Bud Black gambled on a tiring starter. Joe Torre gambled on a star hitter with an upset stomach.
In the end it was Black feeling sick.
Andre Ethier’s pinch hit two-run single in the 7th inning gave the LA Dodgers all the offense they would need to beat the San Diego Padres 2-0 at Petco Park. Chad Billingsley (9-5) and two All-Star relievers combined on a five-hit shutout of the Padres, only their 5th whitewash of the year.
As is so often the case at cavernous Petco Park, Tuesday night’s game settled into a pitcher’s duel which would be settled with one key two-out moment.
This time, the moment was the top of the 7th inning. In a scoreless game, the Dodgers had runners at the corners against Padres starter Jon Garland (9-7), and the eighth place hitter, catcher Russell Martin, coming to the plate. Garland was near the 100 pitch mark but had allowed only four hits in six and two-thirds innings of work.
Padres manager Bud Black ordered an intentional walk, loading the bases for Dodgers pitcher Chad Billingsley. LA manager Joe Torre turned to his All-Star outfielder Andre Ethier–who was scratched from the starting lineup with a stomach bug–off the bench. With lefty Joe Thatcher warm in the bullpen, Black stuck with Garland.
Ethier muscled a two-run single into center field, scoring Blake DeWitt and Garret Anderson.
It was a decision both strategic and nervy for Black, who explained his thinking:
“We forced them to make a move, and Jon has to get one out. You take a calculated risk that Jon can get the pinch hitter out, whomever it might be. I thought it was Jon’s game.”
Listen to Black explain his thinking on the decision to keep in Garland (embedded soundbyte):
Normally thoughtful and composed after every game, Garland was clearly upset with the loss, keeping his answers clipped and short about the Ethier at-bat.
“If he grounds out, it’s a good pitch, if he gets a base hit, it’s a bad pitch.”
Read more and listen to a postgame interview with Chase Headley after the jump:
Adrian Gonzalez is forced out at home plate by Russell Martin in the fourth inning
While most of the focus will be on the seventh, the Padres lost Tuesday night’s game in the bottom of the fourth. San Diego loaded the bases with nobody out against Billingsley and came away empty handed.
After singles by Adrian Gonzalez and Chase Headley, Yorvit Torrealba chopped a ball which handcuffed Billingsley and went for an infield single. With a chance to break the game wide open, Will Venable grounded to second base, where DeWitt threw home to force Gonzalez at the plate.
Tony Gwynn then popped out, and Everth Cabrera took a called strike three to end the inning.
“We put a couple of hits together but couldn’t break through,” said Headley of the fourth, “In a game like that you don’t get a whole lot of opportunities.”
Listen to Ernie Martinez’s postgame audio interview with Chase Headley:
“He made some pitches,” said second baseman Jerry Hairston Jr. of the Billingsley escape act, “give him credit, he’s been pitching pretty well of late, and he worked himself out of it.”
Garland answered with an escaped jam of his own in the 6th, putting the 8/9 hitters on board with nobody out before getting out of it unscathed.
Jonathan Broxton celebrates his 20th save of the year
Given the lead, the Dodgers turned to Hong-Chih Kuo for two innings of scoreless relief, with Jonathan Broxton finishing the 9th for his 20th save.
The Padres went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position, a rare night of inefficiency for an offense which has hit about 30 points higher in those situations all year.
“Today, they got the hit and we didn’t,” said Black, “there’s been a lot of games we’ve played this year where we’ve gotten the hit and the other team hasn’t. We’ll go at it again tomorrow.”
While the series is a desperate one for the Dodgers, who started the night six games behind first-place San Diego, the Padres are in a more comfortable position. They saw their overall division lead dropped to 2 1/2 games after a Giants win over Florida, but still have plenty of slack left in their rope.
“It’s going to be a dogfight, we know that,” said Hairston, “it’s going to be fun the next couple of months.”
The Padres will throw struggling left-hander Clayton Richard against LA’s Hiroki Kuroda in the second game of the series Wednesday night at 7:05pm.
Ernie Martinez contributed on-site tweeting and postgame locker-room reporting for 619Sports.Net.
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