Los Angeles (AP) — A grounder off a fielder's glove. A bunt that slipped
by two players. The Los Angeles Dodgers' latest postseason rally began
in the weirdest, wackiest way.
Another throwing error by Chase
Utley, a pinch-hit single and two walks also were part of the Dodgers'
crazy eighth inning that produced a 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia
Phillies on Friday, tying the NL championship series at one game each.
The
Dodgers took the lead after Phillies pulled Pedro Martinez, who allowed
just two hits over seven shutout innings. Andre Ethier drew a
bases-loaded, two-out walk from rookie J.A. Happ, capping the Dodgers'
third comeback win of this postseason.
"We've been doing it all
year, it seems like. We're relentless. We never give up," catcher
Russell Martin said. "We go out there and compete, play through 27
outs, and whatever happens, happens. But we never keep our heads down."
Game 3 in the best-of-seven series is Sunday in Philadelphia.
"We only need three more games to do something special," said Dodgers slugger Manny Ramirez, who went 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Vicente
Padilla pitched brilliantly for 7 1-3 innings and the Los Angeles
bullpen did the rest. Hong-Chih Kuo threw three pitches, getting two
outs and the win. Jonathan Broxton worked a perfect ninth for the save.
Philadelphia wound up using five relievers in the eighth, but not Brad Lidge, who didn't get into the game.
"I
don't think it will have any lasting effect on us," Martinez said. "We
didn't execute. We made errors. If we hit like we normally do, I don't
think the game's going to end up 2-1."
For the second time in
this year's playoffs, a visiting team let a late lead slip away at
Dodger Stadium. Last week, St. Louis left fielder Matt Holliday's
two-out error on an easy fly ball in the ninth doomed the Cardinals,
who got swept by the Dodgers.
They perfected their late-inning magic during the regular season by winning 12 games in walk-offs, third best in the majors.
Martinez and Padilla dueled through seven innings in a matchup of castoffs.
Padilla
allowed one run and four hits, struck out six and walked one. He exited
to a standing ovation from the sellout crowd of 56,000, tipping his cap
as he walked off.
"It's my first time playing in front of a big
crowd like this in a game that's more important than I've ever pitched
in my life, and I was very emotional," Padilla said through a
translator.
An injury-plagued Martinez was let go by the Mets
last season, while Padilla got dumped by Texas in August. He signed
with the Dodgers two days later, excelled in their drive to a second
consecutive NL West title and pitched well against St. Louis in the
first round.
"I was very happy with the way I pitched," Padilla
said. "Although we were losing, I knew that the guys were going to come
back, and I think I'm more happy now because the team won."
Ethier
led the Dodgers with a career-high 31 homers in the regular season, but
he resisted his instincts with the bases loaded and a full count.
"Of
course, you want to get the job done by swinging, but at the same time,
don't be too aggressive and don't get yourself out," he said. "Donnie
(hitting coach Mattingly) has been preaching to me a lot that once the
playoffs start, be patient, get your pitch to hit and see it. Donnie's
voice was in my head the whole time, and I guess it came in handy
there."
The Dodgers were down 1-0 when Casey Blake opened the
eighth with a single off the outstretched glove of third baseman Pedro
Feliz. Ronnie Belliard's bunt single got past Chan Ho Park and first
baseman Ryan Howard.
"The bunt was a huge play, the fact that it
got by Chan Ho and it got over in no-man's-land where Howard couldn't
get to it," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "It seemed like we
couldn't get out of the inning."
Martin followed with a grounder
to Feliz, who made a good throw to Utley. But once again, the four-time
All-Star threw away the relay after making just four throwing errors in
the regular season. This time, it allowed pinch-runner Juan Pierre to
score the tying run from the second.
"I had plenty of time to
turn it. I just didn't make the throw," Utley said. "A lot of things
could have gone differently, not just that play. Chan Ho made a good
pitch to get a ground ball, which was what we needed, but we couldn't
turn it."
After Thome singled off Scott Eyre, Rafael Furcal drew
a walk from Ryan Madson that loaded the bases. Happ struck out Matt
Kemp, but walked Ethier.
"He laid off it looked like some tough
pitches away, and at 3-and-2 it's tough when your mentality is swing,
swing, swing to take a pitch, and it was huge," Dodgers manager Joe
Torre said.
Former Dodgers pitcher Park took the loss, giving up two runs and two hits in one-third of an inning.
Howard's homer in the fourth off Padilla accounted for the only run until the eighth.
The
game began in 93-degree heat 16 hours after the Phillies won the series
opener 8-6. The teams combined for 14 runs on 22 hits and 10 walks in
that game, but offense was in short supply with Martinez and Padilla
pitching.
Martinez struck out three and walked none in seven
innings of his first postseason appearance since Game 3 of the 2004
World Series with Boston. The three-time Cy Young winner, who turns 38
later this month, proved ageless in the stadium where he made his major
league debut with the Dodgers in September 1992.
Replacing guile with gas, Martinez only gave up singles to Martin and Kemp before turning it over to Park.
Ramirez twice got retired by good friend Martinez on weak popups.
NOTES:
The Dodgers improved to 7-2 all-time in NLCS Game 2s; the Phillies
dropped to 1-7. ... Martinez became the first Latin American-born
pitcher to start a postseason game for the Phillies. ... Kobe Bryant
caused a stir upon arriving in the middle of the fourth inning to join
owner Frank McCourt and former Dodgers manager Tom Lasorda in their
seats behind home plate.