Hollywood Ending Gives Dodgers Control

LOS ANGELES -- Getting the 27th out against the Dodgers this year has proved very difficult.

The 28th? Forget it.

The Dodgers managed 12 walk-off wins, tops in the National League, throughout the regular season, but none of them were as memorable as their first one in the playoffs, a jaw-dropping 3-2 victory over the Cardinals in Game 2 of their Division Series on Thursday afternoon at Dodger Stadium.

They were done. The game was over. James Loney had hit a fly ball to Matt Holliday with two outs in the ninth, trailing by a run. Andre Ethier, standing in the dugout, had already began mentally planning to fly to St. Louis with the series even at a game apiece.

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"I was looking down, and all of the sudden I hear people going crazy and I looked up and [Loney's] at second base," Ethier said. "It proves what Joe [Torre] has been telling us since day one. We play all nine innings, and all 27 outs. If there's a pitch left or an out left, we're going to play through it and give it our best shot."

Their best shot in this game wasn't so much a "shot" as a collection of good at-bats and lucky breaks, starting with Loney's fly ball that Holliday lost in the Dodger Stadium lights. His teammates said those thousands of waving white towels didn't help either.


"We were given a gift, first of all," Casey Blake said. "We were pretty lucky to get a baserunner. It certainly doesn't happen too often. Once that happens, anything can."

The gift was only the beginning, though. Blake then worked a 10-pitch walk from closer Ryan Franklin. The third baseman said it took every ounce of his ability as a hitter to keep the at-bat going even when he was steamed at first base umpire Mike Everitt for calling strike two on appeal after he checked his swing.

Ronnie Belliard, a somewhat controversial choice to start over Orlando Hudson because he's not as good defensively, then hacked at Franklin's first pitch, dumping a curveball into center for a game-tying hit. Next came a passed ball by catcher Yadier Molina, who is merely the best catcher in the major leagues, a guy who had but three passed balls all season.

See? Lucky.

With first base open, Franklin pitched around Russell Martin. After all, the guy in the on-deck circle, pinch-hitter Mark Loretta, was 0-for-14 lifetime against him. If ever there seemed to be an escape hatch for an inning, that was it.

"I knew, because I looked at the beginning of the series," Loretta said. "I remember seeing 0-for-14. But I did not think about that when I was walking up there. It wasn't in my mind at all."

Loretta said he felt a little more relaxed because the game was already tied, so he was essentially playing with house money. He fouled off Franklin's first fastball, and the second one blooped into center field for what he called "the biggest hit of my career."

Franklin said Belliard and Loretta both got lucky.

"It's not like they roped it or lined it into center," he said. "Both of those balls were bleeders, or whatever. Nothing you can do about it. I made my pitch where I wanted to, and they found some grass."

"I knew, because I looked at the beginning of the series"
-- Mark Loretta on his 0-for-14 career mark against Ryan Franklin entering Game 2 The Dodgers suddenly have a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series, with the chance to send the Cardinals packing for the winter without seeing Chris Carpenter or Adam Wainwright again. It's not even a sure thing that Carpenter would come back on three days of rest to pitch Game 4 if the Cardinals happen to win Game 3. So the Dodgers truly have a commanding edge in the series, proving once again that everyone who thinks they know what is going to happen in the playoffs has no idea what they are talking about.

"It just shows that a lot of things are possible when a team comes together and sticks with a game plan," Ethier said. "You just go out there and have fun."

Whether the Dodgers were lucky or the Cardinals were unlucky or the Cardinals choked was not relevant afterward in the St. Louis clubhouse. As the players dressed quietly, preparing to go back home for a must-win game, they tried to say that, tough as this loss was, it won't bleed into Game 3 on Saturday.

"I think if we had a bunch of young kids in there that had never been in this situation, it might really affect them on Saturday, but everybody's emotions are going to be right back where they need to be," Franklin said. "This is my first time pitching in the postseason and I'm not down. I'm down because we lost, but it's part of the game. We'll come back Saturday ready to go."