialogue in any forum where the fans were happy with the moves made by the manager of the team they were rooting for. It’s like having to put on a player’s uniform immediately subtracts 50 points of IQ from the manager.

by d_c_guy on Jul 27, 2011 2:37 PM EDT up reply actions

I agree with your basic point here

Mind you, personally I hardly ever found myself upset at the moves Riggleman made (for example, I may have been the only one in this forum not on the “BUNT LESS!” bandwagon, although I kept it to myself for fear of the pitchforks and torches). So I suppose it’s that contrast that’s bothered me.

Or maybe I just think Riggleman was a very good game manager.

(now that I think of it, Riggleman ALSO looked pretty good compared to HIS predecessor, whose name I shall not utter here)

by ricksnats on Jul 27, 2011 2:50 PM EDT up reply actions