BELTRE WINS IT IN 10TH INNING WITH HOME RUN DODGERS 4, MONTREAL 1.Byline: Matt McHale Staff Writer Remember it as wild-card Wednesday, the night Adrian Beltre saw Vladimir Guerrero Vladimir Alvino Guerrero (born February 9, 1976 in Don Gregorio, Nizao, Dominican Republic), and known in his native Dominican Republic as Miquéas (Spanish for Micah), is a Major League Baseball right fielder who plays for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. and raised the stakes. An inning after Guerrero dug in against the invincible Eric Gagne with two strikes and two outs in a scoreless ninth and crushed one, the red-hot Beltre hit a three-run homer in the 10th to defeat the Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (French: Les Expos de Montréal) were a Major League Baseball team located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada from 1969 until 2004. After the 2004 season, the franchise relocated to Washington, D.C. and became the Washington Nationals. 4-1. The stirring victory, on a night five teams ahead of the Dodgers in the National League wild-card chase lost, moved the Dodgers to within four games of wild-card-leading Philadelphia with 37 to play. Gagne, with 21 consecutive scoreless innings, against Guerrero, one of the top players in the game, was an epic matchup. But seeing Beltre - in a slump for four months before coming around the past three weeks - circle the bases was the most riveting sight of all. ``It's like acquiring a player at the trading deadline that you didn't have for the first four months of the season,'' Dodgers manager Jim Tracy
Like 22 RBI RBI abbr. Baseball runs batted in Noun 1. rbi - a run that is the result of the batter's performance; "he had more than 100 rbi last season" run batted in in August alone. He had 41 in the first four months, when his future with the club appeared in doubt. ``I'm seeing the ball a lot better,'' Beltre said. ``When you're seeing that good, you go to the plate with a lot more confidence.'' After Guerrero's home run, the Dodgers tied it with an unearned run in the bottom of the ninth inning. They won it in the 10th after Jolbert Cabrera Jolbert Cabrera [HOLE-bert kah-BRAY-rah] (born December 8, 1972 in Cartagena, Colombia) is a baseball outfielder/infielder who until recently played with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks in Japan's Pacific League. started the rally by doubling into the left-field corner with one out. Rocky Biddle Lee 'Rocky' Biddle (born May 21, 1976 in Las Vegas, Nevada) is a former Closer in the MLB. He played for the Chicago White Sox and Montreal Expos. He drafted by the White Sox in the 1st round (51st pick) of the 1997 amateur draft. (4-6), who saved his 30th game for the Expos on Tuesday night, then intentionally walked Jeromy Burnitz Lost in Beltre's heroics was the Dodgers tying the game at all. Their killer closer Gagne (2-3) had just surrendered the homer to Guerrero, and it could have buried the team. But Alex Cora José Alexander (Alex) Cora (born October 18, 1975 in Caguas, Puerto Rico) is a utility infielder for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball. University of Miami career started the rally by reaching second on a throwing error by second baseman second baseman n. Baseball The infielder who is positioned near and to the first-base side of second base. Noun 1. second baseman - (baseball) the person who plays second base second sacker Jose Vidro. He moved to third on a sacrifice by Cesar Izturis and scored when pinch hitter pinch-hit intr.v. pinch-hit, pinch-hit·ting, pinch-hits 1. Baseball To bat in place of a player scheduled to bat, especially when a hit is badly needed. 2. Ron Coomer hit a dribbler that allowed Cora to race home. Gagne, who entered the game with 41 consecutive saves, clearly wasn't on his game but pitched a scoreless 10th. The home run by Guerrero was the 225th of his career, tying Andre Dawson's club record. Gagne allowed a two-out double to Jamey Carroll in the 10th and then walked Endy Chavez. But Vidro grounded to first to end the inning. ``It was a great game,'' Gagne said. ``That's what it's all about. The guys picked me up tonight. I felt great. I just didn't get it done.'' To that point it had been an up-and-down night for the Dodgers, who lost Shawn Green with a strained neck muscle in the fourth inning. But left-hander Wilson Alvarez was brilliant again, starting and pitching seven more scoreless innings. He now has allowed one run in his past 20 innings over three starts, though he has won just once during that stretch. The key Wednesday was that other wild-card hopefuls lost: Philadelphia, Florida, Arizona and St. Louis. The Cubs beat Houston to move within a half-game of first in the NL Central and four games of the Phillies in the wild card. Montreal, which started the evening four games behind Philadelphia, remains four back. Until the ninth, the Dodgers had little success with Expos starter Livan Hernandez, one of baseball's hottest and most coveted cov·et v. cov·et·ed, cov·et·ing, cov·ets v.tr. 1. To feel blameworthy desire for (that which is another's). See Synonyms at envy. 2. To wish for longingly. See Synonyms at desire. pitchers. Hernandez, fourth in the NL with 13 victories, allowed six hits and no runs in seven innings. Beltre was the only Dodger to reach third base against Hernandez, doubling with one out in the second inning. Hernandez entered the game with a NL-leading six complete games and was 7-1 in his previous nine starts with a 1.53 ERA. With all those heady numbers, Alvarez didn't seem to belong. But he had another strong outing. The Dodgers have averaged 4.5 runs in their past 15 games after scoring 3.4 runs for the first 109. But Beltre is helping to make it worth the wait. ``I was just looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. something over the plate,'' Beltre said. Matt McHale, (818) 713-3622 matt.mchale(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo, box Photo: Dodgers second baseman Alex Cora scored the game-tying run in the ninth inning Wednesday. Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer Box: NL Wild Card |
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