Editorials

Recap: Late A.J. Ellis Home Run Washed Away As Dodgers Lose In Extras

Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports
Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

PAGES: 1 | 2

After two quick outs, Kershaw thought he painted the outside corner for strike three against Danny Valencia only for it to be called a ball. Valencia then hit a slow roller up the third base line that Kershaw attempted to make a play on, but was unable to. He let out some of his frustration by firing the ball into the ground and then over to the Dodgers dugout.



The reigning National League MVP quickly regained focus, striking out Josh Phegley to end the inning with the A’s lead still at just 1-0. Yasiel Puig drew a two-out walk in the top of the fourth, which was followed by Guerrero lining out to right.

Following two strikes on consecutive pitches in the bottom of the fourth, home plate umpire Todd Tichenor called for time, much to Kershaw’s dismay. Tichenor began to take a step toward the mound and was cut off by Ellis, who helped diffuse the situation; Dodgers manager Don Mattingly also spoke with Tichenor before play carried on.

Kershaw finished the at-bat by striking out Mark Canha on the next pitch and worked around a Reddick two-out base hit to keep the Dodgers within one run of the A’s. For the second time on the night, Ellis and Pederson drew back-to-back walks with no outs, this time in the fifth.

Both runners advanced on a passed ball, and Ellis scored to tie the game on Rollins’ RBI groundout to second base. With the go-ahead run 90 feet away, Doubront struck out Hernandez and Turner to end the inning. Kershaw quickly worked his way through the bottom of the fifth, striking out one and getting a pair of groundouts.

Doubront walked Gonzalez to open the sixth inning, though didn’t allow it to snowball by striking out two of the next three batters faced, including Guerrero on a full count to end the inning. Following a Canha line-drive base hit with two outs, Butler flied out to the warning track in left-center field.

Switch-pitcher Pat Venditte took over for the A’s in the seventh and promptly issued a leadoff walk to Ellis. The walk was Ellis’ third in as many plate appearances on the night. Venditte remained left-handed to get two outs, then went righty against Hernandez and Turner to end the inning with the game still tied at 1-1.

With a runner on first base and one out in the bottom of the seventh, Turner booted a relatively routine ground ball that allowed Sogard to reach on the error and left two runners on with one out. Kershaw picked his third baseman up by striking out Burns and getting Sam Fuld to ground out.

Puig beat out a grounder to shortstop for a two-out infield single, however it came at a cost as he was removed after appearing to tweak a hamstring. Carl Crawford replaced Puig and Andre Ethier pinch-hit for Guerrero, keeping the inning alive with an infield single that skipped off Sogard’s glove.

Having walked in his previous three plate appearances, Ellis gave the Dodgers a 4-1 lead by clubbing a three-run home run on the first pitch he saw from Fernando Rodriguez. The lead didn’t last long as Pedro Baez took over in the bottom of the eighth and gave up a single, double and two-run double before managing to record an out.

J.P. Howell replaced Baez with the Dodgers’ lead cut to 4-3 and was saved by Turner’s diving attempt that held Reddick to an infield single and forced Canha to hold at third base. Turner’s effort just as quickly washed away as Semien’s RBI single tied the game.

Howell induced Sogard into a groundball out at first base, then handed the ball off to Jim Johnson. The right-handed reliever struck out Byrns on three pitches to get the Dodgers out of trouble and keep the game tied at 4-4.

Hernandez led off the ninth with a flare single out of Sogard’s reach, but any momentum was stopped on the next pitch as Turner grounded into a 6-4-3 double play and Gonzalez followed with a ground out to end the inning.

Yimi Garcia took the mound in the bottom of the ninth and sent the game into extra innings by retiring the side in order. Crawford reached on an infield single and Ellis drew a two-out walk in the 10th, but Pederson stranded both runners as he was called out on strikes.

Garcia remained in the game for a second inning of work and gave up a leadoff double. He then allowed a walk-off RBI single to Butler. The win snapped Oakland’s seven-game losing streak, and the Dodgers’ loss cut their lead in the National League West to just two games over the San Francisco Giants.

[divide]

Previous page 1 2

Staff Writer

Staff Writer features content written by our site editors along with our staff of contributing writers. Thank you for your readership.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button